ABOUT

The hard task of being the ‘go to’ membership body for over 140,000 medical professionals and students in the UK, providing them with support and representation is the job of The British Medical Association (BMA).

They have tremendous influence and are a key contributor to the public debate on issues that affect the medical field, but their website was not meeting their needs or those of its members. They needed help to improve their online presence to ensure it was delivering real value.

Looking for a cure

The BMA came to Precedent to get help clarifying their position and purpose online. The website needed to work harder and better for them; it needed to be designed to engage with existing members, appeal to new members and to enable them to provide a platform for wider engagement.

Our first phase of the project was to research the precise needs and preferences of BMA members and other users of the website. The findings helped define the new direction for the website which is more user-friendly and allows users to personalise areas of the site to get straight to the information they need.

They recognised their digital channels were underutilised and asked us for help. They are now using the website to deliver compelling services that doctors really need and want, providing a place that encourages online conversation and debate. They have also realised the importance of utilising the many social media channels available to them. The new digital presence along with an improved way of communicating, is now encouraging younger doctors to connect more easily with the organisation, ensuring that the next generation of talented medical professionals build a relationship with the BMA that will last their entire career.

Making a full recovery

The new website now promotes the BMA as an open, visible and approachable organisation that is relevant to members and junior doctors alike. The site is clean and engaging and allows the user to personalise their visit to gain maximum value.

However, this is but the beginning of the process of change. We have worked with the BMA to establish a 5 year blueprint for digital transformation touching all aspects of the BMA and its interactions with users.