Each year in mid-June, advertising agencies that work behind the scenes to execute drug ads are rewarded with their moment in the spotlight as the biggest award event in advertising plays out in Cannes, France.
While Viatris and Biogen took home the big prizes at this year’s Cannes Pharma Lions during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, special awards were also doled out to the Healthcare Network of the Year and the Healthcare Agency of the Year.
The Healthcare Agency of the Year award is given to the healthcare agency that takes home the most points overall for Cannes entries in the Health & Wellness Lions, Lions Health Grand Prix for Good and Pharma Lions, according to the festival.
Those credited in an “idea creation” role on all short-listed and awarded entries are eligible to pick up points. The same rules apply for the Healthcare Network of the Year accolade.
Monday, Cannes declared that the Healthcare Network of the Year is FCB Health, with Real Chemistry taking second and Ogilvy Health coming in third.
FCB Health is an IPG Health company, making this year's result the fifth consecutive Healthcare Network win for IPG. FCB Health merged with McCann Health in 2021 to form the powerhouse that is New York-based IPG Health.
IPG also showed out in the Healthcare Agency of the Year category as AREA 23, an IPG Health company, claimed the title. 21Grams, the advertising arm of Real Chemistry, earned second, and Ogilvy Health came third.
“When IPG Health launched nearly 4 years ago, we knew that if we focused on our bedrock commitment to doing what’s right for our clients, their brands and our people, everything else would follow," IPG’s CEO Dana Maiman said in a press release. "And these tremendous successes and repeated wins prove exactly that. On the eve of our fourth anniversary, these accolades are testament to the relentless passion and commitment of our people and our brave client partners.”
In the Health & Wellness Lions award category, FCB’s Toronto branch was behind “The Count,” which won both Silver and Bronze Lions. “The Count” is part of the "Fight for Every Birthday" campaign from The Hospital for Sick Children (also known as SickKids). The ad uses athletic imagery to “create parallels between the aggressive training regimen of a pro athlete, and the fight for their lives that SickKids patients take part in every single day,” according to FCB, with birthday-related motifs scattered throughout to drive home the point that “when every birthday is a fight, every year is a gift,” a text screen in the video says.
Meanwhile, FCB New York claimed Silver and Bronze Lions for “Drops of Hope,” a campaign that turned Poise pads into a health screening tool for women in health deserts.
Elsewhere, AREA23 was honored for its “Zip Code Exam,” an Equality Health Foundation project that allows people in the U.S. to quickly gather community health data based on their ZIP codes.
Ogilvy Health was awarded the two biggest awards in the Pharma Lions and the Health & Wellness Lions competitions, capturing a Grand Prix for each. “Vaseline Verified” won in the health and wellness awards showdown, showing the judges' appreciation for the campaign’s efforts to scientifically debunk or confirm viral Vaseline-related hacks garnered from social media.
“This campaign is about the people who’ve always found interesting new ways to use Vaseline in their lives,” the chief creative officer of Ogilvy Singapore, Nicolas Courant, said in a release. “Winning this Grand Prix is a celebration of their ingenuity and love for the brand. We just listened, amplified their voices, and gave back the recognition they deserve."
A Viatris/Ogilvy campaign for erectile dysfunction med Viagra called “Make Love Last,” which highlighted intimacy using time lapse video techniques, earned the Pharma Lions Grand Prix.
Right behind Viatris and Ogilvy's Grand Prix was Biogen and 21GRAMS with the Pharma Lions gold for “Friedreich’s Back,” a project that infused dark comedy into a nine-part series that launched on social media to promote Skyclarys, the only FDA-approved treatment for inherited rare disease Friedreich’s ataxia.
That win was "extraordinary not just because it's a Gold Lion in Pharma, but because it's for branded work for a rare disease using comedy, which rarely breaks through in shows like these,” managing founder of 21GRAMS and Real Chemistry’s co-global chief creative officer Frank Mazzola commented. “Friedreich’s Back' proves that authentic, client-led creativity still matters – and still wins.”