As brands leverage the power of creativity to make a meaningful difference to lives and their businesses, pharma is finally making a splash on the French Riviera

By Claire Gillis

It’s hard to believe that a decade ago, pharma wasn’t part of the Cannes conversation. In fact, until very recently, the International Festival of Creativity – which turned 70 this year – was barely on drug companies’ radars.

Today, that’s all changed. Fashionably late to the party, pharma is finally making a splash on the French Riviera as brands leverage the power of creativity to make a meaningful difference to lives and their businesses.

Cannes’ latest celebration of all things creative was held last month, with health and pharma making important contributions. So what did we learn? What did Cannes Lions 2023 tell us about the state of creativity in our industry and what could tomorrow look like? Here are six stand-outs.

In the past few years, pharma has dialled up its investment in creativity. This has led to a creative confidence that’s now being reflected in an uptick in entries (and prizes) at international awards shows. This year’s Pharma Lions drew 354 entries, a 20% increase on 2022 when the category was first integrated into the main show, having spent years as an amuse bouche served up the weekend before the festival. Today, the emphasis is on quality not quantity, with the President of the pharma jury noting ongoing improvements in the calibre of work, as marketers are exposed to ‘world-class thinking, creativity and craft’.

Those improvements are being rewarded. Pharma Lions 2023 yielded 13 Lions: two Gold, four Silver, six Bronze and a Pharma Grand Prix for Eurofarma’s ‘Scrolling Therapy’. Of 20 shortlisted entries, two-thirds took away gongs.

But pharma didn’t just make the podium, it led the debate too. Some of the sector’s biggest names spoke on the main stage, bringing pharma’s own unique perspectives to the creative transformation discussion. That’s our ticket to the future. If pharma brands are to become the most trusted out there, we need to be open to the cross-fertilisation of ideas that only comes through diverse debate.

‘If pharma brands are to become the most trusted out there, we need to be open to the cross-fertilisation of ideas that only comes through diverse debate’

The bottom line is that pharma is taking creativity seriously. And rightly so, across more than just its own award categories. Cannes brands itself as a ‘celebration of creativity that drives progress’. That’s fertile ground for pharma. Few sectors have done more to drive tangible change for good. It’s great that there is now a greater appetite to champion that on the global stage.

Pharma is throwing the kitchen sink at the creative craft. In every discipline – from art direction and animation to writing, cinematography and sound – brands are maximising tech and mastering storytelling to create stunning experiences.

Creatives are taking care of the details, marrying good ideas with the finest production for the best execution. They’re elevating craft to the highest levels.

AI is, of course, at the heart of a lot of great work, but there’s a consensus that the technology can’t yet top the power of human creativity to address complex medical problems. At Cannes, many entries used ‘generative AI’ to create images and communicate ideas. However, according to the judges, while AI artwork is stunning and ‘human-like’, it isn’t quite human enough yet. In pharma communications, where authenticity is everything, it seems there’s work to be done before generative AI becomes the real deal. Nonetheless, some of the stand-out performers in the category leveraged innovation – including generative AI – to great effect. Examples include:

• ‘Scrolling Therapy’ (Grand Prix, Pharma) – an AI-powered tool that helps people with Parkinson’s disease control their social media through facial expressions. Using the tool exercises the muscles in the face, helping delay symptoms of muscle atrophy. So the creative itself is a therapy. Wow
• ‘The Most Beautiful Sound’ (Gold, Pharma) – maximising pioneering technology to create the audible sound of cancer cells being destroyed. With sound now recognised as having therapeutic importance – particularly in the field of psychoimmunotherapy – this is another creative innovation that could play a role in recovery
• 'The Outside-in Experiment’ (Silver, Pharma) – generative AI animations depicting the pain of gout, as described by patients.

Interest in health creative has exploded since the pandemic, with many from outside the sector peering in and wanting a piece of the action.

As such, it’s no surprise that entries for the Health & Wellness Lions enjoyed an uptick too, totalling 1,297 submissions. The breadth of the category attracted entries ranging from make-up to medicines. All told, 37 Lions were awarded: six Gold, 13 Silver, 17 Bronze and a Grand Prix. The winners list included Nigeria’s first-ever Lions award and first-time wins in health and wellness for Belgium and Puerto Rico.

Again, the category showcased an abundance of exceptionally well-crafted work, as well as a creative diversity that ran the full gamut of health. Stand-out campaigns included:

• ‘The Last Performance’ (Grand Prix) – native advertising that uses New Zealand’s most popular murder mystery TV show as a vehicle for messaging about life insurance. At the end credits for each episode, killed-off characters briefly return to life for their last performance: to convince viewers about the importance of life insurance. It’s a simple idea executed in a brilliant, creative way
• ‘Anne de Gaulle’ (Gold) – an experience where CDG airport was renamed ‘Anne de Gaulle’, to raise awareness of Down’s syndrome (which Anne, Charles de Gaulle’s daughter, was born with). For one week, the new name appeared on tickets, booking apps, baggage ties and the iconic façade of the terminal, and featured in onboard and in-terminal announcements. It reached over 50 million people
• ‘DiversiTree’ (Gold) – an inventive initiative to ‘restore botanical balance’ (and reduce/prevent allergies) by making female trees more accessible. This short film highlights that, while male trees produce pollen – the leading cause of allergies – female trees absorb it. The campaign saw female trees planted in 46 US states – a creative idea that will live on for generations.

‘Creatives are taking care of the details, marrying good ideas with the finest production for the best execution – they’re elevating craft to the highest levels’

• ‘DiversiTree’ (Gold) – an inventive initiative to ‘restore botanical balance’ (and reduce/prevent allergies) by making female trees more accessible. This short film highlights that, while male trees produce pollen – the leading cause of allergies – female trees absorb it. The campaign saw female trees planted in 46 US states – a creative idea that will live on for generations.

Health equity has become a common theme for creative comms. This year, we saw more and more campaigns – across health and pharma – maximising creative to address disparities that prevent people accessing equitable care. Notable examples include:

• ‘Inequality You Can’t Ignore’ (Gold, Pharma) – a campaign that marries real-world experiences with hard-hitting facts to expose racial inequities in breast cancer care for black women. The title speaks for itself
• ‘Dogs Without Borders’ (Gold, Sustainable Development Goals; Silver and Bronze, Brand Experience & Activation) – a project that trains abandoned dogs to detect cancer. Aiding the detection and diagnosis of people living in remote communities where access to basic health services/diagnostics is lacking.

Claire Gillis is CEO at VMLY&R Health