By Jamie Pfaff
Chief Creative Officer
TBWA\WorldHealth

 

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Healthcare promotion strikes me as a cozy little business sometimes, with our webs of contacts and clients, strongly strung in a specialized space. Nowhere did I feel this more than at Cannes, where Lions Health, in its own building at the Palais, gave us a chance to renew friendships and make new contacts easily, fueled by the appropriately sized venue and the gallons of pink wine. It was wonderful to have clients participate; we had several present, and it reinforces that creativity and innovation need partnership and shared commitment.

There was plenty of opportunity for mind-expanding moments as well, which our business certainly needs.

We learned from the podium that we’re all going to live a lot longer. Babies born today can expect to live 100 years.

The implication is that healthcare is going to take on even greater importance, especially in those later years as we look for better quality of life and health, and most importantly, discover an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s.

As for the work we saw, there’s a lot to be inspired by. There are also notable patterns in the award-winning work. “Health and Wellness” as an area generated far more showcase work, with 3 times as many ideas on the shortlist versus the “Pharma” section. Selling an actual product carries a degree of difficulty that increases my admiration for some of this brilliant work, and the “Breathless Choir” for the Philips oxygen system was a worthy Grand Prix winner. But even a lot of the Pharma work was just disease awareness in disguise.

Why is it so hard to win a Lion selling a real medicine or a real device? We all need to work harder in these truly competitive categories, to win the admiration of our peers.