Winners Revealed At Med Ad News 2020 Virtual Manny Awards

Med Ad News Honors Healthcare Communications Excellence At The 31st Annual Manny Awards, Recognizes Industry Person Of The Year John Cahill

LIVINGSTON, N.J., June 19, 2020 – Med Ad News – the leading pharmaceutical business and marketing publication – unveils the winners of the 2020 Manny Awards, celebrating the best in the healthcare communications industry. The 31st anniversary of the black-tie gala event was held virtually last night with more than 1,000 viewers. Manny Award statues were presented throughout the evening to healthcare agencies and networks achieving excellence across 29 categories. View the 2020 Virtual Manny Awards On Demand

The Med Ad News 2020 Industry Person of the Year award was presented to John Cahill, Global CEO, McCann Health.

Under John Cahill’s leadership, McCann Health has emerged as one of the world’s leading professional and consumer health communications networks, continuing last year to take major strides worldwide in its three core pillars of creativity, science, and strategy. The network includes more than 60 offices in 20 countries and encompasses a wide range of global practices that includes strategic consulting, healthcare professional marketing, medical communications, consumer health and wellness, global health, and specialty practices like pharmacy, payer, and patient engagement. Cahill has been pivotal in driving McCann Worldgroup’s overall growth in healthcare since the ad agency first launched its global diversified communications expansion in the mid-1990s.

After McCann’s 1996 acquisition of CWFS, the healthcare agency Cahill had co-founded in Australia and New Zealand, he began playing key roles in leading and building both the Asia Pacific and European healthcare regions as well as the medical communications operations before rising to become McCann Health’s Global CEO a decade ago. He had been an immunology researcher at the prestigious Kolling Institute before he entered the world of sales and marketing,

“I am very pleased that John has received this much-deserved recognition. Under his leadership, McCann Health has emerged as one of the world’s leading professional and consumer health communications network,” says Harris Diamond, Chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup. “As such, McCann Health has been justly celebrated in the industry for its innovative business-building work and its overall success in growing with pharma and healthcare clients through its many areas of expertise. And I am sure as the collaborator that he is, he would want to share this distinction with the entire McCann Health team.”

Through Cahill’s abiding interest in public health, McCann Health’s public health agency – McCann Global Health – has worked closely with the USAID, GIZ, World Bank, PEPFAR, and the Clinton Global Initiative and created important health communications programs for UNICEF, J&J, and The Coca-Cola Company. McCann Health is also the only healthcare communications agency that sits on the UN’s Global Health Security Private Sector Roundtable that sets the agenda on significant topics, including pandemic preparedness.

AREA 23 was selected as the 2020 Category I Agency of the Year recipient. Category I agencies generate annual revenue of more than $50 million. Following the agency’s 2018 commitment to limit participation in new business pitches, AREA 23 finished 2019 with the least amount of pitch activity in the agency’s history. Paradoxically, the agency won 10 new major AOR accounts, all of them earned without participating in a full pitch, and all adding up to the financial equivalent of an entire Category II agency. AREA 23 executed seven major launches for clients during 2019. “From our growth strategy to the very role of pharma agencies in the bigger industry picture, we look at 2019 as the year AREA 23 defied the laws of advertising,” says AREA 23 President Renée Mellas.

AREA 23 also captured the 2020 Manny statues for Most Admired Agency (fifth consecutive win in this category), Most Creative Agency, Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign, Best Medical Device Campaign, Best Patient Engagement Campaign, and Best Professional Print Campaign. AREA 23 additionally was a finalist for various campaign work in these categories: Best Consumer Print Campaign, Best Experiential Campaign,  Best Interactive Patient Campaign, Best Interactive Physician Campaign, and Best Medical Device Campaign.

The Bloc received the Manny statue for 2020 Category II Agency of the Year (for healthcare communications firms with annual revenue between $25 million and $50 million). 2019 was the best year The Bloc has ever had, according to the agency’s leadership team. The Bloc generated nearly 50 percent revenue growth and produced a pitch win rate of over 80 percent. The Bloc also added key talent across functions and levels to support the agency’s expansion. 2020 marks the New York-based agency’s 20th anniversary year. The agency’s mission is to “be great to do good.” 

For healthcare communications agencies that produce under $25 million in annual revenue, the 2020 Category III Agency of the Year winner is McCann Health Managed Markets. In 2019, McCann Health Managed Markets grew the agency’s business by 26 percent, hitting both growth and revenue records. “We hired over 30 new people to handle our amazing growth and have become a talent destination for market access expertise,” says McCann Health Managed Markets President Kim Wishnow-Per. “We have a great culture that people say is unique, and we’re committed to programs that support professional growth and work-life balance to ensure everyone is happy.”

McCann Health Managed Markets won the Best Managed Markets Campaign category for the third straight year. The Mountain Lakes, N.J.-based agency won the 2020 Manny Award for Regeneron Access Adventure. McCann Health Managed Markets was also a finalist in the same category for a campaign for Janssen Immunology.

Each year the Med Ad News staff presents the Heart Award, which is designed to recognize agencies’ social responsibility and agency cultures that embody a high commitment to philanthropic and social causes. The winner of this award receives a check for $3,000 to donate to a charity, and the other two finalists receive a check for $1,000 to donate to a charity. The 2020 Heart Award recipient is Dudnyk, and the finalists in the category are AbelsonTaylor and CMI/Compas. Dudnyk was a finalist for Agency of the Year Category III and Best Nonbranded Campaign. AbelsonTaylor captured the Manny award for Best Self-Promotional Campaign. The Chicago-based agency was additionally a finalist in the following categories: Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign, Best Experiential Campaign, and Best Patient Engagement Campaign.

The Network of the Year Manny Award was presented to Omnicom Health Group, which during 2019 delivered its largest growth since forming five years ago. “Collectively, we grew in the double digits,” says OHG CEO Ed Wise. “That’s incredible. And despite the pandemic, we are carrying some very positive momentum in 2020, as we continue to show growth across our group.” Omnicom Health Group 2020 Manny Award winners and finalists were represented by these agencies: Biolumina Group (Finalist: Agency of the Year Category II); CDM (Winner: Best Social Media Campaign, Best Consumer Web Campaign, and Best Professional Web Campaign; Finalist: Best Launch Campaign); DDB Health (Finalist: Agency on the Rise); Harrison and Star (Finalist: Most Creative Agency and Best Professional Print Campaign); Patients & Purpose (Winner: Best Interactive Patient Campaign; Finalist: Best Philanthropic Campaign); and TBWA\WorldHealth (Finalist: Agency of the Year Category I).

The 2020 Agency on the Rise Manny Award recipient is Centron. In 2019, business growth included AOR clients such as Apellis, Partner Therapeutics, and Enzyvant, as well as organic growth with clients such as Karyopharm and Tesaro/GSK – all culminating in more than 20 percent revenue growth for the New York-based agency. September 2019 marked the two-year anniversary of the Centron relaunch – and a moment of self-reflection, according to the agency’s leadership team. “When we relaunched the agency, it wasn’t just about positioning and branding in market. Our goal was to create a total agency experience that delivered on our core promise: Simply Thrive,” says Centron President Celine Vita.

Mamta Chhabra, Patient Experience Marketing Lead – Immunology Marketing at UCB, was presented with Med Ad News‘ second annual Marketer on the Rise award. Nominated by Intouch Group, Mamta has a proven record of success in driving brand growth through launching new products and award-winning DTC campaigns. Fueled by cutting-edge digital, social and media strategies, Mamta’s career highlights include work on the Cosentyx and Gilenya launches with Novartis. For UCB, one of Mamta’s most recent successes is the launch of Cimzia’s multi-channel Plan for Fun, not Flares campaign. 

Heartbeat is recognized by Med Ad News as the 2020 Diversity & Inclusion Champion. According to the agency’s management team, Heartbeat leaders have worked tirelessly on a years-long internal campaign to revolutionize the company culture and upend old-fashioned notions of how to promote diversity and inclusion within their community. The result is a nurturing, supportive, and inspiring work environment that is truly inclusive of all races, gender identities, ages, religions, and sexual orientations. This dedication to culture and community has led to three straight “Best Place to Work” honors for Heartbeat, employee satisfaction numbers that are difficult to comprehend, and diversity statistics that are shattering the ad industry’s D&I benchmarks. GSW (a Syneos Health company) and Intouch Group also received finalist recognition in the Diversity & Inclusion Champion category. GSW was the 2020 winner for Best Consumer Print Campaign and Best Rare Disease Campaign, and was also a finalist for Most Admired Agency and Best Self-Promotional Campaign. Intouch Group also garnered a finalist nomination in the Best Social Media Campaign category.

The 2020 Vision Award recipient is Fingerpaint. Ed Mitzen founded Fingerpaint on a simple idea: Put people first. By prioritizing empathy over profit, he set in motion a radical new vision for healthcare agency culture. And 12 years later, this humanistic approach continues to pay off. Fingerpaint has grown 40 percent year-over-year since 2015 and has expanded the agency’s services, industry talent, and client roster to match. Rooted in empathy, fiercely independent, and people-first always, Fingerpaint has created a new color for agency culture unlike anything the industry has ever seen before according to the management team. The agency also was a finalist in the following categories: Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign, Best Philanthropic Campaign, and Best Rare Disease Campaign.

Concentric Health Experience won the Best Interactive Physician Campaign for the second year in a row, for the Room to Breathe VR campaign. CHX was also a finalist in the Best Consumer Print Campaign, Best Consumer Web Campaign, Best Patient Engagement Campaign, and Best Launch Campaign categories.

FCB Health Network company wins included Best Launch Campaign (FCB Health New York), Best Philanthropic Campaign (FCB Health New York), and Best Experiential Campaign (TRIO and Studio Rx). Finalist recognition included Network of the Year, Agency of the Year Category II (FCBCURE), Best Consumer Web Campaign (FCB Health New York), Best Rare Disease Campaign (FCBCURE), Best Professional Web Campaign (Neon), and Best Nonbranded Campaign (Neon).

Baltimore-based agency imre Health won a 2020 Manny Award for Best Launch Campaign (imre Health and FCB Health New York each were recognized as winners for separate launch campaigns for Vyleesi).

Network of the Year finalist McCann Health was additionally represented in the following categories: Best Nonbranded Campaign (Winner: McCann Health New York), Most Creative Agency (McCann Health New York), and Best Professional Print Campaign (Finalist: McCann Health New Jersey).

Other agencies receiving finalist nominations were W2O (Agency of the Year Category I, Vision Award, and Best Interactive Physician Campaign); MedThink Communications (Agency of the Year Category III); Klick Health (Most Admired Agency and Best Professional Web Campaign); Moon Rabbit (Agency on the Rise); Cambridge BioMarketing (Vision Award); MicroMass Communications (Best Social Media Campaign); DiD Agency (Best Medical Device Campaign); HCB Health (Best Self-Promotional Campaign); EVERSANA ENGAGE (Best Managed Markets Campaign); and PRECISIONvalue (Best Managed Markets Campaign).

The Med Ad News “MedAdvocate” jury gathered on May 6 for a roundtable discussion of finalist campaigns previously determined via online voting, and included selections from more than 200 eligible voters across healthcare communication agencies. In order to take a deeper dive into the finalist campaigns, a panel of experts dubbed “MedAdvocates” were each assigned specific campaigns and tasked to initiate meaningful dialog amongst the jurors. MedAdvocates were selected based on their creative expertise and widely recognized performance within the industry. Ultimately, the team scored each finalist campaign using a point system that, combined with the popular vote conducted online, arrived at the eventual winners who were crowned on June 18. 

Med Ad News would like to thank Platinum Sponsors The Bloc, Calcium, Dudnyk, Fingerpaint, and TBWA\WorldHealth; and Gold Sponsors Biolumina Group, Concentric Health Experience, GSW, Intouch Group, and JUICE Pharma Worldwide.

2020 Manny Award Winners

Industry Person of the Year

John Cahill, Global CEO, McCann Health

Agency of the Year – Category I

AREA 23

Agency of the Year – Category II

The Bloc

Agency of the Year – Category III

McCann Health Managed Markets

Heart Award

Dudnyk

Vision Award

Fingerpaint

Agency on the Rise

Centron

Network of the Year

Omnicom Health Group

Most Creative Agency

AREA 23

Most Admired Agency

AREA 23

Diversity & Inclusion Champion

Heartbeat

Marketer on the Rise

Mamta Chhabra: Patient Experience Marketing Lead – Immunology Marketing, UCB (nominated by Intouch Group)

Best Professional Web Campaign

CDM Princeton: Ilumya

Best Professional Print Campaign

AREA 23: Toilet Books

Best Consumer Print Campaign

GSW: It Ain’t Reefer, It’s Relief

Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign

AREA 23: One Word

Best Consumer Web Campaign

CDM: Break Free From Your Glasses

Best Interactive Patient Campaign

Patients & Purpose and Eisai: Ella the Jellyfish

Best Interactive Physician Campaign

Concentric Health Experience: Room to Breathe VR

Best Nonbranded Campaign

McCann Health New York: Migraine is Complex

Best Medical Device Campaign

AREA 23: One Word

Best Launch Campaign

FCB Health New York & imre Health for Vyleesi (separate campaigns)

Best Philanthropic Campaign

FCB Health New York: Cough It Up

Best Managed Markets Campaign

McCann Health Managed Markets: Regeneron Access Adventure

Best Self-Promotional Campaign

AbelsonTaylor: Wall Art

Best Social Media Campaign

CDM: Humour vs Tumour

Best Patient Engagement Campaign

AREA 23: Grabber Claw

Best Rare Disease Campaign

GSW: Don’t Wait. Nplate

Best Experiential Campaign

TRIO and Studio Rx, FCB Health Network companies: Challenges of Relapse Escape Room

 

About the Manny Awards
For 31 years, the Med Ad News Manny Awards have paid tribute to the creative work of agencies serving the healthcare market, their people, and their contributions to the industry. Each year at this gala awards ceremony, Med Ad News and agency professionals come together to celebrate creative excellence in pharmaceutical and medical device advertising and to acknowledge those making significant contributions to healthcare communications. On this special evening, hundreds of industry peers join Med Ad News in honoring winners in a range of award categories.

About Med Ad News
The pharmaceutical industry’s publication of record since 1982, Med Ad News provides broad coverage and incisive analysis of the issues, events, trends, and strategies shaping pharmaceutical business, marketing, and sales. More than 30,000 readers — comprising corporate executives, marketing, sales, and product managers — receive Med Ad News, which is a publication of Outcomes LLC. For more info, visit http://www.medadnews.com.

About Outcomes LLC
A marketing and media company built to quench the evolving consumption habits of B to B audiences, Outcomes supports the healthcare communications industry via industry leading brands Med Ad News, PharmaLive, leading events including the Manny Awards and content marketing services. For more info, visit www.outcomes-marketing.com.

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