Insights from the 2024 Cannes Lions Pharma jury room

Insights from the 2024 Cannes Lions Pharma jury room

By Susan Perlbachs, EVERSANA INTOUCH

This year, I had the privilege of serving on the Cannes Lions Health 2024 Pharma Jury. As jurors, we prided ourselves on being the champions of creativity, seeking to award not only beautiful work, but work that pushes boundaries and propels our industry forward.

Our 10-person crew was a truly a geographically and culturally diverse crowd. Jurors’ backgrounds provided invaluable cultural context, informing our awarded work. Over two days of vigorous and inspiring deliberation, we formed lasting friendships and identified the following notable themes.

Inclusivity and diversity
Winning work tackled issues like rare diseases, women’s health, and racial equality, demonstrating a commitment to global inclusivity and solving real-world problems.

One example is “Mis(s)Diagnosed,” addressing gender disparities in cardiovascular health. This direct to HCP and patient work focused on the differences in heart attack signs between men and women in an effort to end misdiagnosis in women. Regional insights, particularly from our Dubai juror, added to rich discussion, ultimately elevating the piece to a bronze.

Purpose-led work
Awarded work had a clear purpose beyond communication, aiming to create positive, lasting impact and drive change.

“Not a Lonely Journey,” which won a bronze, aimed to positively impact the SMA community. Many, including doctors, had stopped believing that improvements were possible. This travel guide, catering to people living with SMA, showed that wasn’t true, challenging stereotypes and celebrating resilience.

Experience-led work
Customer experience was on full display in much of the work that hit the jury room. The “Heart Surgeon’s Cookbook,” awarded bronze, engaged heart surgeons through practical training exercises in the form a cookbook by Michelin-rated chef Fredrik Berselius. By helping to enhance surgeons’ skills rather than promoting products, the initiative fostered customer connections and garnered PR-value of almost 2 million dollars.

Product innovation
Moving beyond flashy tech for tech’s sake, meaningful product innovations using creative data attracted the jury’s attention. “Voice2Diabetes,” awarded gold, introduced a potentially groundbreaking diabetes diagnostic. This innovative tool detects Type 2 diabetes through voice analysis. While it’s early-stage, the jury was impressed by its promising, frankly mind-blowing, creative use of data. All jurors agreed, we hope we see this again next year, in market! 

Beyond the pill
Notably, none of the metal-awarded work focused on pharmaceutical pills or treatments, underscoring a shift towards holistic patient care.

The pinnacle of creativity and empathy in the jury room was the Grand Prix-winning “Magnetic Stories.” This project reimagined the MRI experience for children by creating immersive children’s audiobooks synchronized with scan sounds. These stories turn a terrifying medical procedure into an adventure, setting a new standard for patient-centric innovation.

This year’s Pharma work not only celebrated exceptional creativity but also highlighted the industry’s evolving focus on 360-degree patient care. As I reflect on this remarkable body of work, it’s evident that the future of pharma goes beyond that of R&D innovation to improving all aspects of life for the patient populations we serve.

Editor’s note: View the 2024 Cannes Lions Pharma winners.

Susan Perlbachs is the chief creative officer at EVERSANA INTOUCH. She is a renowned creative and technology leader with more than 20 years of experience bringing world-class creative experiences to life for both professional and consumer audiences. Contact her at [email protected].