Cannes Lions Pharma 2024: Our top picks

Jul 2
As Cannes Lions 2024 has come to a close, there were more than 220 entries for the Pharma Lions, with awards being given for 1 grandprix. 1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze and 15 making the shortlist. Whilst there were so many great entries this year, we had a few favourites from this year's submissions. 

Not a lonely journey - Biogen & VML

Category: Disease Awareness & Understanding: Direct to Patient or Healthcare Professional. Bronze Cannes Lion. 

Strikes the balance between inspiration and utility.

VML shares some background around this campaign.

Challenge: Until a few years ago, there were no treatments for Spinal Muscular Atrophy at all. How could we help change perceptions of the disease and the patients who suffer from it and improve their quality of life?

Inspiration: As we researched the project, we came across inspiring social media accounts and blogs from SMA patients sharing their incredible experiences traveling with this disease. These patients were living fiercely despite constraints on their life, and became our inspiration and co-creators in a world-first travel guide for those with SMA disabilities.

Idea: Biogen launched the "Not a Lonely Journey" campaign, a series of travel guides co-created with SMA patients, travel journalists and medical professionals. Each guide focuses on a patient's inspirational story while providing practical advice on how to visit the world while disabled. From accommodation and travel to food and must-see locations, these guides prove to patients, caregivers and skeptical doctors that the greatest constraint on patients isn't their disability, but the limits placed on them by people too worried to let them truly live.

13 patients were interviewed. 7 countries involved.
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Why do we like this work?

  • Advances in treatment are enabling people with SMA to pursue more opportunities, such as travel, creating a need for supportive information. This work provides genuinely useful content for the audience, which will always be engaging.
  • This project collaborates with the SMA community, sourcing key voices from social media to feature in the content. This approach gives the community ownership and enhances relatability for their audience. 
  • The work isn't constrained by typical healthcare content conventions. The result is beautiful, high-quality travel content that meets the high standards of other travel publications.

Tokking their language - Genentech & 21 Grams

Patient engagement. Shortlist.

This shortlisted work is a great example of creating audience-centric content. 
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Why do we like this work?

  • The work recognizes that younger generations prefer consuming and searching for content on social media rather than Google or websites. This campaign breaks the typical pharma mold of relying on websites, instead engaging the audience in a space and format they prefer.
  • Embracing Gen Z style content and humour, it acknowledges that traditional educational content won't resonate with this audience.

Magnetic Stories - Siemens Healthineers & Area 23

Patient Engagement. Grand Prix Cannes Lion.

This work shows a deep knowledge of the patient experience and desire to address unmet needs. 
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Why do we like this work?

  • Winning the Grand Prix for good reason, this work demonstrates a deep commitment to understanding and enhancing the user experience of their products. This creative work has the potential to significantly improve the experience for patients.

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