The 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is nearing and this year, there are two healthcare marketers on the jury for the pharma and health and wellness categories.

Joshua Prince, CEO of the professional group at Omnicom Health Group, will be a jury president for the Pharma Lions. Leading the Health and Wellness category is Mel Routhier, chief creative officer at VMLY&R Chicago.

Both Prince and Routhier said they are excited about this year’s awards and are anticipating a diversity of ideas and growth in both the Pharma and Health and Wellness categories.

The Health and Wellness category in particular is a relatively new one. Over the last few years, Routhier has seen it evolve into a broad category that encompasses a diverse array of mediums – from print, radio and film to “outdoor.” It’s a signal of the increasing attention that’s been paid to the ideas of “well-being” since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Globally, the idea of wellness has become very much topical,” Routhier said. “Everyone is more concerned about people’s mental and physical well-being. Companies are seeing it as their responsibility to put their dollars toward the betterment of all of those different spaces. I [expect to see] things that aren’t your standard health and wellness items.”

She pointed to one past example: Harley Davidson’s Tough Turban campaign, which involved an innovative design for a protective Sikh turban motorcycle helmet, inspired by diverse groups of motorcycle riders.

Routhier expects to see more work this year that fits that bill of diversity and out-of-the-box angles on wellness.

With those types of projects, she said marketers “find this incredible depth and richness of insight into a community – and typically something you wouldn’t necessarily think on the surface would be health and wellness.

Routhier explained further that there is diversity and equity baked into these efforts. 

“The idea is to make sure we’re acknowledging all these companies that are showing up in this space because it’s a smart place to put your dollars for your consumer and does things that are meaningful for different subsets of communities,” she said. 

The honor of being selected as a juror wasn’t lost on Routhier either. 

“I’m legitimately just humbled [to be a juror], and probably more than anything, intimidated in the sense that I take the responsibility really seriously,” Routhier added. “I’m exceptionally excited to see this particular jury and the category in itself grow.”

Cannes Lions distinguishes the Pharma category as work that faces heavy regulation, compared to the Health and Wellness category, which doesn’t have the same level of restrictions. Last year’s jury gave out two Pharma Gold lions, including for Area 23’s Eyedar – an app that helps blind people visualize sound.

This year, as the world is still emerging from the haze of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharma industry is grappling with a drop in its reputation, as well as criticism over drug prices and vaccine fatigue.

That’s why Prince believes this year’s entries in the category will serve as a response to that critical perception, with an aim to build more trust with the public. One trend Prince expects to see emerge in this year’s Pharma Lions is around battling misinformation.

“Social media has unlocked a two-way dialogue and enabled the acceleration of the sharing of ideas, some of which are good ideas and some of which are bad ideas,” Prince said. “Finding ways to connect with people around the right narrative and scientifically-validated truth is an important way to fight the uphill battle against misinformation.”

Despite some of the pharma and healthcare fatigue, however, Prince believes the sheer amount of innovation in the industry will shine through in the 2023 Pharma Lions.

“I’m excited because there’s just so much incredible innovation happening on the client side of the business, and that innovation is changing the world of medicine – from gene therapy to mRNA,” Prince said. “We’re making leaps and bounds scientifically. But at the same time, it’s our role as communicators to humanize science.”

Prince added that health has to be about more than just medicine. 

“It has to be about ideas – because before people get medicine, they have to be inspired by or moved by ideas about the potential of those therapies. I’m excited to lead a jury around that,” he said. 

At the end of the day, whatever items receive the top awards, Prince believes they’ll help set new standards for healthcare marketing moving forward.

“One of the powers of Cannes as a global celebration of creativity is its ability to elevate the craft of communicators,” Prince said. “When you see Cannes gold Lion-worthy work, it helps set the bar higher for everybody in the industry.”