April is National Volunteer Month in the United States, a month dedicated to honoring all of the volunteers in our communities as well as encouraging volunteerism throughout the month. At Publicis Health, community involvement is one of our central tenets, and we believe that our culture is stronger and our work is better when we contribute to the communities where we live and work.

Influencers have greater authority on the brands they want to be associated with and sports is one category where endorsement constraints are relatively lax, especially compared to regulated industries like healthcare.

The annual Viva Tech conference hosted by Publicis Groupe brings together the world’s brightest innovators and well-known leaders igniting positive change in business, culture, and society. The tagline for 2021 was appropriately, “Time to Reconnect” with the event agenda focused on industry emergence from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Our behaviors have changed. From doing curbside pickup at the grocery store to using telemedicine instead of traditional doctor’s office appointments, consumers have put their health and safety first in order to help flatten the Covid-19 curve. With time, many behaviors have hardened into habits. Even as vaccination rates increase and “normal” returns, the experience of the last 12-plus months will continue to impact consumer expectations.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has been described as “The Oscars” of the advertising, media, and marketing industry. The red-carpet event, traditionally held in the South of France at the sprawling Palais des Festivals—also home to the legendary Cannes International Film Festival—Cannes Lions is a splashy, rosé-fueled celebration of creativity in its many forms.

Protecting influencers is about being allies to their cause and community, not just during Pride Month, but year-round. A brand’s sudden shift to a rainbow logo or engagement with an LGBT+ influencer only during June can trigger backlash from all sides. Consumers see through brand attempts to rainbow-wash and regard it as an inauthentic effort at targeting rather than a demonstration of allyship.

Creativity is an inherently vulnerable process and while we don’t want to stroke unfounded egos, we also need to be careful not to crush nascent ones. There is, of course, ego involved in creation, but leaders set an appropriately supportive and collaborative tone by ensuring all team members have equal opportunities to have their best ideas seen and heard.

Every year, billions of plastic pill bottles needlessly end up in landfills and oceans. In the United States alone, the use of plastic pill bottles results in 703,125 tons of non-recyclable garbage annually. The creative team at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness (SSW) believed there was a better, more environmentally responsible way to address the problem of using plastic bottles for prescription pills. Over 12 months of research, development, testing, and design, the Prescription Paper Pill Bottle (PPPB) was born.

Kara Dugan, President, Razorfish Health, discusses the state of women in the workforce, what mentorship means to her, and what she’s most looking forward to after the pandemic ends.

As the COVID19 vaccine becomes widely available to the masses, brands are launching public service announcements for people to get their shot. Razorfish Health’s Nafeez Zawahir and Digitas Health’s Lee Fraser share steps marketers need to take in order to create effective vaccine messages for different communities.

Zoom fatigue is a very real thing. Even for the most self-absorbed people in adland, looking at a screen all-day-long and staring at yourself can take a toll. For many people, especially creatives, the energy we receive and give back when we’re physically together is difficult to replicate in a fully virtual environment.

As Women's History Month winds down, I wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect on the struggles and triumphs women have faced in the last 12 months. As a mother, wife, sister, friend, and female executive, I have found myself at so many times throughout the past year with a series of mixed emotions.

Stop buying impressions and start investing in relationships! Excellent influencer marketing prioritizes meaningful engagements over time instead of the ’bullhorn approach’ pursuing impressions.

Lyn Falconio, Chief Marketing Officer, Publicis Health, joins the Philadelphia Watch Team of on-air contributors bringing news, tips, and inspiration from the marketing industry. Check back regularly for Lyn’s latest Marketing Watch segments as part of the Life Under the Curve series.

To best optimize marketing and media investments, we need to re-examine the starting point of our campaigns—our audiences. In today’s world, it’s possible to use data to statistically derive multiple segments that each require different communication strategies, across content and channels.

To combat misinformation in healthcare we must understand why it exists in the first place. While social media and politics are contributing factors, there are other more nuanced elements to the misinformation epidemic. For example, because of events like the Tuskegee experiments, BIPOC are rightly skeptical of the medical establishment.

As governments, institutions and pharmaceutical brands put their weight behind persuading the public to get on board with the coronavirus vaccine, Dr Lee Fraser, chief medical officer at Digitas Health, discusses how marketers should alter their approach to vaccine confidence programs.

Singular. It's the only way to describe 2020 and all that we've seen. The virus, our responses, and the economic aftermath have revealed crevasses where previously there were cracks and catapulted health into the spotlight. We're in uncharted territory, and a new order of disruptors are already reshaping the health media landscape.

The impact of coronavirus is felt across every facet of society, but healthcare in particular is acutely impacted by the pandemic. Pharmaceutical representatives have been unable to physically meet with healthcare providers since early 2020. In order to understand the changing role of the pharmaceutical rep—and the state of medicine at large—Razorfish Health launched an exhaustive survey to HCPs across therapeutic areas. As healthcare marketers seek to reach HCPs in both their “white coat” and “blue jean” moments, RFH sought to understand the key themes and struggles of healthcare providers in 2021.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a flagship industry trade show and one of the largest events in the world, attracting more than 200,000 people annually. CES 2021 was entirely remote for the very first time.

The marketing industry was turned on its head this year when, in one fell Covid swoop, total media spend dropped 19.1%. Brands and their advertising partners are now compelled to rethink, rework and reconsider plans. It was quite likely the jolt everyone needed.

Kathy Delaney serves as Publicis Health’s Global Chief Creative Officer. In this interview with Thrive Global, Kathy sits down with Thrive Global’s Fotis Georgiadis for a candid conversation about the realities of working from home.

In December, Kara Dugan was appointed President of Razorfish Health. A classically trained marketer, Kara brings together a unique background of consumer and healthcare experiences to her new role at Razorfish Health. In her interview with MM&M, Kara unpacks her marketing background, her top-of-mind projects and priorities, and what she hopes to be talking about one year from now.

Alexandra von Plato, CEO of Publicis Health, recently joined Jim Stengel, former CMO of Proctor & Gamble on The CMO Podcast, powered by Gallery Media Group. Learn more about Alex, her journey to becoming CEO of a large healthcare communications network, the trends shaping the future of marketing, and much more.

In November, we learned that initial results from COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials have been successful—catapulting life-science companies like Pfizer and Moderna into the spotlight. Publicis Health’s Global Communications Manager sits down with Klaira Simon to learn more about the role PH plays in bringing clinical trials to life.

The annual HLTH conference is an industry-leading event bringing together the entire health ecosystem, with a focus on healthcare innovation and transformation. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, HLTH brought together thousands of thought leaders, experts, and speakers for a healthcare event like no other.

Lyn Falconio, Chief Marketing Officer, Publicis Health sits down Wharton Business School’s Professor Americus Reed, A.K.A. the Hip Hop Prof, to discuss how technology is transforming healthcare.

The Black Lives Matter protests of the summer of 2020 were fueled by outrage over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and numerous other people at the hands of police officers. Yet, amid their calls for justice, accountability and more stringent police oversight, the protesters shone a light on a problem that has long festered in Black and other minority communities: A stunning and shameful degree of health inequity.

Pulling from a storied career in advertising as Chief Strategy Officer at Digitas Health, a deeply personal experience with cancer, and a new position as Chief Patient Officer, Susan Manber explains the role advocacy plays in culture, how to advocate for yourself and others, and unpack why advocacy is more important than ever as we navigate this Brave New World.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives, changing the way we work, shop, travel, and more; forcing us to reimagine how we think about the future. While the impact of coronavirus has rippled across every industry, it has spun healthcare on its head and will forever change both the practice and business of medicine. COVID-19 has brought the healthcare industry to a tipping point by accelerating shifts that were slowly building for years, including telemedicine, managed care, and a decline of in-office rep visits. Healthcare is changing before our eyes and HCPs—and the patients they serve—are struggling to keep up.