For Art’s Sake Each month, this department pays homage to memorable advertising and marketing campaigns. The highlighted executions have been identified by leading creative executives for their noteworthy use of copy, art, photography, whimsy, uniqueness, etc. — in combination or as single branding elements. Creating good healthcare advertising and marketing requires agencies to think out of the box and clients who dare to be different. PharmaVOICE is pleased to give these vanguards their due recognition. Kudos to the creative team that developed the Red Dress logo for the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign. Evoking style and substance, the whimsical line drawing succinctly captures the spirit of the movement to raise awareness about women’s risks for heart disease and the individual health choices they make. Why is the little Red Dress such a big idea? First, because it’s a welcome departure from the ubiquitous looped ribbon that originated with AIDS awareness and that was subsequently adopted by countless other causes. More importantly, the Red Dress is much more than a logo; it’s an ownable concept with legs. The AHA’s Red Dress microsite is a must-visit destination for women who want to learn the facts about heart disease and for creatives who want to see how to bring a concept to life. Bold colors, art deco-inspired graphics, and a healthy dose of attitude are guaranteed to encourage repeat visits. On-site offerings include Go Red e-cards, screen savers, wallpapers, and an interactive paper doll (shaped like a woman) for which visitors can choose an outfit and get heart healthy lifestyle tips based on chosen fashions. My guess is the Red Dress is a candidate for icon status if it keeps building the momentum it’s gained in just over a year. In addition to the requisite celebrity endorsements and community marathons, the AHA PR machine has developed some high-exposure platforms, including Go Red story lines and product placements on major daytime TV dramas. This year, Go Red Day (Feb. 4th) was celebrated coast to coast with red-illuminated landmarks from Niagara Falls to the Seattle Space Needle. Great work, team! Keep the Go Red tide coming. Mark Kosak, Executive VP, Chief Creative Officer, of Xchange, a CommonHealth company based in Parsippany, N.J., believes the Go Red campaign is on its way to achieving icon status. Have you ever judged more than a thousand ads in a single sitting? It’s no picnic. Last year, I sat on three different global advertising juries pouring over ad after ad after ad. To be honest, many companies could have saved themselves a few bucks by not entering. But one agency made this particular jury member glad that the agency entered in as many categories as the rules allowed. The Risperdal campaign is, quite simply, the undisputed champion of the print world. Risperdal is an antipsychotic drug that is used for treating people who suffer from extreme anxiety and paranoia. The symptoms can be horrendous, with sufferers hearing voices in their heads and experiencing hallucinations. I imagine the agency presented the original concepts to its client in a series of simple, powerful, line drawings. Both the words and images are incredibly expressive and show the team tapped into some excellent insight-based research. Headlines such as “Andrew is convinced demons inhabit his chest, haunting his every waking moment. In quiet desperation he attempts to remove them.” And Bryn is adamant his Scottish descendants tease, taunt, and torture him from above. He claims they send boiling “Scottish rain lashing down to burn his skin.” These examples illustrate some terrific copywriting. (How often do we see the proposition cut out of the brief and slapped over some obscure image?) The campaign’s dark pastel illustrations brilliantly conjure the nightmarish, hallucination-like images within the patient’s mind. Both the agency and client know the value of powerful communication. Their industry peers who consistently vote for this ad time and again are no doubt as envious as I am. This is original thinking and not just in the category, but in all advertising, be that consumer or pharmaceutical. The value of communication is realized in this series of Risperdal ads, according to Ross Thomson, Chief Creative Officer at Grey Healthcare Group, New York. A welcome departure from the ubiquitous looped ribbon Mark Kosak Heart Disease Awareness Cause: Heart Disease Awareness Client: American Heart Association Debut: February 2005 Agency: Cone Inc. Art: Stephanie Dahlman, Robert Diago, and Cindy Freckman, American Heart Association Copy: Tom Schneider, American Heart Association Ross Thomson Risperdal Product: Risperdal Client: Janssen-Cilag Debut: January 2004 Agency: Junction 11 Advertising Art: John Timney Copy: Richard Rayment The undisputed champion of the print world
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