Creative Review
This ad is powerful despite showing a patient in a doctor’s office — one of the most common visuals in all of pharmaceutical advertising. A woman sits on an exam table in a gown and socks (is there any attire that makes one seem more vulnerable?), looking apprehensively toward the doctor. The line is “Keep talking to your patients about colon cancer screening. So you won’t have to talk to them about colon cancer.” The image and the copy hit just the right tone; doctors may not talk enough about screening, but there’s no accusation. The ad does what we, as marketers, always want to do: link the rational and emotional. It taps right into that dread of giving very bad news — indescribably worse than the discomfort of a cancer screening conversation. The reader feels for this appealing woman — and for the doctor who has to tell her … what? Devastating news? Or only that it’s time for screening? The ad is successful because it makes what the doctors are being asked to do an easy choice. The best work in our field is this type of motivating communication that will save lives. What industry award can beat that? The link of the rational and emotional is what makes this ad stand out, according to Suzanne Gaby-Biegel, Executive VP, Chief Creative Officer, at Altum, Parsippany, N.J., a full-service professional healthcare advertising and promotion company and unit of CommonHealth. Colon Cancer Awareness Cause: Colon Cancer Awareness Organization: American Cancer Society Agency: TG Madison Debut: February 2005 Creative Director: John Carter Art Director: Stewart Eastep Copywriter: Paige Bryars Account Director: Talley Hultgren Executive VP, Media Director: Jeff Abbott Media Supervisor: Amanda Becker Suzanne Gaby-Biegel July 2005 Motivating communication that will save lives ach 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 pharmaceutical advertising and marketing requires agencies to think out of the box and clients that dare to be different. PharmaVOICE is pleased to give these vanguards their due recognition.