18 June 2016 – Winners of the 2016 Pharma and Health & Wellness Lions were announced at the Lions Health Awards Ceremony, where a total of 99 Lions were presented. In the third year of the competition, a record-breaking 2,605 award entries were received across the Pharma and Health & Wellness categories.
Pharma Lions
From 582 entries submitted in the Pharma section, 52 Lions were awarded and Ogilvy & Mather London’s “Breathless Choir” for Philips claimed the Grand Prix.
Jury President, Alexandra von Plato, Group President of Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, described the campaign as one that challenges the traditional ‘product as hero’ approach to focus on ‘patient as hero’. “It’s a stunning example of cinematic storytelling in the medical devices industry and clearly breaks the mould,” she said.
Health & Wellness Lions
47 Lions were awarded in Health and Wellness, from a total of 2023 entries and the Grand Prix went to London agency FCB Inferno’s “Project Literacy” for Pearson.
Commenting on the winner, Jury President, Joshua Prince, Chief Marketing Officer of Omnicom Health Group, said, “The campaign is devastatingly good at showing the real costs of illiteracy and shows that before we even get to health, we have to start with people’s fundamental ability to understand.”
Young Lions Health Award
The winner of the Young Lions Health Award, in partnership with UNICEF, was announced at the ceremony. The jury, including UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Shakira, chose Eleanor Howe and Lina Benmansour of DigitasLBi, France’s “UNICEF Brain Food”. Their idea answered the brief innovatively, by using everyday objects to stimulate play, and providing creative ways for caregivers to interact with children and will be used as part of UNICEF’s overall communication outreach on Early Childhood Development.
Special Awards
And finally, Special Awards were also announced, including the Grand Prix for Good – open to Gold Lion winning entries ineligible for a Grand Prix in their section and judged by members of the Pharma and Health & Wellness Juries – which went to “Manboobs” by Argentinian agency DAVID Buenos Aires for MACMA, focussed on breast cancer awareness.
The Healthcare Agency of the Year was awarded to Medulla Communications, Mumbai, second to Langland, Windsor and third to McCann Health, Hong Kong. And Healthcare Network of the Year went to McCann Health, second to Publicis Healthcare Communications Group and third to Ogilvy Commonhealth Worldwide.
Commenting on the results, Lions Health Festival Director, Louise Benson, said, “We’re delighted to reward and celebrate the ground-breaking work providing a benchmark of excellence in the healthcare communications industry. Now in its third year, Lions Health is an arena to recognise achievements and we would like to thank the jury for collectively selecting our 2016 winners.”
Lion Health also encompasses a two-day Festival of content, learning and debate and this year, celebrates the life-changing innovations, trends, and game-changing technology transforming the current healthcare industry, taking place from 18-19 June.