Havas Lynx comes out on top with 5 golds at the prestigious PM Society Awards

Leading healthcare communications agency, Havas Lynx, has celebrated an unprecedented number of big wins at the prestigious Pharmaceutical Marketing Awards  (PM Society Awards).  The Manchester based agency collected a total of five golds, four of which were won for its innovative “Change the face of HIV” campaign for Viiv healthcare.  This year’s awards sweep of gold, silver and bronze takes the agencies total to an incredible 36 PM Society wins in the past six years.

Competition this year was tougher than ever, with entries from a total of 51 agencies and 83 in-house creative teams.  Havas Lynx’s record-breaking ten accolades were achieved in recognition of its innovative work across a variety of therapy areas and categories.

The PM Society Awards are widely regarded amongst the most esteemed in the pharmaceutical healthcare sector, and is the biggest annual gathering in the industry. They are unique among healthcare creative awards in that they include categories judged by healthcare professionals – the targets of the work (TARGET) – as well as a creative panel from the industry (CRAFT).

Havas Lynx’s gold awards comprised of:

Best primary care advertisement – Change the face of HIV for Viiv healthcare (TARGET)

Best advertisement campaign – Change the face of HIV for Viiv healthcare (CRAFT)

Disease awareness – Sun safety on site for HSS Hire supported by Cancer Research UK (CRAFT)

Best Primary Care Campaign – Change the face of HIV for Viiv healthcare (CRAFT)

Best Film – Change the face of HIV for Viiv healthcare (CRAFT)

Dave Hunt, Havas Lynx CEO, said:

“We’re incredibly proud to have smashed our own awards record and been recognised at the PM Society Awards, despite incredibly tough competition.  

“Our strategy to invest heavily in our creative capabilities over the past few years has really paid dividends and we now have a studio team of over 75, and a total of eight hugely talented Creative Directors.  This month we’re delighted to be welcoming Tim Jones to the team, a truly stand-out, multi-award winning Creative Director, who brings with him a wealth of experience in consumer and HCP campaigns.

“As an agency we are constantly evolving, and we are dedicated to creating profound work that has real impact. These awards are recognition of that and testament to our hard work.  It’s real a privilege to work closely with our clients, whose ground-breaking work inspires us on a daily basis.”   

About HAVAS LYNX

Informed by experience and driven by innovation, the people of Havas Lynx are agents of the next era in health.

Dedicated to helping clients connect consumers, professionals and brands with information, services, and influences to drive new relationships and better outcomes. Comprised of what was formerly known as Euro RSCG Life 4D and Creative Lynx, Havas Lynx has offices in New York, Manchester and London. A member of the Havas Health global network.

Website: www.havaslynx.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/HavasLynx

Twitter: @HavasLynxEU

Instagram: www.instagram.com/havaslynxeu/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HAVASLYNXEurope

Generation Now – Round Table Event

When we started our journey into Generation Now I had no idea how much interest it would generate and how it would develop a life all of its own. Generation Now puts the millennial healthcare professional under the spotlight and never more so than at our most recent event – a round table meeting of key millennial healthcare professionals, at the Royal Society of Medicine.

We were delighted to be joined by some of the industry’s top healthcare entrepreneurs and millennials. Between them Dr Shafi Ahmed, Dr Stephanie Eltz and Dr Matt Jameson Evans represent some of the most innovative faces of healthcare in the twenty-first century. Dr Ahmed, consultant general and colorectal surgeon, is a leader in the use and development of augmented reality in clinical practice in areas such as sharing the latest surgical techniques through live streaming oncology operations[i]; Dr Eltz is a trauma and orthopaedic registrar and founder of Doctify – a platform-neutral online patient-doctor interface and Dr Jameson Evans, previously an orthopaedic surgeon, is the co-founder and chief medical officer of HealthUnlocked – an online community that is gaining a reputation for being the LinkedIn for patients with chronic conditions. We also had key leaders from the pharmaceutical industry and the ABPI.

The round table discussion was lively – as you’d expect with such big personalities in the room. Entrepreneurs by nature are generally outgoing and yes sometimes outspoken – but then the point of the evening was to try and discover what the millennial generation could expect from healthcare, and what we could all be doing to help it get there.

Big data came up and, not unexpectedly, but maybe not quite fairly, the NHS’s apparent struggle to cope with it. Perhaps the recent involvement in healthcare of big data big guns such as Google and Facebook can help it find its place in healthcare. ‘Wearables’ were also seen as one of the next big things. Continuous blood glucose monitors are already ‘a thing’ but imagine the possibilities for 24/7 monitoring of health predictors and the benefits that this could bring to people with other chronic conditions. And where do I even begin with the possibilities that virtual and augmented reality could bring?

We may all be used to viewing healthcare as an immovable object, but everyone in the room was in agreement that much of the technology, either under development or already available to support the millennial HCP, will disrupt this status quo. As an industry we have so much to offer the millennial HCP and help them become positive disruptors, that can take new technology into healthcare for the benefit of all of us. One thing is clear – the future is most definitely coming, and with it huge steps in our understanding of patients, diseases and treatment.

While there were far too many great points made throughout the course of this event to talk about here, there are a few key things that really stuck in my mind. It’s clear that we all need to increase collaboration to encourage the uptake of these innovative technologies.  We need to stop thinking we have to maintain the status quo – our entrepreneurial HCPs are delivering some amazing new approaches and, if we really embrace them, they have the potential to add enormous value to the way our healthcare system works. Probably the most important point though, was that while innovation should be welcomed, we must remember not to leave people behind. After all it is the millennial healthcare professionals and millennial patients that make our health service what it is; and what it will become.

Thank you to everyone who made this such an exciting and insightful debate.

Participants involved include:
Dr Shafi Ahmed, Consultant and Surgeon, and Co-founder of Medical Realities
Dr Stephanie Eltz, Founder of Doctify
David Hunt, CEO Havas Lynx
Dr Matt Jameson Evans, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of HealthUnlocked
Dr Rebecca Lumsden, Head of Science Policy, ABPI
John McCarthy, Vice President, Global Commercial Excellence, AstraZeneca
Dr Claire Novorol, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Ada, Founder and Chairman of Doctorpreneurs
Sarah Price, Senior Planner, Havas Lynx
Hiba Saleem, Partnerships Director of Doctorpreneurs and CO-founder of Medtech Student Network
Dominic Tyer, Editorial Director, PMGroup and Chair

The Generation Now Round Table event will be featured in the November edition of PME, available online from 8th November 2016.

[i] http://www.wired.co.uk/article/wired-health-virtual-reality-surgery-shafi-ahmed

 

Generation Now.

The Millennial HCP, by David Hunt

The impact of the millennial healthcare professional on our world.

Millennials are criticised as narcissistic, entitled and technology-obsessed, but our new campaign shows millennial healthcare professionals – mHCPs – in a different light. They have certainly grown up in a digital and interactive world, but have a strong social conscience, are entrepreneurial and are adept at communicating, collaborating and adapting to the world as they find it.

Through a series of in-depth interviews with medical students, academics, innovators, physicians, authors and patients from around the world, Generation Now identifies a new & inspired generation of healthcare professionals. It is a generation with different attitudes and ambitions to their predecessors, and it is a generation who will drive our industry forward and embrace innovation to offer improved outcomes for all.

In our new campaign, we outline key considerations for communicating and collaborating with this new generation, outlining how we can create effective healthcare campaigns that truly make a difference.

For more information on our YouTube & Podcast series, and our White Paper visit www.m-hcp.com

#LXAcademy
#MillennialHCP

Conduct

The importance of manners, by David Hunt

Speak when spoken to, remember your please & thank-yous, and listen to others – all important lessons I’m determined to teach my son, Hudson. They are essential to being a well-rounded member of society and equally essential in Pharma’s pursuit of social media acceptance.

We talk A LOT about governance, rules of engagement and process. For me this is the method and  internal mechanics, it’s of our concern and not our customers. Of far more importance to me is our product, their experience, which is determined by our behaviour & conduct. There’s little point in engaging in social if it does not help the community, and complement our commercial objectives. If we compromise our personality, we compromise our campaign.

Typically our behaviour is weighed down by bureaucracy; it is uptight, awkward & unresponsive. It lacks critical speed & authenticity. It can feel like a conversation with a committee, most likely because it is. Newspaper Editors the world over take responsibility for their publications. It allows them to publish breaking news, competing with their rivals, meeting the needs of their customers. The consensus is that Pharma cannot be so frivolous, the risks are too great. True, if we are publishing product related information, not true if we are engaging with a community relating to disease awareness. Of course there will be points when we can’t comment, but these should not compromise the many meaningful interactions we can have.

Of course governance cannot be underestimated, but it should be guidelines & not a rule book. It should inspire, not suffocate our interactions. And it must be built on a brand personality & values, a global tone for all markets & platforms.

By trusting intelligent individuals to take responsibility, thus replacing response by committee with a more human approach to social media, we too can become a well-rounded member of society.

Classroom

Ideas

Creativity, More Important Than Ever by David Hunt

You can have a strong brand & commitment to fulfil it. You can have the necessary culture to respond in a real fashion. You can have a relevant, quality, dynamic content strategy. And most importantly, you can share a genuine ambition with your community. But you can still, and most likely will, fail in social media.

In a world that besieges individuals with content, news & entertainment across all manner of devices & channels, standing-out from the crowd is more important than ever. Pharma has spent so long wrestling with social, that when we finally do arrive, we expect that they will come. The world has not been waiting. The world is oblivious to our fraught self-interrogation. That is not to say, we can’t add significant value to our respective communities, it is just that we need to earn the right to be socially significant. Turning-up, standing on the periphery, is not enough.

In my opinion, you need an idea that grabs attention and acts as a catalyst for your social campaign. It requires insight into the community, imagination to be unique, the potential to be valuable & engaging, but it also requires appreciation of social dynamics. It is not an advert, but it is creative. It is an idea that drives participation & interaction, from incremental approval & shares, to endorsement & actions. It takes great talent, with great ideas to unlock the great social opportunity.

In South America we have seen the Colombian League Against Cancer “Cancer Tweets” campaign demonstrating the creative opportunity social media represents.

Great ideas that leverage the social opportunity are still the exception in healthcare. I’m excited to work with clients and colleagues with the imagination and bravery to seize the initiative and make a difference.

lightbulb

The death of traditional consumerism: what does it mean for pharma?

HAVAS Worldwide’s latest paper, The New Consumer & The Sharing Economy, outlines a growing sentiment against over consumption. Seven in ten of us believe it to be putting our society and the planet at risk, and the majority feel that current models of consumerism are not sustainable. More than this, we feel weighed down by the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ we own.

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Put simply, we’re tired of consumerism and bored of adverts that try to manipulate us by pushing products at us like they’re the answer to life’s problems. We want to be in control, we want to be able to make informed decisions about how we spend our time and money and we don’t want others telling us what to do.

This goes for healthcare as much as consumer markets. Patients no longer expect to merely be prescribed a pill that they unwittingly swallow down once a day and hope for the best. Facilitated by an abundance of information technologies, they are knowledgeable about treatments and want to be actively involved in managing their own health care.

The wealth of monitoring apps across treatment areas (AsthmaCheck, MoodPanda and Diabetes In Check are but a few) is a fair indicator of a general desire for information and authority regarding personal treatment regimens. For financially hamstrung public health providers such as the NHS, this is a welcome trend. Empowering patients with greater control of their treatment reduces the burden of care placed on public providers, and has the potential to garner much better results by actively engaging patients.

So where does pharma fit into all this? The patent model and subsequent relationship with healthcare providers has always followed traditional models of consumerism; ‘we are a drug company and we’ve produced this drug which you can buy from us’. So how can we who work in pharma support and facilitate patients’ desires for greater inclusion and authority in their care and still turn a profit?

Firstly, we need to reshape our relationship with the people we serve. Pharmaceutical companies can no longer act as vendors and must become partners to professionals and patients alike. In doing so, we need to provide solutions, not pills, and increasingly this will mean delivering holistic services and systems of care. ‘Beyond the pill’ solutions are an arena in which there is massive potential for pharmaceutical companies to add real value.  At HAVAS LYNX we’ve worked on a series of patient care programmes that have been shown to half the number of days patients spend in hospital.

When pharma partners its expertise with other parties, it opens up a world of new revenue streams. Start-up accelerator organisations such as Healthbox are stimulating the sort of innovation and collaboration that pharma should be looking to more and more. Even amidst the context of Pfizer’s efforts to secure the acquisition of AstraZeneca, pharma companies need to look beyond traditional development pipelines when seeking to expand their offering.

We need to innovate past the sector mainstream and recognise outsider trends, much in the same way that Facebook is making moves to expand beyond social by purchasing of ProtoGeo. There are so many exciting and disruptive technologies being developed that have the potential to transform the lives of patients. Far more than offering supplementary revenue, these areas that currently lie on the fringes of the market are likely to be the mainstay of pharmaceuticals in the future.

 

Technology is the means to an effect, it is the idea that counts.

Healthcare Digital Communications, by David Hunt

HAVAS LYNX celebrates 28 years of business this month, and a decade in healthcare digital communications – so what’s changed in the last decade?

Closed-loop marketing (CLM) has never been far from the agenda. Promising more efficient use of resource & more rewarding customer interactions. The ambition has barely changed, but unfortunately neither has the reality. There are some notable exceptions & I am very pleased with our work in this area, but it could & should be so much more. And it will be. The release of the iPad acted as a catalyst for an important shift in ownership from IT to Business. As a result, we are now driven by function & value, not constrained by fear & naivety. In 2014 merely embracing new hardware is not enough. In a world whereby the paper sales aid has become unique, and digital tools are omnipresent, points of differentiation must be earnt through innovation and ideas.

HAVAS LYNX Celebrates 28yrs
HAVAS LYNX Celebrates 28yrs

It would be hard to categorise the broader Pharma marketing community as innovators or early adopters. But as Facebook has celebrated its 10th birthday, I think we should recognise the progress made in social media. It has always been a hot topic of debate, but now we are starting to see more frequent, more tangible outputs. In addition there has been a noticeable increase in the social media briefs that we receive. The usual tone of caution has been replaced by one of courage, underpinned by a belief in ethics over our previous fascination with rules.

I believe in Pharma sponsored healthcare professional product websites, but I am definitely in the minority. The last decade had seen limited change, limited innovation and unsurprisingly limited success. However, poor execution & a lack of imagination should not render the tool redundant. If I’m looking for a car, I check the manufacturers website before validating the information in social media, the same is true for hotels, new trainers & my next laptop. I don’t discount the company’s website just because they are marketing to me, in the same way doctors don’t discount reps. It is true, the product website is not a silver bullet, but with renewed passion & a dramatic improvement in user experience, it can play an important role in integrated campaigns.

In 2004 I wasn’t addicted to my mobile. I didn’t use it for news, I didn’t ask it’s opinion on the new local restaurant & I didn’t use it to broadcast my opinions. The biggest change in the last decade is EVERYONES digital behaviour. It is absurd to think that healthcare professionals use digital for finance but not research, that they use digital to follow news but not medicine, that they connect offline but not online. Today, more than ever, we are not limited by our customer, but by our imagination. 

HAVAS LYNX Named Havas Agency of the Year

Network life, by David Hunt

We joined the Havas network on the 31st May 2012. On the 22nd of January 2014 we were named Havas Agency of the year. This accolade is our single greatest award. Representing healthcare in a consumer world, competing with the likes of the brilliant BETC, Cake and One Green Bean, we have proven that pharmaceutical marketing can be just as exciting, just as creative and just as innovative as the B2C world. In fact, we have demonstrated that it can be better.

We joined Havas due to their passion, energy and creativity. They are the group behindEvian’s Roller Babies campaign (77 million views on YouTube) and the Baby & Me campaign (71 million views on YouTube). More recently, the team in Australia launched the Doug Pitt campaign and from Paris BETC launched ‘The Bear’ for Canal+.

Healthcare can often be seen as the ugly duckling of advertisement; stifling creativity in favour of science. I would argue that it simply raises the bar of the creative expertise required to succeed within the sector. I am not diminishing the talent required to make Aldi exciting, but it requires a different expertise, determination and creative confidence to succeed in healthcare communications.

There is a belief in media and communications that global networks buy all of the best talent and break them. There are a number of cases and stories within the industry of once amazing agencies losing their sparkle, independence and passion. This fear was echoed by a number of our clients when we announced our deal with Havas. Had our deal been purely based on financials we would have chosen a different partner. Had we not wanted to evolve the agency, and been happy to rest on our laurels, we would not have found a partner at all. As a senior team, we recognised the need to develop our offering, enhancing our global presence and bolstering our strategic offering, to complement our natural creativity and innovation. This award is a testament to Havas: making us stronger, not weaker; our service more agile, less bloated; our campaigns smarter, less fanciful.

Plane

It would be wrong to say that 2013 was easy. It was not. It was incredibly hard. In the first 6 months we had a number of tough projects, internal challenges and inevitable growing pains. The fact we turned things around and closed 2013 so strongly demonstrates the strength of character that runs from the bottom to the top of our agency, from strategy to delivery, from reception to board. It also fills us all with real confidence for 2014, as we look to build upon robust client partnerships, a responsive structure and exceptional people.

What next? HAVAS LYNX will continue to demonstrate that creativity and innovation in healthcare communications is defined by passion and ideas, not legislation and fear.

10, 20, 50, 100 or 1,000; what’s the perfect size for an agency?

Client / Agency relationships, by David Hunt

178, the size of HAVAS LYNX. Ask anyone that manages an agency of 178 & they will say the same – it’s perfect. I imagine that in a few weeks 181 will be even more perfect. 

For years we were perceived as being too small. Now we are too big to be innovative, yet still too small to be a player?!? I disagree with both opinions.

Innovation & creativity is not about headcount. Never has been, never will be. It’s about people, passion & culture. With a background in digital, technology & creativity, I was appointed CEO at the age of 33. I’m driven by ideas & not numbers. Supported by a management team that believes in great work, we  now invest in more diverse expertise, try more unique technologies & chase more ideas than ever before. We are constantly looking for new concepts for ourselves, for our clients, for HCPs & for patients.

Can you be small, commercially motivated & technology agnostic? With the correct approach and the right people, perhaps. However, are you more likely to settle with the specialist you shared lunch with, or the unknown you still need to locate? With a big agency comes diverse expertise under one roof, providing seamless access to broad ideas. But can you be big & still bright? Certainly, but only by breaking down silos & embracing diversity. Different experiences, points of view & interests inspire innovation.

Like the story of Goldilocks, some agencies are too big, some agencies are too small, and some agencies are just right – it depends on your taste.

Three Bears
It is a matter of taste

Another strange question – do you have enough capacity? Does a prospective customer really want an agency that’s quiet? I’ve never walked into an empty restaurant, however if it’s heaving I want a reservation – evidence suggests that the product will be great. Do you want a partner that is free, or do you want a partner that is expert? A well run agency will have the infrastructure, process & connections to scale smartly and meet the fluid needs of their customers.

I’m proud to say that we are very big and we are very busy. And our clients choose HAVAS LYNX for our  ideas, innovation & ability to exceed expectations, and we are grateful for their patronage. 

Addressing the needs of pharmaceutical marketing and embracing 2014

2014, what are the strategic priorities for HAVAS LYNX? By David Hunt

Embracing 2014 and building on our strengths
Embracing 2014 and building on our strengths

Agency life is exciting, fluid & often unpredictable. I believe that the success of an agency depends on the team & the culture, and the ability they afford an agency to respond to change. However, whilst responding to the market, competitive landscape & technology is essential, so too is a bold strategy. As we embark on 2014, what are the strategic priorities for HAVAS LYNX?

People make an agency. Their talent, expertise & commitment deliver great campaigns, great innovation & great service. In 2014 we are launching the LX Academy to develop expertise & knowledge.

And it’s not just our people that shape our fortunes, the impact of good & bad clients is immeasurable. A good client values your opinion & respects your service. A bad client jeopardises your product, profitability & most importantly your people. In 2014 we will be as selective as our clients.

HAVAS LYNX Medical was launched in 2013. 2014 will be their year. Combining scientific expertise, digital innovation & ethics, they will provide unsurpassed medical education & scientific exchange. Led by Dr Nick Broughton, they will deliver significant ROI through smart, integrated campaigns that are defined by customers & not tradition.

The fantastic teams in LYNX London, LYNX Local & HAVAS HEALTH Software will continue to prosper & build on robust foundations. They are each unique & entirely designed around the needs of pharmaceutical marketing. LYNX London are shaping global strategies for Novartis, Janssen & Roche. In their fourth year, LYNX Local continue to ensure global campaigns have a local impact. And HAVAS HEALTH Software are a technology start-up that is redefining healthcare communications.

Founded in 1986 as Creative Lynx, HAVAS LYNX were driven by ideas & strategy. In the early noughties we embraced & defined digital in healthcare, but we never forgot our roots. As we move forward many of our clients partner with us for their strategy, ideas & innovations. Our ambition for 2014 is to continue this trend, delivering best-in-class campaigns that are defined by customer needs & not technology.