The PM Society’s 36th annual awards was held on 11 March 2022 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. After two years apart, due to the pandemic, the industry was back together to celebrate the best creative communications in pharma and healthcare.
An address by PM Society Co-Chairs Caroline Benson and Colin Williams kicked off the afternoon. The awards ceremony was hosted by Russell Kane and Alan Dedicoat, with entertainment from ventriloquist Nina Conti. Comedy was provided by Rob Mayhew, Head of Influence at Fleishman Hillard London and TikTok Creator, who produced videos specially for the event.
This year the show was preceded by a three-day online event where ticket holders could view finalists’ work, chat to other guests, engage with sponsors and take part in a competition. PM Society Awards Lead, Rachel Farrow, said: “The pandemic meant we have been running only online events over the last two years, so it’s been a relief to be able to host the PM Society Awards in person. We added the online awards platform prior to the ceremony to give people a chance to view the finalists but nothing can compare to the buzz of a face-to-face event, the chance to celebrate with your team and clients, and of course to meet colleagues old and new after being apart for so long.”
The agency at the top of the leaderboard was 21GRAMS, part of Real Chemistry, winning 6 Golds, 2 Silvers and a Bronze award. They were followed by a group of McCann agencies: McCann Health Paris with McCann World group and McCann Health London, winning 4 Golds. Get Animated+Medical won 2 Golds, as did Havas Lynx Group.
Other Gold winners were Area 23, an IPG Health Company, Havas Life Medicom, Makara Health and Actando, Seven Stones/AMV BBDO, VCCP Health and Wound Care People. The most successful client organisation, taking home 4 Golds, was the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation, in conjunction with The American University of Beirut Medical Centre and The British Islamic Medical Association. Novartis was a close second with 3 Golds and a Silver.
Other client Gold winners were Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie Company, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Fresenius Kabi, Greenwich BioSciences, Mölnlycke, Novo Nordisk, Roche/Chugai, Sanofi Genzyme and ViiV Healthcare. The new award for Agency Champion of the year, for someone who has delivered above and beyond in the field of healthcare communications, was given to VCCP Health’s Lesley Ohene. The new Pharma Marketing Pioneer award went to Sarah Woozley from Chugai.
There were two Best in Show awards this year, one for the best entry from pharma, won by 21GRAMS, part of Real Chemistry, for ‘PAINIMALS’, developed for Roche/Chugai, and one for the best charity entry, which went to ‘The Bread Exam’, from the McCann agencies for the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation in conjunction with The American University of Beirut Medical Centre and The British Islamic Medical Association.
Head judge, Dom Marchant, said: “This was a stand-out year for the quality and breadth of the entries, a year that, more than ever, has shown the power of creative communications within healthcare. Over 80 judges came together over two rounds of judging to decide the winners and we deliberated long and hard over the Best in Show. We had some great winners that represent work for pharmaceutical clients and for charity/pro-bono – and it is almost impossible to compare work for such different clients. We therefore decided to award two Best of Show awards. Most importantly, we felt that both demonstrated how creativity can directly affect people’s well-being.”
There was also a special award for Creativity for Good, an annual initiative run by the PM Society which aims to find a pro bono agency partner for a charity, which this year is DEBRA. PRECISIONeffect won the award, for their pro bono campaign, the DEBRA Effect. A highly commended award went to Syneos Health.
