Fierce Pharma unveils the winners of the 5th annual creativity contest for outstanding marketing campaigns

There were double wins at the fifth annual Fierce Pharma Marketing Awards on Wednesday night at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

In the creative battle, Gilead Sciences and Bayer's North American Consumer Health Unit each secured two wins, as did partner agencies Publicis Health Media, Initiative and twelvenote.

Gilead actually won two awards for the same campaign—"Gilead’s In the Deep Podcast"—but in different categories. The campaign won in both the Multicultural Campaign and the new Podcast or Audio categories. In both cases, Gilead and Initiative used audio to promote HIV discussions with the aim of increasing HIV testing. 

Giliad and Initiative collaborated on a dedicated podcast called “The Deep” for HIV conversations and storytelling. Gilead said the podcast was set up to provide “a space to both amplify our message and naturally create a private, audio environment where our audience would feel comfortable engaging.”

Bayer's North American Consumer Health Unit also secured two wins, both in collaboration with the German pharma's agency partner, twelvenote. Unlike Gilead, these awards were for two separate campaigns

The first, which won the Online Video or Film category, was for “One a Day The Gratitude Project,” a documentary series that collects inspiring stories from people who have begun practicing body gratitude after coming up against enormous personal setbacks. It was co-produced by Emmy winner Samira Wiley.

The second win was in the Social Media for Consumer category. The award-winning campaign, titled "The Real Reason," was designed for Bayer's period pain relief drug, Midol. This campaign, described by Bayer and its agency as "a social experiment," aimed to "support menstruators by helping them recognize that there is no shame in taking a break from commitments due to real period symptoms."

The experiment, a purpose-led campaign, shows social media video reactions from friends, family, school and employers to real menstruators “calling out” of social commitments due to period symptoms instead of using a fake or more “acceptable” reason.

Another of the double winners was the prominent ad agency Publicis Health Media, securing victories in both the Medical Conference or Event Marketing category and the New Brand Launch category.

In the Conference or Event category, Publicis won for its project titled "Conference Conversations," a video content series created in collaboration with Twitter for Business and Medscape. The agency initiated this series with the goal of "unifying healthcare providers attending medical conferences to establish new pathways connecting attendees and marketers." It focuses on some of the biggest healthcare conferences, such as the annual cancer conference ASCO, and includes pre-conference insights, updates day-of and post-event, and content from healthcare conferences across social media.

In the New Brand Launch category, Publicis won for its campaign titled “Changing the Culture Around Menopause,” which looked to break the taboos around menopause and allow open conversations about the condition.

Check out all the category winners and their campaigns below.

Digital Campaign – non-social media
SHE Media for "SheKnows and Pfizer: Navigating Medical  Gaslighting”

Innovation Challenge
Roche Turkey, Albert Health, Turkish MS Association for “MS+”

Medical Conference or Event Marketing
Publicis Health Media for “Conference Conversations”

Multicultural Campaign
Gilead Sciences & Initiative for "Gilead’s In the Deep Podcast"

New Brand Launch
Publicis Health Media for “Changing the Culture Around Menopause”

Online Video or Film
twelvenote and Bayer Consumer Health North America for “One a Day The Gratitude Project”

Pharma TV
Biohaven and ESS Solutions, LLC for “First-Ever Television Commercials On Obsessive Compulsive Disorder”

Podcast or Audio
Gilead Sciences & Initiative for "Gilead’s In the Deep Podcast"

Print for Consumer
Sanofi, Regeneron Healthcare Solutions & Evoke MicroMass for “Dupixent”

Professional Marketing
Jazz Pharmaceuticals & ScoutLife for “XYWAV – Elephant in the Room”

Public Relations Campaign
Genentech & Syneos Health Communications for “SMA My Way: Reclaiming the Double Take to Challenge Disability Stereotypes”

Social Media for Consumer
twelvenote and Bayer Consumer Health North America for "The Real Reason”

Website for Consumer
Evoke MicroMass for “mBC Unspoken”