The glorious month of June is upon us once more and sur la Croisette the Rose is being chilled, the pavements are being hosed down and the sea is reaching the correct temperature for midnight swims in soggy underwear. Mentioning no names, ahem.. Dear reader, will you be joining the thirsty adfolk from around the... Continue Reading →
Asking the cows about farming.
I was recently sat in an awards jury, as you do, when a 'medical person' insisted that in one category all you really had to do, to launch a new drug, was to announce its arrival. Drug X does Y. No selling or creativity was required. It was a curious, if not uncommon occurrence, to... Continue Reading →
PMs Question time.
Here in London the PM awards are almost upon us and people are frantically dry-cleaning their shiny suits and their not-too-glam-for-lunchtime-frocks and preparing to cut short, by a day, Dry January. Now: This won't come as that much of a shock but these annual awards have rather a low level of credibility within the creative... Continue Reading →
Have the VMAs gone to the dogs or cats?
If you thought Pharma adland was a bit of a niche area, some of you will have experienced the niche within the niche that is Veterinary pharma. Now that is niche. That is a Rolls Royce Cor-niche That's what Sean Connery calls the airport when you visit Cannes. And to a certain extent the leaps... Continue Reading →
The Healthcare world cup and a level playing field.
Having just returned from Cannes after two days of toe curling, interesting, a couple of dead boring and a few truly inspiring seminars, plus an awards ceremony that sent a very clear message to the world of pharma agencies, my over all impression is this: Finally we get our own world cup, the top... Continue Reading →
The 3 worst ways to judge creative
From outside the Pharma tent, you could be forgiven for thinking it all just looks like stock-shots and poor typography created by people not talented enough to make it in the big wide consumer world. OK, controversial start. But you and I both know that contrary to perception there is talent in them there hills.... Continue Reading →
How to cock up a winning formula
I have always liked working on the briefs that no one else wanted or had exhausted themselves trying to crack. I guess that's why I like Pharma. I like the briefs where you can slip in at the end, be a saviour and avoid the months of hellish rewrites and death by a thousand affiliate... Continue Reading →