Recently, the New York Festivals Global Awards hosted India’s first live judging session in Mumbai. Known in the industry as one of healthcare advertising’s best-known awards, the jury was put together by Praful Akali, Founder and MD of Medulla Communications, an advertising agency that specialises in health communication. The panel shortlisted digital-based work and collateral materials that support a wellness campaign. Earlier this year, Praful conducted a session on ‘life-changing creativity’ at Cannes Lions, the advertising awards. The agency itself has been the most awarded at the Cannes Lions Health ever, winning across three years. Here, Praful talks about communication in health today.
From the time you started your agency 10 years ago to now, how have you seen health communication change?
In India and across the world, pharma, health, and wellness communication are finally getting their due and being recognised as a separate branch of advertising requiring unique skills and needing to be measured in different terms. While all advertising is becoming purpose-driven, it is in health that purpose-driven advertising really shines through. That’s why the biggest advertising awards shows are initiating separate awards for pharma/healthcare advertising.
Even clients are appreciating the value of pharma/healthcare advertising specialists. They realise that these are high-involvement categories with very long marketing funnels, and hence, even for consumer brands, one, there is a role of influencers — like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, gym instructors; two, the insights need to be significantly deeper; three, content marketing and peer-to-peer media like influencer marketing and social media play a key role; four, the communication needs to feel real rather than typical overstated advertising.
What is the current way that the world sees health itself, that is reflected in communication?
In India, we as consumers or patients don’t trust our doctors, don’t trust our diagnostic centres, don’t trust our healthcare brands. That’s why we take a second and a third opinion for the smallest illness. Brands are now beginning to address this lack of trust by developing communication that feels more real, and genuinely serves a purpose for the audience and not just the brand. There is also a decidedly stronger use of influencer marketing in healthcare advertising.
What would you say is your best advertising campaign so far?
The best for us is yet to come. But I do have a few favourites. The ‘Tum Nahi Samjhoge’ campaign for MuscleBlaze demonstrated how great creative work can create a cult-like following and business for the brand. The film was appreciated and gained around 6M views on YouTube. The campaign ‘Last Words’ with nurses recounting the last words of their patients to promote palliative/end-of-life care was our first big award-winning campaign. ‘Last Laugh’ with terminally ill patients performing stand-up comedy on their experiences with death was probably our toughest campaign ever to pull off.
Other campaigns you’ve liked?
Amitabh Bachchan’s polio campaign is still memorable and had tremendous impact in eradicating polio. Saffola’s numerous campaigns have got people to focus on their hearts over the years.
