Pharma companies set for Cannes ad creativity festival: Pfizer and Novo Nordisk are both set to take the main stages at Cannes’ advertising confab this summer. The just-announced program highlights Novo and spokesperson Queen Latifah talking about “creativity, community and obesity,” and Pfizer chief marketing officer Drew Panayiotou and agency Publicis talking about the pharma’s “Outdo Yesterday” brand campaign.
AstraZeneca taps NHL player and his mom for first TV ad: AstraZeneca extended its National Hockey League screening partnership “Get Body Checked Against Cancer” with a national TV ad debuting during the playoff season. New York Rangers defenseman and team captain Jacob Trouba and his mom, Kristy, star in the commercial linking hockey game-winning checks to the importance of personal health with cancer body checks.
AbbVie continues to lead with immunology physicians: AbbVie is still the dominant pharma company in immunology healthcare professionals’ perception, according to ZoomRx’s latest quarterly deep dive with physicians. Pfizer is in a distant second place, although it is well positioned with a strong pipeline and its acquisition of Landos Biopharma, the survey showed. Takeda and Sanofi also made strides, but Johnson & Johnson faces problems with significant drops in both perception and loyalty scores.
Allergan Aesthetics opens casting call for brand campaigns: AbbVie’s Allergan Aesthetics is once again looking for new faces. It’s a follow-up to its “Face of Botox” search last year, which nabbed 20,000 submissions. This time, it’s looking again for people who want to represent Botox Cosmetic, but also its facial filler brand Juvederm and its Allē loyalty rewards program, in future brand campaigns. The Botox search resulted in the “See Yourself” campaign that AbbVie plans to expand.
Haleon’s Flonase allergy brand partners with Shondaland and “Bridgerton” series: GSK consumer spinoff Haleon is teaming up with the popular Netflix TV series “Bridgerton” created by Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland production company. In a new social video, characters Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton sneeze their way to the apothecary for relief only to find it (Flonase) “will be ready — in about 200 years.”
Ardelyx, AbbVie and Ironwood support building illuminations for World IBS Day: Buildings around the world lit up in periwinkle blue to raise awareness for IBS on Friday. The annual event, sponsored by Ardelyx, AbbVie and Linzess, aims to draw attention to the prevalence and misunderstandings around the condition.