FCB’s Area 23 Named “Healthcare Agency of the Year” at 2017 Cannes Lions Health Festival

Area 23, an FCB Health company, was named “Healthcare Agency of the Year” during the 2017 Cannes Lions Health award ceremonies, held yesterday evening.

The accolade is given annually and honors the “healthcare agency that obtains the most points” in both award wins and shortlist entries across the health categories in Lions Health. The latter is the portion of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity dedicated to recognizing “life-changing creativity,” as well as “showcasing and inspiring ideas that transcend especially challenging boundaries.”

The award builds on a strong winning streak for Area 23, which was also honored as “Agency of the Year,” “Most Creative Agency” and “Most Admired Agency” at the 2017 Manny Awards, hosted by Med Ad News.

Aside from notching one of the evening’s top honors, Area 23 also took home notable accolades during the Pharma and Health and Wellness Lions award ceremonies. Collectively, the FCB network, which includes FCB Health and Area 23, won four Bronze, four Silver and two Gold Lions last evening.

The full list of winners includes:

• “Healthcare Agency of the Year” – Area 23

• Gold – Polaris – Area 23

• Gold – “Down Syndrome Answers” – FCB Toronto

• Silver – “Down Syndrome Answers” – FCB Toronto

• Silver – “Down Syndrome Answers” – FCB Toronto

• Silver – “Smart Bell” – FCB Warsaw

• Silver – Polaris – Area 23

• Bronze – “Map #1” – Area 23

• Bronze – “Alien” – Area 23

• Bronze – “This Girl Can” – FCB Inferno

• Bronze – “Disclaimer” – FCB Lisboa

Commenting on the network’s successes, Dana Maiman, CEO/President of FCB Health, said the award wins are a testament to the FCB Health family’s focus on a strong creative product for clients.

“Three years ago, Rich Levy, our FCB Health Chief Creative Officer, issued a challenge to all of our agencies: to raise the bar creatively across our network. Our strong performance at both the Manny Awards and now Cannes Lions is a great proof point of our progress and success in delivering on this goal. Thank you and congrats to all of our talented teams!”

Area 23 Managing Director and Executive Creative Director Tim Hawkey was on stage with his team to receive one of the evening’s top honors last night. He remarked: “Winning Lions Health’s ‘Agency of the Year’ was a goal that we, as an agency, set for 2020, but to receive this honor just two months after setting that expectation is surreal.”

Hawkey continued: “This is an accomplishment that was only possible with the collective commitment of the entire agency. Creativity is a group effort, and at Area 23, it’s an all-hands-on- deck approach. My partner, Renée Mellas, leads the account group, and there has never been an account leader more committed to the quality of the work. The result is an agency where creative, account, strategy, medical, engagement, tech and production work hand-in-hand to deliver breakthrough work.”