Finalist
SMA: A Race Against Time
by Novartis Gene Therapies with support from Havas Life Medicom
Summary of work
Currently, the infrastructure for urgent diagnosis of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a rare, devastating genetic disease that affects babies from birth and can cause death before their second birthday, is not established across Europe. This means the responsibility of spotting the disease’s complex signs before it’s too late falls to caregivers and Primary Care Practitioners (PCPs). Therefore, an innovative education of both audiences was needed to help them recognise warning signs, accelerating SMA identification and treatment.
Havas Life Medicom were tasked with accurately depicting the subtle symptoms that are presented in newborn babies. However, it was April 2020 and most of Europe had gone into lockdown; our challenge was magnified – how could we deliver life-like images that credibly represent SMA, without access to real patients and within a deadline of 2 months, in the changing environment of the pandemic?
During this time, where human interaction was impossible, the team not only adapted, but excelled to create SMA: A Race against Time. Through inventive thinking, the application of innovative technology in new ways and collaborative remote working, the team strove to develop a novel, CGI-based multichannel campaign that brought visibility to the potentially-missed symptoms of this life-threatening genetic disease.
Judges' comments
Novartis Gene Therapies and Havas Life Medicom have produced a powerful submission, which is particularly strong on the creative side, with a compelling narrative around analysis, design, execution and results. The judges thought it was a good adaptation to a unique challenge and there was some good evidence of success in working to a tight timeframe.
