Lions Health, the two-day specialist event taking place during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, from 17-18 June, has today announced the full content programme.

Lions Health explores life-changing interventions and products in healthcare and pharma through game-changing content, tailored learning and thought-provoking debate. The best in global healthcare and pharma communications will be celebrated and showcased in dedicated exhibition spaces and honoured at the Lions Health Awards Ceremony on Saturday 17 June.

Executive Festival Director of Lions Health, Louise Benson, commented “Lions Health has grown into the must-attend event for healthcare creatives and marketers globally and it continues to flourish year-on-year. We’re delighted to announce such an exciting, progressive content programme this year, which will set the direction for the future of industry communications.”

Standout content across three stages, includes:

Sci-fi Artist and Body Architect Lucy McRae joins HAVAS HEALTH & YOU to discuss how art and science disciplines are converging to innovate healthcare; while Jean-Marie Dru addresses disruptive innovation in healthcare and considers new approaches to create urgently needed change in today’s industry. The genomic revolution transforming the future of medicine is the theme for Illumina’s Senior Vice President and EMEA General Manager Paula Dowdy and iVentures Health who will explore how genomics could revolutionise healthcare communications. And finally, Biogen’s Shwen Gwee, alongside Langland, will share principles from MIT's medicine hackathon playbook on how to develop creative ideas for healthcare. Shwen Gwee will also participate in Sunday’s Shakers & Stirrers session on the Cannes Lions Beach.

Further Lions Health highlights:

The MedTech Expo returns for a second year. Sponsored by Omnicom Health Group, and showcasing next-gen technologies transforming healthcare globally, the exhibitors are announced as: Twitter, Google, IBM Watson, Control Bionics, GMR Marketing, Sensely and Omnicom Health Group Data Is Delicious.

The Lightning Talks take place on the Health in Action Stage. These short 10 minute talks from the MedTech Expo exhibitors will bring attendees up to speed with next-gen products.

New Unconference Sessions

Attendees are invited to join four Think Tank sessions. Before coming along, they can write down discussion points on the Unconference Zone whiteboards, led by graphic facilitation firm ImageThink, to feed in their ideas, live in person.

The four sessions are announced as:
The Future – responding to questions such as “Is our industry prepared for the future of healthcare communications?”; Brand Reputation – asks for candid viewpoints around reputational risk and corporate image; Talent – exploring the role of creatives in the new era of cognitive machines; and Digital Disruption – examining how to drive the best ideas and build the right skillset for tomorrow’s creative teams.

New for 2017, The Health Marketers Accelerator Programme recognises that for marketers today, creativity is an essential business tool. This specially-designed programme is free-to-attend for marketers coming to Lions Health. It’s designed to help client-side marketers get the most out of the event, guiding them through winning work, summarising information from the stages and demonstrating how they can be applied. Registration is available here: https://www.canneslions.com/festival/lions-health/health-marketers-accel...

Young Lions Health Award

The Young Lions Health Award is held in partnership with UNICEF and "la Caixa" Foundation this year. The competition, now in its third year, invited young creatives around the world to submit multi-channel campaigns in response to a brief looking to raise awareness and engagement in the fight against pneumonia and increase the level of investment for methods to diagnose the preventable disease.

In 2015, UNICEF and "la Caixa" Foundation launched a two-year partnership to fight childhood pneumonia and have undertaken a product innovation project, Acute Respiratory Infection Diagnostic Aid (ARIDA) to pilot new pneumonia diagnostic devices. The winning campaign is aimed to launch as part of the World Pneumonia Day on 12 November and will be awarded onstage on Saturday 17 June at the Lions Health Award Ceremony.

RB & Lions Health Innovation Hack

Launched in 2016, and returning this year, the RB & Lions Health Innovation Hack focusses on China and recognises the continuing health threat of air pollution globally. Three teams of 10, made up of leading RB R&D people, creatives and entrepreneurs, are given just 28 hours to work on a brief to develop a product solution to help tackle the impact of air pollution. Taking place from 16 -18 June 2017, the live judging session will be held on Sunday 18 June.

THE LIONS HEALTH THEMES FOR 2017

A question of ethics - looking at privacy, human values and the use of individuals’ data to inform creative campaigns
The impact of the quantified self - With the influx of wearables and gadgets, consumers are becoming obsessed with checking the status of all aspects of their health
throughout the day, be it heart rate, calories burned or their skin. What opportunities can marketers get involved to create this tech or make use of the data captured?
Using creativity to educate, support and "speak the language" of Healthcare Professionals - How can marketers take the right approach when marketing to HCPs?
The “Uberfication” of Healthcare – exploring the influence of social and pop culture on healthcare communications

The full content programme is published here: https://www.canneslions.com/festival/events-scheduled#/?activeFestival=L... Health

Networking is at the heart of Lions Health and all attendees can join Braindates – the new, highly innovative networking and peer-learning platform. Taking place at the new Connections Beach, Braindates, powered by e180 and delivered in partnership with Accenture Interactive, allows all Cannes Lions attendees to connect with the right people and book one-on-one networking sessions based on shared passion and knowledge, regardless of career level. All official Cannes Lions delegates can log in to the Braindates website to book and ‘Offer’ their experience, or ‘Request’ knowledge on subjects of interest. Lions Health attendees can also head to Health-focussed Meet Ups. These curated networking sessions themed around interest areas, include: Empathy Champions; Festival First-timers and Cannes Futurists, taking place on the Palais II terrace.

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The International Festival of Creativity, also known as Cannes Lions, is the world's leading celebration of creativity in communications and encompasses LionsHealth, Lions Innovation and Lions Entertainment. Founded in 1954, the Festival takes place every June in Cannes, France. As the most prestigious international annual advertising and communications awards, over 40,000 entries from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival.

The eight-day Festival is the only truly global meeting place for professionals working in advertising and communications. A community of 15,000 attendees from nearly 100 countries attend eight days of workshops, exhibitions, screenings, master classes and high-profile seminars presented by renowned worldwide industry leaders.

Winning companies receive the highly coveted Liontrophy, a global benchmark of creative excellence, for Creative Data, Creative Effectiveness, Cyber, Design, Digital Craft, Direct, Film, Film Craft, Glass: The Lionfor Change, Health & Wellness, Innovation, Entertainment, Media, Mobile, Music, Outdoor, Pharma, PR, Print & Publishing, Product Design, Promo & Activation, Radio, Titanium and Integrated Lions. The Festival is also the only truly global meeting place for advertisers, advertising and communication professionals. Cannes Lions is an Ascential event. www.canneslions.com