2023 PM Society Digital Award Winners

Over the course of 14 phenomenal years, the PM Society Digital Awards have cemented their place as an unmissable highlight on the healthcare marketing calendar. Every year provides a new opportunity for agencies and client organisations to celebrate their achievements in innovation, quality and outcomes within digital communications. The PM Society Digital Awards 2023, supported by Digital Peloton as the main sponsor, welcomed 500 people to the Brewery in London and was expertly hosted by comedian and presenter Rob Beckett.

OPEN Health was the most successful agency, taking 3 golds and 3 silver awards, marking a second year of high achievement for the agency at this event. Ogilvy Health UK and Anthem Public Relations and The Good Ideas Group took 2 golds each. Other agencies taking Gold in the main categories included Brandcast Health, Makara Health, a Precision Value & Health team, MedShr, Oi, Purple Health, Radical Departures, Salt and Mearns & Pike and Seven Stones Collective.

In the People Categories, performance-io’s Emilia Donlon took the trophy for best Digital Project or Account Manager. One client said “Emilia has a customer-centric approach, excellent attention to detail and is a lateral thinker. Her ability to anticipate potential issues before they become problems is invaluable. A true professional.”

The coveted award for Digital Agency of the Year was won by Initiative Health. Judges and clients said of this impressive winning agency; “Initiative are true digital media experts with a strong culture and vision… they have an ability to combine a patient-focused approach with a data-driven mindset. They have excellent attention to operational details, efficient communication across teams and markets, and inspirational work.”

The standard was high with six agencies reaching the Digital Agency of the Year finals. LTF Digital were awarded Highly Commended and Kanga Health received Commended.

On the client side, the most successful company was Astellas Pharma UK, taking home 2 Golds and a Silver. Other Gold winners were Alliance Pharma, Bayer, CALM, Haleon, Kite Pharma, a Gilead Company, Kyowa Kirin, LEO Pharma, the RCN Foundation, Novartis, Santen, Takeda UK and UCB.

The final award of the night, that for Pharma Digital Partner, was won by Andrew Binns from AstraZeneca UK – whose team is no stranger to accolades this year. This award goes to an individual working in the pharmaceutical or life sciences industries, who is a digital champion within their organisation, pushing boundaries and championing innovation, as well as being a great agency partner.

The judges agreed “Andrew demonstrates huge passion and innovative methods in pushing the boundaries of digital, as well as working with expert agencies in a way that is fair, productive and based on true partnership”.

Chair of the Digital Awards, Rachel Farrow, said,
“Reflecting on the evolution of these awards, I am really proud of how we have kept pace with the dynamic landscape of digital advancements in healthcare. But most importantly, the outstanding digital work represented in the shortlist this year demonstrated how this work is improving people’s lives. From empowering healthcare professional education to offering unwavering patient support, from driving disease awareness to redefining pharmaceutical promotion, the projects we honoured at the Digital Awards 2023 have consistently pushed boundaries to enhance lives. This is ultimately why I continue to work on leading this event year after year.”

Full list of Gold winners

Brand Promotion - Purple Health for Alliance Pharma -  Real Treatment for Real Scars

HCP Education & Support - Ogilvy Health UK for Haleon - #ListenToPain

Healthcare Charities - Salt/Mearns & Pike for RCN - Here for Life

Disease Awareness: Public - Anthem PR/Good Ideas Group for Astellas - Break Free from Plans to Pee

Patient Programmes - OPEN Health for Kyowa Kirin - CTCL Answers

Meetings & Events - Ogilvy Health UK for UCB - Rare Disease Connect in Neurology

Customer Experience Excellence - Makara Health for Takeda UK - Evolving the Target in HAE

Evolving Campaigns - Brandcast for Kite Pharma - HCP Educational Platform

Engaging HCP Communities - MedShr for Novartis - Digital P2P Community

Film - Seven Stones Collective for CALM - The Lonely Player

Animation - OPEN Health for LEO Pharma - Ingrid’s Story

Innovation: Creativity - Anthem PR/Good Ideas Group for Astellas - Break Free from Plans to Pee

Innovation: Best Use of Technology - Oi for Bayer - ekoDNA®

Internal Communications - Radical Departures for Santen - The Roclanda® Learning Experience

External Communications - OPEN Health - Unlock Possibilities

Digital Account Manager - Emilia Donlon (performance-io)

Digital Agency of the Year - Initiative Health

Pharma Digital Partner - Andrew Binns (AstraZeneca UK)

About the PM Society

The PM Society is a not-for-profit organisation, which was founded over 40 years ago. Today it has over 4000 active members from over 250 companies and has three aims – to support organisations and people in healthcare, to recognise excellence and promote best practice, and to provide education and training. Profits from the two awards events go into funding our CSR activities, including free careers events, our Creativity for Good initiative to help a charity each year find pro bono support, our interest group activities and our learning and development focus. For more information see our website at www.pmsociety.org.uk.