Healthcare organizations remain at the forefront of pharmaceutical marketing, but new technologies and changing political dynamics are putting even more pressure on the industry.
In this new series, Fierce Pharma Marketing digs into the key issues impacting agencies and pharmaceutical marketing with key executives from across the industry.
In the first installment of the series, Fierce spoke with Shannon Walsh, Chief Operating Officer and President of PR, Social and Influence at Ogilvy Health.
When it comes to AI, “things are moving at the speed of light,” Walsh said. “Every year, even within the last three months, we see significant changes in this space.”
“I feel like the expectation of implementing AI, whether it’s internal workflows or external applications, is always happening. I think our clients are on the same journey as us. They look to us as experts to guide them.”
He said clients are asking how and why agencies use AI, but are not pushing for its adoption. “The way we look at AI is that it’s not just one aspect. It’s deeply embedded in almost every step of the marketing mix, whether it’s a process or an ideation session where you’re doing a soundboard.”
Mr. Walsh described AI as “a very powerful tool when used correctly.” Verification is especially important in healthcare marketing, she added. “That’s the number one question we get from clients: How does this validate in our field?”
Still, Walsh said the “human overlay” remains essential. “It would be irresponsible to send these without cross-checking and verifying everything.”
But when it comes to creative work, she says, it’s a different story. “We recently had a client do a complete AI production of their online advertising. Now, would you say there was an efficiency in this approach? Yes, it is, but we needed a very strong partner to guide it.”
Walsh said he doesn’t think AI will “take over all of creative,” adding: “There’s still room for both.”
One of the ways Ogilvy Health uses AI is through Ria, a proprietary tool designed to flag potential promotional risks before marketing materials are released. The system was developed as the FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion ramps up its oversight of direct-to-consumer advertising, criticizing companies for issues such as “attention-grabbing visuals” and “frequent scene changes.” Several major pharmaceutical companies have received so-called untitled letters in recent years, including B-One Medicines, which received three letters in 2026 alone.
“We created an AI agent called Ria that entered all OPDP claims into a database, and now, before we send the materials out into the world, we are running the materials through this system that we created to see if there are any potential warnings (that could lead to FDA promotion violations),” Walsh said. “This is now one of our core processes.”
The power of celebrity, influencers, and the right use of data
Celebrity endorsements have long been a staple of pharmaceutical marketing, helping companies capitalize on the visibility and reach of actors, athletes, and other celebrities.
However, in recent years campaigns have moved from simple celebrity endorsements to more personal storytelling, often centering the experiences of celebrities themselves and everyday patients.
“We still see a role for big celebrities in election campaigns,” Walsh said. “But now we’re seeing this in broader awareness campaigns rather than specific products.”
A recent example is this month when Caitlin Clark partnered with Eli Lilly to run ads that focused broadly on health and wellness rather than specific products.
The low-key campaign features Clark practicing alone in a gym, interspersed with scenes of people recovering from illness or injury and returning to physical activity.
Walsh also sees celebrity campaigns increasingly being combined with influencer marketing. “We’re seeing the rise of nano-influencers and micro-influencers. So you have big celebrity names to drive awareness, and then you have smaller, specific influencers for patient stories. And then you have micro-influencers who have a very strong connection to what they’re trying to get their message across.”
This includes doctors who specialize in disease areas and patients with first-hand experience and strong social media followings who can help companies reach targeted audiences.
“This combination of people is happening more and more,” Walsh said.
Earlier this year, VML Health urged pharmaceutical companies to frame therapeutic value in terms of fully lived lives, rather than relying solely on clinical data. Discussing cancer marketing, the agency said pharmaceutical communications teams should go beyond survival statistics to incorporate stories and evidence that better capture patients’ lived experiences.
Genentech is one company taking that approach, recently updating its “Life Doesn’t Wait” campaign for World Hemophilia Day to focus on patient stories.
“The data presentation remains strong,” Walsh said. “There is still room for that, but we need to make sure we push out these clear data points, especially in the LLM era where people are looking for information.
“One of the biggest requests we’re getting right now is how to optimize for these LLMs. We’re not going to move away from data. That’s fundamental, but bringing it out through human stories and patient voices is where we’re seeing real change. That’s where the connections come in, especially for patients.”
