Truth Well Spoken: Recent Episodes
McCANN Health
The official podcast of McCann Health. An opportunity to connect across disciplines, companies, and countries in our mutual pursuit of endless truth-seeking.
New year, new agency! In 2024, McCann Health New Jersey and Hill Holliday Health joined their complementary forces to become Rise & Run: a new full-service healthcare agency under the keen leadership of Linda Bennett. Join us as we get to know our new agency president from making bulk meat cold calls in her early days to overseeing a successful merger today—plus her plans for growth in 2025 and beyond.
How many times have you been swayed to try a product due to a message or video that didn’t even come from that brand? In the age of social media trends and the ease of widespread opinion-sharing, some brands can just get lucky. Listen to Kendall Colletti, E’lana Lemon, and Kelly O’Grady chat about some of these viral marketing accidents and what the implications are for brands that have been subject to them.
Explore the unique intersection between sports and emotion as the podcast team reflects on and replays Super Bowl LVIII discussing the advertisements and the surprising impact of how watching sports can affect your health.
Some members of the podcast team (Deana Rauh, Natalie Mercer, Kendall Colletti) share their thoughts on those ill-fated new year’s resolutions and offer tips for sustainable intentions in physical, mental, and emotional health.
Social media can feel taboo in the pharmaceutical industry. With so many legal and regulatory compliances to adhere to, some brands may not feel it’s worth the effort. Join Kendall Colletti as she chats with Zakkiya Miller, Director of Social Media Strategy at McCann Health New Jersey, to find out how pharma brands can thrive on social. They discuss the nuances of social media platforms, how they can be used for both patient and physician engagement, the differences between paid and organic media, and how pharma can take advantage of trending content.
Many people can’t wait to click that ‘skip ad’ button or scroll right past a promotional post, so how do capture our audience’s attention to make the most of it? Deana Rauh sits down with Ben Red, Dane Gianarkis, and Zakkiya Miller to discuss the line between advertising and entertainment and what can be strategically gained from blurring it. We consider what defines entertainment, its emotional experience, and its potential in healthcare marketing.
View the Mirum Pharmaceuticals virtual reality Alagille syndrome example >
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individuals are their own and not representative of MHNJ or IPG Health.
In recent years, fertility preservation, specifically egg freezing, has changed from a medical necessity to an elective procedure. More women than ever are deciding to freeze their eggs to improve their chances of having children later in life.
Join an intimate conversation between two longtime friends and former colleagues, who also happen to be in healthcare marketing, as they discuss the patient journey and debunk myths about egg freezing along the way.
We’ve all heard artificial intelligence, or AI, being discussed in the news or in passing conversation, but what does AI actually do? What are the programs and where are the ethical boundaries of how they are used?
Join our panelists, Samantha Catoggio, Jai Brinkofski, Ying Wong, and Mike Nuckols, in our first AI-enhanced episode (using Adobe Enhance) as they explore what AI looks like in-practice and the potential ethical dilemmas we may face as its capabilities grow.
We all know that marketing shows the best side of a product, but when does false advertising begin to make a fool of the consumer?
Join our guest host, Victoria Michels, as well as Deana Rauh, and Natalie Mercer, as they dig into advertising faux pas of the past and the lasting macro and micro cultural impacts that no one saw coming.
You've heard the term "metaverse", but do you really know what it entails? On this month's episode, we welcomed guest host Ben Zanghi and participants Jethro Grassie and Christopher Hefferon from McCann Health New Jersey to both define and discuss the metaverse as we know it today. Join us to learn about where the metaverse began, where it stands to go in a digital age, and what we will need to watch for in a metaverse consumer space.
This holiday season, we welcomed guest host Alicia Harris and participant Stahasha "Star" Sutton representing the McCann Health Black Employees Network to share the meaning of Kwanzaa and how they activate the 7 principles of Kwanzaa in their everyday work. Special thanks to African-American studies expert Zach Brooks of Temple University and our partners from IDEA Center of the Arts (Cynthia Primas, David Goodman, and Arthur Taylor) for joining us in this inspiring episode that highlights the creativity and passion of Kwanzaa that’s celebrated throughout the year. If you’re interested in getting involved in the community, stop by IDEA’s Kwanzaa celebration on December 30, 2022 from 2pm-8:30 at 217 Market Street in Camden, NJ.
Tribal Joy by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
From an enormous virtual reality experience to the smallest logo on a coffee cup (with a corresponding please-see line), how do we shepherd ideas from kick-off to conference? Join new podcast team member, Deana Rauh, as she speaks with an amazing group of people who have brought life to brands and disease awareness at a variety of global conferences. Special thank you to Heather Canova, Lana Lemon, Natalie Mercer, Meghan Natalicchio, and Estelle Ruidiaz for participating!
Zoe Siegel, MPH sits down with podcast producer Cassidy Cardone to discuss the connection between the threat of climate change and the world of healthcare. They unpack how business leaders and marketers can personally fight climate change and discuss ways to reinforce sustainability through our work. Climate change is a global emergency--learn how you can play your part.
Guest host Victoria Michels (a former intern herself) interviews the IPG Health internship coordinators and a panel of summer interns across the McCann health network on fostering the next generation of healthcare advertisers, recapping what a day in the life of the internship looked like, and what learnings will stick with the interns when they return to class and enter the workforce.
Welcome to the first of our McCann Health Out-of-Office series where we explore the threads that bind us outside of work and across a variety of industries. In this episode, McCann Global Health's Kurt Fried and Colleen Hindsley and McCann Health New Jersey's Kiersten Hallie Krum and Jennifer Gracen give us a behind-the-scenes look into what it’s like to write for book publishing, screenwriting, and performance art. Listen in on this panel discussion led by our guest host, Dina Ragab, to learn which action movie is considered a literary masterpiece, ways to stay creative in the midst of a pandemic, and how our panelists juggle pursuit of their creative passions with challenging full time work in pharmaceutical advertising.
What does accessing medical treatments and buying a TV have in common? Dane Schroeder from McCann Managed Markets helps clarify the complex world of patient access with this great analogy and more. Led by guest host Kelly O’Grady, this timely conversation tackles whole person care and all the factors that impact the ways we connect with healthcare.
John Santangelo leads a fantastic roundtable chat with both founders and members of the McCann Health Mentorship Program. Learn about the power of being vulnerable in a mentor/mentee partnership, and the impact it can have on your career growth. Special thanks to Joanne Duckman, Kim Wishnow-Per, Michael Stevinson, and Nicole Myslinski for participating.
Reid Thomas hosts a panel discussion with one of our agency teams who recently wrapped up a VR project. The team discusses why VR is important for immersive storytelling, the challenges of a VR shoot during a pandemic, and what the team learned to make it happen. Special thanks to Becca Binder, Jai Brinkofski, Danielle Crockford, Joanna Forbes, Christian Gorrie, Fiana Jakameit, Michal Lupinski, and John Santangelo for participating.
Roshan Rahnama returns to the podcast to lead a panel discussion on hybrid roles in an advertising agency. In this lively chat, our panelists talk about what it's like to be a hybrid and explain how these unique positions help solve the problems we face every day. Our panel guests include Kristen Frolich, Cassidy Cardone, Alex Davis, Stephanie Magonagle, and Rodney Sexton.
In our first episode of the new year, Cassidy Cardone hosts a conversation with Roshan Rahnama, MPH, MBA to discuss the opportunity—and responsibility—for the commercial health and public health worlds to join forces in an effort to authentically reach customers. Roshan sheds light on performative optics and health equity, sharing moving examples along the way.
If you listen to one episode of Truth Well Spoken this year, this is the one. In a special end-of-year episode, the producers discuss their favorite moments from the podcast. Join us as we listen to topics like: a stigma-shattering creative campaign, the beauty of imperfect brand planning, working in a disease state as a patient, and much more.
Our very own podcast producer, Abby Daley, catches up with the women of the Phexxi team at MHNJ. The team has recently finished production and aired a new DTC commercial for the brand and there's lot to talk about. Listen to the team discuss the strategy, the creative concept, combating stigma, and working with a celebrity.
In our tenth episode, guest host Audrey Williams moderates a panel of McCann Health employees to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion. It's a robust discussion that ranges from diversity in the workplace, under representation in campaigns, and a look back at the origin of the 6th C.
Guest host Mike Nuckols speaks with our global chief creative officer, Matt Eastwood, for some insights into award shows. Matt discusses what it takes to win at award shows, his experience judging awards, and some pointers on standing up for good work in the face of adversity.
Guest hosts Heather Canova and Tressie Lafay interview photographer Andy Anderson. They sit down to find out what inspires Andy and get his perspective on anything and everything photography—his sense of curiosity and adventure, the importance of authentic work in a post-COVID world, what it takes to collaborate with agencies, and how to deal with rattlesnakes on set.
McCann Health Global Chief Marketing Officer Andy Chamlin discusses one of the most important topics in advertising—how to win a pitch. Andy sheds light on a host of pitch topics including meeting best practices, the importance of rehearsing, and what Burt Reynolds has to do with winning a pitch.
Guest host Rodney Sexton interviews Hilary Gentile, McCann Health Global Chief Strategy Officer, to discuss her new book, Brand Plan Rx. Topics include what it takes to deliver a good brand plan, why working in pharma is so challenging, and a little “yes, and” improv.
Brand Plan Rx is available at Amazon.com Learn more about Brand Plan Rx
To better understand the role of social influence in healthcare, we sat down with a rare disease patient leader and the business development lead of an influencer marketing firm. The result is a personal and insightful discussion around partnering with patient leaders, co-creation with patient advocacy groups, and the advantages and disadvantages of patient reach.
In this episode, guest host Katharine Imbro is joined by MHNJ Chief Creative Officer, Bruno Abner. They cover a range of creative topics including creative inspiration, storytelling as a universal language, and judging your own creative work.
Commemorating one year in lockdown, we revisit a roundtable discussion with members of the MHNJ Strategy and Science teams who had the opportunity to interview an HCP on the frontlines of the pandemic in the spring of 2020.
What is it like to market a treatment for a disease you have? To answer that question, we chatted with Scott Sisti from Xcelerate Oncology, who shared his personal experience with type 2 diabetes—a disease of willpower—and how it impacted his agency team, his clients, and the brand itself.
In our premiere episode, we sat down with Jill Beene, President of McCann Health New Jersey, to discuss life inside and outside the agency, and being a leader during a global pandemic.