For a long time, CGI has been the expected medium for Mode of Action explainers in the pharma industry. And while CGI as a craft has become increasingly sophisticated, at times it can feel like the healthcare industry struggles to keep up. MOA videos can sometimes look dated, a bit flat, and ultimately unengaging.
That simply won’t do. Our mantra at Create Health is Creativity is the Cure™ – and that’s why we’re so invested in bringing the next generation of beautifully creative CGI to our clients.
For us, CGI isn’t just about technical recreation – it’s about art, too. Treading the fine line between scientific accuracy and genuine beauty, no matter the subject matter. Because it’s equally important for content to be as engaging as it is correct. Without it, you have videos that no one watches or remembers or reacts to.
Traditionally, medical advertising has suffered from an underappreciation of creativity and aesthetics. But in a media-rich world, it’s important to tell stories in the way we’re used to receiving them. That means delivering something that looks good and keeps you gripped with its storytelling power.
Myth-busting and visualising the invisible
Post-COVID, we’ve seen a steep increase in the spread of medical misinformation. It’s become even more important that we clearly communicate how drugs, disease, and biological processes work in a really accessible way. And while so much happens at a microscopic, cellular level, it can’t be filmed or photographed. Even if we could, it often wouldn’t be informative or understandable for general viewing.
Since a novel virus was able to bring the world to a complete stop, it’s become even more important for people to be able to visualise the invisible. To help end confusion and help empower healthcare professionals, everyday people, and patients alike.
When you’re a marketing a new drug, tool, or treatment, it’s important that those administering the product understand how it works within the human body, so they in turn can explain it clearly to patients. In this sense, CGI stradles marketing with essential medical education.
Did you know that the human brain processes visuals 60,000x faster than text? Where time is stretched and media is saturated, pharma companies would do well to save valuable time using CGI than more traditional methods.
Show off
All of our clients do amazing things. When we learn about the mechanics of their new drugs, we’re constantly mind-blown. Often, years of work has gone into research, discovery, fine-tuning. What pharma companies do is nothing short of miracle-working.
As far as we’re concerned, they absolutely deserve high-quality CGI assets. It’s the closest you can get to doing justice to your pain-staking innovations.
So education and simplicity aside – you should invest a little in showing off how bloody great your products are.
Taking it to the next level
Some don’t know this, but just like any craft, there are different levels to CGI. Some of it is amazing, but not all of it is. Not everyone uses the latest techniques, the best software, spends the hours to create realism through textures, layers, and the way light hits.
Our CGI artist and animator, Dan Christie, is at the top of his game.
His starting point for pharma usually means a visit to the Protein Data Bank (PDB) for the relevant protein molecules. This can range from virus spike proteins to G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCR). Often this data comes in one of two forms: point clouds or illustrative models that look like tangled bits of string. He uses SideFX’s Houdini to take both types of models and transform them into animation-ready assets that can be art directed to our or our client’s taste.
Once he’s generated the model, he brings it into his favourite 3D rendering software: Blender. He uses its new procedural ‘geometry nodes’ system to create the interesting and engaging animations we’re becoming known for.
“I love creating a sense of scale and depth in my animations, really making the viewer believe they’re seeing this strange world as a cell themself. I do this through applying a number of techniques, like exaggerated depth of field, chromatic aberrations, lens defects, and of course lots of small floaty ‘bits’. Very few have access to technology to glimpse the microscopic world. We’re brought up looking at 2D diagrams in textbooks, or 3D animations of processes akin to the visual fidelity of kid’s TV programs – we can do better.”
Where’s next?
The health industry is just scraping the surface of the possibilities for CGI – we’re only going to get more immersive. Pharma companies are beginning to explore the use of CGI within VR. Imagine putting on a VR headset and entering the human body, the bloodstream, even a cell, to experience exactly how a drug gets to work.
What does this mean for the world of healthcare advertising? We’re glad you asked.
There’s a lot of potential, beyond creating VR and AR experiences. Even beyond 360 videos can be hosted by YouTube and watched using similar devices to Google’s cardboard invention. There’s potential to be trail-blazing in healthcare marketing – as well as in your drugs – and come up with assets of beauty, engagement, and value to potential customers and advocates.
Do you want to see how CGI could transform your marketing? So do we.
Get in touch and let’s get to work.
