From left, Fisika partners Priscilla Benfeito, Anna Tsouluhas and Lisa Barbusci.
From creating software to optimizing electronic medical records (EMRs), Montreal healthcare marketing and advertising agency Fisika is finding new ways to solve problems in a changing pharma world.
“There is a lot of value in the traditional work of an agency, but we need to evolve and expand to be able to meet where we believe the industry is headed,” says Lisa Barbusci, a partner in Fisika along with Priscilla Benfeito and Anna Tsouluhas. And that means taking different approaches than the ones usually taken.
Case in point: Fisika has developed a software as a medical device. What started as a need to support healthcare professionals (HCPs) to train patients with respiratory problems on how to use their inhaler device turned into a patented Fisika-owned software.
Fisika’s social media DTC campaign for Emerade features an anamorphic video creating awareness for a new epinephrine auto-injector. Simple and eye-catching, it helped the client increase visibility and click-through rates.
With the software, HCPs will be able to use the patients’ smartphone microphone to assess their ability to inhale. This helps train patients and can even help decide what device is best for them. Called Alaré – based on the Italian word for inhale – it is soon to be tested in a clinical trial and submitted to Health Canada for approval.
Given that EMRs are now a reality in Canada, Fisika has hired an EMR integration manager to improve the system integration and utilization. This allows Fisika to help clients collaborate with physicians to improve efficiency and communication with patients. Fisika is currently in pilot projects with several clients.
“This breaks new ground,” Tsouluhas says. “Finding creative ways to utilize the EMR system will be critical to helping physicians become more efficient.”
Fisika took the lead on the global launch of Johnson & Johnson’s VistaSeal, which helps control bleeding in adults undergoing surgery. The campaign features intricate, representative imagery and a key message that depicts a real and relevant benefit to the end user – surgeons.
Fisika’s USP is its knack for simplifying complex information, which it refers to as the “art of clarity.” That’s why the shop formerly known as CDM Montreal opted for its new name in June. In Greek, “fisika” means something that comes naturally.
The rebranding came more than two years after the partners acquired the full-service agency.
Although they signed the purchase papers three weeks before the initial COVID-19 lockdown, they went on to win business in virtual pitches. Major clients include Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer and U.S. medical device companies.
With an eye for the future, Fisika still prides itself in delivering high-quality strategy and creative that gets noticed, which are mainstays of an agency. Over the past few years, Fisika has won more than 25 Rx Club Show awards celebrating international creative, which Benfeito says wasn’t easy. “We just made it look easy,“ she says.
Working on a campaign for a new treatment option from pharma firm Otsuka, Fisika blurred an image of a person with a background paisley texture to underscore that kidney
disease patients feel they are not being seen or heard.
“Impactful creative begins with a synthesized and clear strategy,“ Tsouluhas adds. “And we make it look like it comes naturally,“ says Barbusci.
A multiple-award-winning campaign for Otsuka that continues to be used today is for a treatment that gives voice to chronic kidney disease patients. Since patients with the condition often say they don’t feel seen or heard, the agency conveyed that invisibility insight via creative that saw patients blending into the background.
The aim was to tell healthcare professionals, “It’s time to see the person behind the condition.”
Most recently, Fisika’s own branding – including its website, logo and intro video – won four Rx awards.
The agency also does non-profit work, which has included launching the Program for Women’s Cancer Research (PWR). The initiative from McGill University aims to improve cure rates for women with cancer and has found a partner in La Grande Roue de Montréal Ferris wheel. The inaugural September 2021 event raised more than $150,000 and attracted La Roche-Posay as the organization’s title sponsor for its second year.
This origami image of La Grande Roue de Montréal was part of a promotional campaign for a fundraising event aboard the Ferris wheel on behalf of the Program for Women’s Cancer Research.
Fisika recently bought an open-concept property in Montreal’s Little Italy-Mile Ex area which the partners believe is conducive to creative thinking. Its employees – a mix of new talent and agency veterans – can work there or from home.
Benfeito explains, “We want to make sure people are having fun and are able to disconnect so that they come back and want to give their best.”
CONTACT:
Lisa Barbusci
Partner
lisa@fisika.ca
