During the 2023 Condé Nast Health Upfront, a virtual event that was held on June 27, the media company revealed several new offerings for advertisers that meet the needs of growing industry trends around influencer marketing, video, authentic engagement, and culture as the newest health KPI.
In terms of influencer marketing, Condé Nast announced Allure’s Creators Network and the SELF Care Squad, which will allow advertisers to tap into influential voices in health and align with these carefully curated influencers on editorial opportunities across platforms. For example, Allure’s Creators Network includes a variety of experts verified by Allure with backgrounds as former beauty editors, professional make-up artists, dermatologists, hairstylists, and more.
“Allure’s Creators Network is an opportunity for us to work with some people that we know have expertise in beauty and to expand the Allure community to people who have different stories, different experiences, because personalization is so important,” Jessica Cruel, Editor in Chief, Allure, explained during the presentation. “For pharma brands, it opens up this opportunity to have the Allure journalistic integrity behind these influencer partnerships because we know it’s got a little rocky out there with social media partnerships, so we just want to offer an opportunity for that trust that the Allure brand is known for to pair with the great reach and scale and individualized stories and communities of these creators.”
However, the presentation also made it clear that influencer marketing is not limited to social media. As Thomas Engstrom, Global Group Director of Influencer Marketing, Klick Health, explained, “Influence is really a 360 tactic. It is really easy to just pinpoint them to just social media—just Instagram or TikTok. I think that’s always going to be part of an influencer program, but when it’s done well it’s really taking influencers beyond just social media and really injecting them into the larger brand ecosystem. So, whether it’s live in-person events or PR activations or through media integrations, it’s taking these true authentic stories and really dispersing it for these audiences to interact with and engage with on a much larger scale.”
When it comes to in-person events, Condé Nast also announced several opportunities for advertisers in the later half of this year.
In addition to events like Glamour’s “Women of the Year” in November and Teen Vouge’s “Summit & Block Party” in December, the company announced that for the first time advertisers will have the opportunity to host an event stateside as part of WIRED Health, which highlights the most exciting and thought-provoking disrupters, scientists, and HCPs making a positive change in the way we provide and access healthcare. Additionally, for the first time, Allure’s “The Best of Beauty,” an annual issue awarding the best beauty products, will host a live event in October with limited availability still open. Finally, Vouge World, which launched in September 2022 at New York Fashion Week and reimagined Vouge’s September issue as a multidimensional, multi-platform experience, will kickstart London Fashion Week this year and also include localized Vouge world parties in the U.S. and a premium livestream viewing experience across global platforms.
“When we are talking about culture, we are really talking about finding that point in time, a moment, or event that means something to our target audience, something they’re passionate about. It’s the best way that a pharma brand can guarantee audience relevancy,” Lauren Sacks, Director of Omni-Channel Marketing, Pfizer, said during the presentation. “Our biggest challenge at the end of the day is how to have that thumb-stopping content. So relatability and authenticity are key themes with engaging with our audience. As marketers, we need to find the right balance between branding, story, pull-through—it’s not going to be a perfect science, it’s going to take a couple tries, but it’s definitely doable in pharma.”
Condé Nast also unveiled a sample of the 75+ new pilots they will be launching in the video space, including:
AD “Space Savers”: This series has already been generating a lot of buzz outside of health and will now task interior designers to create their own spin on a space with a specific condition in mind, such as MS or asthma, making design choices that optimize the space for the condition with a virtual revamp of the room using 3D software.
Glamour “The Unbreakable Bond”: This series will explore the bond of mother and daughter as they recall their recent and past experiences together sharing their dreams for their future and how their relationship grew even stronger when a health condition threatened to create a barrier between them.
Allure “Melanin Skin Beauty Myths”: Building off the success of “The Melanin Edit,” this expert-led series will confront common phrases and attitudes that reinforce stereotypes in and out of the Black community surrounding non-white skin.
WIRED “Obsessed”: This series highlights what happens when people live out their obsessions to the fullest despite or because of a specific health condition, profiling an individual who is either impacted by a health condition themselves or is inspired by the condition.
Bon Appétit “Soul Food”: An expert will guide viewers through classic soul food dishes updating them for a specific condition in a way that preserves the spirit of the recipe but also gives it new life to pass on.
Epicurious “Work-Arounds”: A seasoned chef will share their insight on making dishes stand out in flavor even when you are required to leave out certain ingredients due to a specific condition so you don’t have to sacrifice flavor or texture.
Condé Nast Traveler “How I Travel”: This series will explore how a patient defies the limitations imposed by their condition as they explain how their condition affects how they prepare for their trips, the destinations they choose, and their outlook on travel as they also provide a tour of mementos from previous adventures.
SELF “Breaking Through”: In this series, a licensed therapist curates a thoughtful selection of tips designed to emotionally fortify individuals who are actively dealing with the challenges of their condition.
Additionally, for the first time, the company will tackle a single health topic across three of its brands in one cohesive series entitled, “Mentally I’m Here.” This cross-brand docuseries around depression will include documentaries on postpartum depression in SELF, treatment-resistant depression in WIRED, and major depressive disorder in GQ.
Beyond video, the company announced other opportunities still available in Q4 of this year with first right of refusal in 2024, including:
SELF Spotlights: SELF will be partnering with select advocacy and nonprofit organizations to develop this new co-created content destination related to various disease awareness months that happen throughout the year. They are going to start with breast cancer in October and follow it up with diabetes in November.
SELF “The Science of Skin”: This brand-new, photo-journalistic editorial initiative is aimed at helping both patients and physicians understand the nuances of skin conditions across a variety of skin types. It will include a library of original images for common use; new editorial packages on psoriasis, eczema, and acne; information on racial disparities in dermatology; and advances in skin care technology.
Glamour “The Truth About”: These interactive destinations investigate common misconceptions around conditions such as obesity and give consumers expert-backed, fact-driven, and judgement-free information.
Allure “Survivor’s Guide” in Espanol: Considering one in five Hispanic patients are Spanish speaking, Allure is making this franchise available in Spanish, which is aimed at helping people navigate the impact of chronic illness through the lens of beauty and self-care. It will be available in Spanish for conditions that greatly impact the Hispanic audience such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
As Rachel Wilkerson Miller, Editor in Chief, SELF, said during the presentation, “Misinformation to my mind is one of the biggest public health threats right now because it makes it impossible to disseminate any public health information.” In addition to trying to address that through series like the ones mentioned above, Miller also mentioned that SELF plans to add 15 more dermatologists to its medical review board and are committed to making them all doctors of color to further ensure its content is accurate and inclusive.
Finally, the company announced a new partnership with IQVIA that will further enhance the capabilities of Spire, Condé Nast’s proprietary smart data platform.
“With this partnership, not only will we be able to use IQVIA data to tell us where your target audience is engaging, now we’ll be able to tell you down to the site section exactly what they’re reading, informing your strategic planning and helping you to reach eligible patients and high-attention audience when they’re engaging in content that fuels their passions,” said Samantha Lipman-Porter, Head of Sales, Health at Condé Nast. “In 2024, our targeting and our sponsorship offerings will be supercharged with this additional layer of insight.”
