When it comes to the preservation of life, what could be a more noble calling or profession?
The healthcare industry as a whole has improved the quality of life worldwide in ways that are hard to even fathom.
However, there is still a barrier to making healthcare knowledge accessible to all.
The average person understands very little about how it all works and doesn’t spare much thought to it– until they’re in the emergency room.
The healthcare industry is not only fighting diseases and pandemics, but misinformation, confusion, and even a lack of trust with the public.
And misinformation can only be fought with clear communication and education, by fostering a sense of transparency, trust, and integrity with healthcare.
A potent and effective cure for this is the power of healthcare ads.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen video rise in popularity to the point where it’s practically a language online.
And it’s not surprising: video is easily the best medium to communicate information.
It grabs and holds attention the best, and boasts the best memory retention with viewers.
It’s also especially effective at breaking down complex ideas and explaining them simply and clearly– something sorely needed in the world of healthcare marketing.
There’s good reasons why video has become the centerpiece of any company’s marketing strategy in any industry.
We recently did our own survey on video marketing, and the numbers speak for themselves:
And to drive the point home, we have our curated list of 30 Best Healthcare Ad Examples, coming right up.
The best way to understand why video is so powerful and effective as a communication and education tool, is to check out how others have done it already.
To that end, we’ve collected the thirty best examples of non-salesy healthcare ads, so we can figure out what makes them tick!
Kicking off this list strong is the #BallBoys campaign for testicular cancer awareness.
It’s a difficult topic to talk about.
No one really wants to think about cancer and we’d all rather ignore the thought.
So, some serious creativity is needed to get people’s attention.
This video couldn’t feel any less like a typical healthcare advert, starring Deadpool, “the merc with a mouth.”
For the two or three of you who don’t know, he’s a wisecracking superhero known more for his not-family-friendly brand of subversive humor, rather than for his superpowers.
Here, we see him wax poetic in his own unique style on how to examine yourself for testicular cancer.
His charismatic and naughty humor keeps the audience hooked on every word, while driving home the important points.
As a side note: it’s especially fitting to use Deadpool for cancer awareness. This is because his story starts with him about to die of stage four terminal cancer.
He tries everything, finally signing up for a dangerous and illegal experimental treatment, and it works.
He emerges horribly disfigured, but gains superpowers.
Being sure not to exclude female or AFAB viewers, they also released a companion video on how to self-check for breast cancer too, so no one is left out!
This just goes to prove that not only can your ads be interesting, but even entertaining– when done right.
We tend not to think of mental health as part of healthcare.
But it absolutely is.
Unfortunately, mental health is still a taboo subject that people don’t like to talk about.
While attitudes are changing and improving with enough education and awareness, it’s still difficult to broach the subject.
Depression is one of the most common mental health issues, affecting as much as 6% of the world’s population.
And yet it still exists in this shadowy area of taboo and misinformation, often conflated with merely “feeling sad” and not as a chronic condition that’s treatable.
This animated character video by the WHO breaks through a lot of the stereotypes and avoids being “preachy” by using the power of storytelling.
It also feels more like a short film than an advertisement.
By using a simple analogy of a man having to live with an invisible monstrous black dog that ruins his life, the viewer is made to understand first-hand what depression really is and what it is not.
This method of storytelling is not only compelling and interesting, but it shatters the taboos and stereotypes around depression and other mental health issues.
Art is more than pretty pictures or beautiful music.
Storytelling is a powerful and valuable tool that can help us understand things better. It can put ourselves in others’ shoes and see the world through different eyes, as in this case.
Being a medical doctor is probably the most noble, selfless and important profession, devoted to the preservation and improvement of life itself.
But we shouldn’t ignore the hard work nurses do.
There’s a stereotype that nurses simply do all the messy “grudge” work while the brilliant doctors think and problem-solve.
But that’s simply not true or fair.
This healthcare video ad for Johnson & Johnson puts a spotlight on the contributions that nurses have made.
Throughout the history of healthcare, nurses have come up with clever solutions and made groundbreaking discoveries just like doctors, but often don’t get the credit.
In light of recent events with COVID-19, the world has a fresh reminder of just how valuable and important their profession really is.
But it’s refreshing to learn about the many other contributions they’ve made (and continue to make) to medical science.
And this is one great way to make an advert: by not making one.
This beautiful video is more like a mini-documentary, crafted to be interesting, gripping, and insightful.
This one’s kind of difficult to watch. But it’s a difficult topic, so it’s necessary.
One of the biggest problems with mental healthcare is the taboo attitude people generally have towards it.
No one will look down on you or judge you for breaking a leg or battling cancer.
But to even bring up the topic of mental health and suicide in casual conversation, is usually taboo.
There’s also unhelpful stereotypes and ideas about what suicidal ideation even “looks” like.
There’s this image people have in their minds of someone being all mopey and sad.
But the strange truth is, many suicidal people don’t “seem” suicidal in person, because they’ve learned to hide it so well, perfecting their performance of appearing happy and funny on the outside.
So it’s often a brutal shock when they suddenly take their own lives, and people remark how they didn’t “seem” sad, that there were no warning signs.
Or were there?
This video by the Campaign Against Living Miserably, or CALM, skips the psychology lecture and goes straight for the jugular.
Showing real video footage of real people (not actors) in typical everyday scenarios, seemingly enjoying life.
And then you learn that these actual, real people all took their own lives.
A major rule in storytelling is “show, don’t tell,” and it’s hard to find a better example than this.
It’s simple, it’s direct, and makes its point powerfully: “suicidal” doesn’t always look suicidal.
Healthcare is kind of a downer of a conversation topic.
But we thought: does it have to be?
Here’s a character animation video we created for Avecina Medical.
It’s an animated cartoon featuring two goofy characters who get into a misadventure and end up in hospital, and it’s accompanied with fun music and lyrics that narrate the story.
We made sure to thread the needle just right between keeping things light and defusing tension, while being careful not making it so silly that it trivializes healthcare.
It was a creative risk, but then all art is about some experimentation, trial and error, and being brave enough to try new things.
Our client loved it and we’re delighted to report the response was positive.
This is because the goofy cartoon-y humor does not extend to the hospital itself, which comes in to save the day at the end of the story.
It’s not mean-spirited, and remains relatable to the viewer– even if they never taunted zoo animals and learned a painful lesson the hard way.
Let’s face it, picking the right healthcare insurance company for you is about as much fun as going to the dentist, and about as easy to understand as income taxes.
It’s just confusing and overwhelming. Not only do all the options look the same, but it’s never really clear exactly what they all do or how they work.
That’s probably why Buck went with this approach for their healthcare commercial for BridgeSpan.
To start with, they use a friendly art style with bright, friendly colors and characters. It’s clear, non-threatening and welcoming.
Then, right from the get-go, they immediately address the pain points faced by the typical customer, affirming that they understand their world and their perspective.
As the 2D character animation video unfolds, the solution unfolds itself neatly, blending in a little storytelling with a relatable character who serves as an avatar for the audience.
We also like the little call-back at the end with the character’s skateboarding injury!
This is a great example of the power of animated storytelling, and what it can do to break down complex and even frightening topics in a way that’s friendly, memorable, and even entertaining.
Here’s a recruitment video for WestWood Clinic by Buck that really stands out in how well it speaks to future medical students.
We love the subtly medical-feeling color palette of teal blue-green, paired with a clean but organic art style.
But where this infographic animation video really shines, is in how it teases the viewer with a bright future in the medical field– one where it’s not just a job or career, but a higher calling that helps people and saves lives.
The script and visuals give just enough information to let the viewer’s imagination take over.
Because often, you can say a lot by saying very little.
It’s safe to say that nobody really enjoys the idea of having to rush to hospital, for really any reason.
Not only is there the traffic and unplanned chaos, but the long wait times once you get there.
It’s a common problem with healthcare and something we all have to just live with.
But Heal has an innovative solution: bringing the doctor to your house.
Epipheo crafted this character-animated video to explain how it all works, starting with the pain points and addressing the problem, before revealing the solution.
We love the beautiful art style and slick animation, where there’s just the right dash of cartoony humor, but not so much that it trivializes a serious situation.
It’s relatable and comforting, and the storytelling does an excellent job of bringing the point home.
Healthcare and AI.
Two industries that everyone knows about, but don’t fully understand.
And if you put them together, you end up with a concept even more mysterious– and not in a good way.
Fortunately, the power of animated storytelling is here to save the day with this video for Intel.
The beautiful, minimalist infographics use clever metaphors and text to break down complex topics and explain them simply and clearly.
It starts with a simple but glaring statistic, about how many patients are misdiagnosed.
It then goes into just enough detail to establish that this is a pretty complex problem, and complex problems seldom have simple solutions.
However, explaining complex concepts in simple terms is where video- especially animated video– really shines.
And this is a great example.
Haiti is one of the most impoverished countries in the Western Hemisphere.
And as Promise For Haiti can tell you, bringing light to this can be a challenge, because it can come off as overwhelming and impersonal.
A great way to cut through this resistance is to humanize and personalize these issues, by bringing the focus onto a few key people, rather than talk about a country of millions as a whole.
This makes it personal and friendly, and grabs the viewer’s interest and attention.
Note how this video also doesn’t feel like an advert or a static documentary, but more like a scene from a moving feature film with a compelling story.
You find yourself rooting for the character and emotionally invested in what happens.
And that’s how you draw your audience into an important cause, and make a lasting impact in their hearts and minds.
It’s no exaggeration to say that there are oceans of personal information out in the digital world, with corporations amassing even more data about us all on a daily basis.
We’re not sure what they even do with all of it.
And it’s easy to get cynical and just accept that this soulless data collection is the new normal, and assume it has no bearing on our daily lives– at least, not in any good way.
But this may not be entirely accurate, and Roche wanted to set the record straight.
There’s a positive side to this enormous treasure trove of data when it comes to healthcare.
This is a beautifully crafted video that uses clever and subtle effects with reflections and shadows to help explain how all this data can be harnessed and computed in ways we can hardly comprehend– and it’s a good thing.
Note now it avoids advertising-like hype or meaningless but exciting buzzwords; but delivers its message cleanly and clearly, in a way that builds a sense of trust and integrity in what they’re really saying.
It goes into just the right level of detail– enough that the viewer doesn’t feel patronized or condescended to, but not so much that it would overwhelm or bore the viewer either. It respects the viewer’s intelligence and skepticism and doesn’t try to side-step it.
The visuals, meanwhile, are also just right. It uses a light touch with the effects, so subtle you don’t even notice it at first.
And when it gets more prominent, it’s only to serve what the script is explaining.
There’s no flash or unnecessary visual pizzazz.
All in all, this subtle and serious approach for this healthcare commercial does an amazing job of explaining a complex topic so well that we’re effortlessly engrossed from beginning to end.
We mentioned earlier that one way to dispel the negative image of being a big soulless corporation, is to focus on your people in order to humanize your brand.
And here’s a great example from Pfizer.
Through this heartwarming peek into the various lives of Pfizer’s diverse workforce, we’re reminded that ultimately, healthcare is all about people– on both sides of the transactions.
The human element: it’s simple, but powerfully effective!
Smoking: it’s a habit that causes serious health problems for millions across the globe.
And it’s the healthcare industry that’s left trying to fix it.
The past few decades have seen strong campaigns to raise awareness of its health risks and encourage smokers to consider quitting.
But it’s not that easy or simple.
Here’s CVS’ contribution to this cause, and it’s notable in how it thinks outside the box.
Rather than just preach a tired old “stop smoking” message that’s sure to fall on deaf ears, their video humanizes the issue with a personal and relatable story.
It acknowledges the complexity of how a smoking habit forms and how hard it is to quit, but also makes it clear that quitting is worth the effort.
We also love the inclusivity of a first nations single mother, showcasing her traditional culture and community, adding some much-needed diversity to the world of video marketing.
When you set out creating your video, you will probably be tempted to throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
But the truth is, less is often more.
You can say a lot by saying and showing little.
And this typographic animated video is a great example of that kind of minimalist approach.
It’s short and simple but makes a big impact!
One of the biggest challenges in healthcare messaging is dealing with the sheer complexity of it all.
So many people, organizations, hospitals, patients, local and state governments… the list goes on.
How do you explain all this simply and neatly, without boring or overwhelming your audience with information?
This beautifully animated character video for UnitedHealth Group is a great example of how to attack this problem.
Rather than oversimplifying things, this healthcare commercial distills everything down to an elemental truth:
Healthcare is about helping people, plain and simple.
And UnitedHealth is about helping people at every step and level of healthcare, from the patients to the hospitals, all the way up to the government level.
The beautiful graphics and colors are a treat for the eyes, too, and bring the message to life visually, underscoring the points and capturing the viewer’s attention and interest.
Life is fragile and fleeting, and that’s why the world needs more doctors, nurses, and medical technicians.
It’s a noble but daunting job, having the lives of others in your hands.
That’s why InovaHealth dedicates itself to training and education.
This beautifully animated 2D infographic brand video explains what they do and the difference they make through their various training programs and educational media.
Note how the colors reflect the brand palette and are soothing, serious but friendly.
The animation is slick and the graphics are neat and clean.
Combined with a clear, easy-to-follow script, this healthcare ad underscores its message with its visual choices, emphasizing InovaHealth’s dedication to its mission.
It’s a sobering fact that infant mortality is actually on the rise in the Western world.
It may be surprising, even hard to believe– but it’s true.
Merck highlights the issue in this beautiful award-winning video.
If it doesn’t move you to tears, then you should check your pulse.
Rather than brag about themselves or highlight their many accomplishments, Merck chose to use their platform and reach to bring attention to a serious and important problem in Western healthcare.
They say knowledge is power.
And in the medical field, it’s a power that’s readily shared with anyone who will listen.
Fortis Apollo, a leading private hospital in India, put out this straight-to-the-point and helpful guide on what to do if you suspect someone is having a stroke.
Speed is critical, with every passing second making the difference between life and death.
This dramatized video is part-mini-documentary, part-TV thriller, explaining what to do and showing us what happens moment-by-moment.
It’s gripping without being exploitative or gimmicky, and educational.
Not many ads could brag that they can save lives, but this one can.
Your phone can remind you where you parked your car, and your Netflix lets you resume watching a show exactly where you left off.
With all this smart technology in our lives, it shouldn’t be so difficult for women to keep track of their bodies’ complex natural cycles, either, right?
Enter iFertTracker, a system that uses wearable sensors to keep track of body temperature throughout the day and night.
It gives women and their doctors an excellent and detailed set of data points.
This is a huge help for family planning, and far easier to use than existing systems.
Their beautifully animated product video reflects this with its gentle colors and graphics.
There’s a lot to explain, but thanks to its clever script and friendly narration, it breaks it all down easily and clearly in about a minute.
Cancer is a difficult topic to bring up and draw attention to.
It’s unpleasant and frightening and nobody really wants to think about it.
Worse, many awareness campaigns can come off as cold and impersonal, dealing with stats and big numbers that don’t really connect with their audience.
This video for Breast Cancer Now subverted this by making it intensely personal and natural.
Employing a tricky storytelling technique called “breaking the fourth wall,” the main character addresses the audience directly and speaks candidly about what’s on her mind, her shock and fears and what she’s going through.
This approach humanizes the issue, making it real and personal, and draws the viewer in using storytelling rather than numbers and figures.
And it reminds us that behind all those numbers are real people, just like us.
UPS is a leading shipping company with a footprint that spans the entire globe.
So at first, it’s surprising that they put out a video targeting the medical industry.
But then medicines and drugs need to be shipped across the globe, too.
And unlike your regular Amazon shopping boxes, these items are quite delicate and demanding.
They’re temperature, time and humidity sensitive, requiring careful and constant monitoring at every stage of delivery.
And the brilliant minds working in medical research have to deal with the hassle of global shipping logistics and the bureaucracy of customs, on top of trying to cure the world’s diseases.
So this gorgeous animated explainer video for UPS Healthcare speaks their audience’s language, starting off strong by affirming that they understand their world.
And then drops the good news: they’re here to help, and they’re the perfect solution to these problems.
This delightful animated cartoon video for Oscar Health Insurance uses the power of humor to get viewers’ attention and stay memorable.
It just goes to show that when done right, humor is a fantastic and powerful tool to really connect with your audience in a human and natural way.
The proof of this is how this health insurance commercial accomplishes more in 15 seconds than most videos do in entire minutes!
Here’s a beautiful video that Sanofi released for World Immunization Week.
The artistic visual style draws you in, with simple text unraveling a story told through history and data, the focus being on the health and welfare of children.
It seems we forget and take for granted how dire things were in decades past.
Diseases like polio were a nightmarish threat that struck fear into the hearts of every parent, and today it’s a seldom-thought of fragment of history.
But it was thanks to vaccinations and immunization campaigns that we all but eradicated these monsters.
Sadly, it’s more than just a history lesson.
This message bears repeating today, with the rise of anti-vaccination movements founded in pseudoscience and hysteria.
The information age has, ironically, ushered in a pandemic of misinformation and propaganda that threatens to undo decades of medical progress.
Animated cartoon videos like these use beautiful captivating art and expert storytelling to help fight back against this ignorance and keep the next generation safer and healthier.
And what could be more important than that?
This character animation video for DPC Healthcare grabs your attention right from the start, declaring that the sickest patient is healthcare itself.
From there, it breaks down the symptoms and causes of this sickness, helping the viewer really understand the problem.
It goes into quite a bit of detail. But through clever animation and attention-grabbing visuals, this healthcare commercial video keeps the viewer engrossed and invested.
The script is well written, taking the viewer on a journey where the problem is broken down and explained, and leads them to the solution.
It’s a great example of how complicated issues can be broken down and explained easily, without losing the needed detail, but also without overwhelming or confusing the viewer either.
That’s the power of animated storytelling for you!
The problem with getting the general public to stay in good health, is that there’s no one easy way to do it.
Good health is a mix of eating right, sleeping well, regular exercise, and so on.
So it’s not really helpful to just yell at people to get into shape.
So the NHS made it practical and simple.
If you can get yourself prepared to at least attempt to run a 5K marathon, you’re already on the right track to getting into shape.
It works because it’s a clear, straightforward goal, a target you can aim for.
To that end, the NHS launched a campaign called “Couch to 5K,” encouraging people to get off their comfy couches and aim for running a 5K marathon.
And to give the viewer just a little more encouragement, the ad goes straight into a few basic running tips.
The reason for this is clever: By listening to that advice on how to run better, the viewer can imagine themselves actually doing it, and subtly pushes them one step closer towards making it a reality.
One of the problems with healthcare as an industry, is the sense that it’s this enormous faceless corporate juggernaut that exists purely for profit.
And while there’s some truth to this, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t millions of skilled, talented professionals working tirelessly to improve health and quality of life.
A great way to counter this popular impression of healthcare, is to humanize and personalize it.
Take this warm, friendly video for AthenaHealth, for example.
By doing a character study on an interesting, friendly and passionate team member, it puts a face on the industry and makes it intimate and personal.
And it reminds the viewer that healthcare is really all about people– on both sides of the transaction.
Of course, that’s not to say things are perfect and rosy in the healthcare industry.
There are serious problems and valid criticisms.
AthenaHealth makes our list twice with this beautifully crafted character animation video called “Unbreak Healthcare.”
Rather than wax poetic and deploy flowery cliches, this video addresses the problems head-on and gets to work slowly dismantling them with a hopeful solution.
We especially love this health insurance commercial’s beautiful art style.
It’s different and engaging, complementing the script perfectly to deliver a one-two audio-visual impact.
Speaking of beautiful graphics that perfectly complement and enhance a sharp, clever script, check out this animated explainer video for Pfizer on pneumococcal pneumonia.
Healthcare and pharma marketing is tricky and complex. It’s not as straightforward as just selling, say, a car.
All drugs and treatments come with risks and side effects.
And it’s integral to medical ethics that patients understand it well enough that they can give informed consent.
Of course, this leads to the problem of how to explain things well enough first.
People simply don’t have the patience or attention spans to really listen through a long medical lecture.
That’s why Pfizer used the power of animated infographic video to pack all the important information into a minute.
It uses slick and pretty graphics that grab attention and hold interest, while not being too silly or too playful for such a serious topic.
It adds flavor and life to the clean, clear script and delivers the message home effectively.
Building trust with your patients doesn't only come by curing their ailments.
How you interact with them also matters, and in many cases, is a driving factor in patient satisfaction.
So when NHA reached out to us for this healthcare advert, their goal was to go beyond just talking about the importance of soft skills in healthcare.
It was to give a transparent representation of how they train their healthcare personnel to communicate with patients and their superiors.
And this subtlety worked, helping NHA earn the trust of their patients.
Furthermore, it helped NHA use it as an introductory training video to motivate their staff to enroll in their Personability Soft Skills training program.
When Crossover Healthcare launched their re-brand, they used this beautiful character animation video– a clever blend of 2D and 3D– to help announce it to the world.
While reaffirming their mission to continue improving healthcare with innovation and compassion.
The animation is simply stunning and slick, and the script does a perfect job of communicating their vision. It’s hopeful, empathetic, and exudes integrity and trust.
If you needed great examples of the power of animated video for any business or industry, this video would top the list!
They say knowledge is power. And science brought us out of the Dark Ages, into an era quite fittingly called “the Enlightenment” period.
But there’s not much point in having a bright light and hiding it in your closet, where no one can see it or benefit from its illumination.
The power of animated video can broadcast the light of your message to the world.
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