Last week, Cannes Lions 2025 brought together the global advertising industry for a week of high-profile programming, creative celebration, and perhaps most importantly, meaningful connection. Panels offered insight into where marketing is headed, and other insights emerged among leaders between sessions. Here are six key takeaways that reflect the shifting priorities, new challenges, and emerging opportunities shaping the future of healthcare marketing.

Multiple publishers expressed openness or outright enthusiasm for participating in healthcare packages. While these publishers represent varied platforms—linear, streaming, sports, Spanish-language content, and more—they are all interested in the frameworks, messaging, and technical support that will empower them to lean into health and pharma-specific PMP opportunities. On the whole, there is an appetite among major publishers to better serve pharma advertisers.

Measurement, data access, and trust continue to be major friction points across the industry. Many organizations expressed frustration with legacy measurement tools, particularly their limitations in delivering actionable insights around campaign performance, condition-level segmentation, and health-specific outcomes. Publishers, in particular, are eager for better data to help them demonstrate value and grow revenue. 

In this environment, trustworthy data partnerships have become a critical differentiator. The opportunity lies in delivering robust, privacy-conscious metrics at scale. This unlocks value for all parties while respecting the sensitivities of healthcare marketing.

How can brands and their partners use data to create more meaningful, relevant engagements that ultimately lead to better outcomes for patients?

It’s not a new idea to put the patient at the center. But it was evident last week that there’s a deeper recognition emerging: that data is the bridge between personalization and impact. As DeepIntent Founder and CEO Chris Paquette explained, the massive opportunity now is to “unlock the power of different datasets to help build connectivity and personalization, making ads more relevant.” Data doesn’t just enable targeting—it’s a catalyst for empathy, relevance, and measurably improved health outcomes.

Healthcare brands are increasingly focused on bridging the traditionally siloed experiences of patients and providers. The next wave of marketing strategy is rigorously orchestrated across the full continuum of care.

One striking example came from a discussion between a pharma brand and a publisher brainstorming how formats like podcasts could be embedded within a broader, journey-informed experience. They aim to deliver content that resonates both with patients seeking clarity and with providers guiding care decisions, ideally within the same media environment.

There are major opportunities to better connect HCP and patient touchpoints. This can be done through aligned content strategies and cohesive storytelling. When done thoughtfully, brands can meet both patients and providers where they are in the real, lived experience of a healthcare journey.

A recurring theme in conversations was the evolution of audience targeting from static segments to dynamic frameworks corresponding to the treatment journey. Marketers are recognizing that it’s no longer enough to know who someone is. It’s equally important to understand where they are in their care path. Are they newly diagnosed? Considering a switch? Responding well to treatment?

Several leaders voiced a desire to see creative and audience strategy move in lockstep, adapting in near real-time to the patient’s evolving experience. As one agency CEO put it, their dream capability would be to align messaging precisely with each step of the journey.

One of the most powerful dynamics on display last week was the gathering of the full healthcare marketing ecosystem in one place. Brands, agencies, platforms, data partners, and others engaged in open dialogue, shared context, and often aligned on the challenges and opportunities ahead.

This kind of cross-functional visibility and connection is shaping the future of the field. It reflects a growing recognition that collaboration across organizational boundaries is essential for delivering better outcomes for patients and providers. As privacy frameworks evolve, technologies mature, and media channels diversify, the ability to operate in sync across the ecosystem will define the next era of healthcare marketing.

Together, these themes from Cannes Lions 2025 reflect healthcare marketing’s evolution into a more dynamic, more connected, and more collaborative industry. Between new approaches to targeting, integrated patient-provider storytelling, and deeper trust between partners, the message is clear: progress in healthcare marketing will depend on how well the industry aligns around shared goals and shared responsibility.