Case Study / Healthcare / Animation
Novartis Oncology – CML
One way to illustrate the ways in which an illness might affect someone and the treatment pathway to their cure is to tell a personal story. A personal vignette is far more engaging than e.g. a medical pamphlet which can feel are too insensitive when patients are already stressed.
Taking this idea one step further the ‘story’ can be created as a character led animation. Using a combination of voice over and animation the character can outline their circumstances and the ways in which the disease has affected them – for example in terms of their work and relationships. And hopefully of course there will be a ‘happy ending’.
The beauty of animation is that a creative style can be chosen which is for example more whimsical than for example than photo realistic 3D animation. Using hand drawn animation (a style favoured by Walt Disney) allows the description of the illness to be described in less ‘threatening’ ways. In this example we borrowed from the one and only Bob Godfrey who developed his ‘boiling line’ animation for children’s television shows such as ‘Rhubarb and Custard’.
Because its animation, the voice over can be translated into any language for foreign markets which is ideal for companies who operate overseas. And, of course, because it’s animation should e.g. the science change or legislation the voice over can be adapted alongside are edited animation. This repurposing is fairly quick and inexpensive.
‘Bert’ was one of a series of animations which described the disease of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and its treatment. The videos were mostly shown to patients online and person to person via local clinics.
