McCann Health makes senior creative hires in Japan

McCann Health has appointed creative leaders for its Rx and consumer healthcare business in Japan.

Shunsuke Kakinami will serve as group creative director with a focus on prescription products. Kakinami was previously at Beacon Communications (now part of Publicis One).

Shoji Taniguchi will work as creative director for McCann HumanCare, which focuses on consumer health brands. He was formerly a creative and art director at Daiko Advertising.

Both Kakinami and Taniguchi have received awards at Cannes Lions and Spikes Asia among other festivals. Healthcare marketing is not seen as the most creative of disciplines, but that is slowly changing due in part to the expiry of patents and the need for stronger brand differentiation. In a statement, McCann Health Japan’s president Jack Blakey said the agency’s focus is now “squarely on creativity as the core of our business”.

McCann just won a Bronze Lion in the Health and Wellness category at Cannes for ‘Still Life’, a piece of work for the End ALS Association. Dentsu and Hakuhodo also won Bronze awards in the category. See our rundown of APAC Cannes Lions winners.