• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, May 16, 2025

It’s been four years since Eli Lilly debuted its ongoing corporate image campaign branding itself as “A Medicine Company,” whether under a broad banner like “Get Better” or ads on such issues as obesity, Alzheimer’s or cancer screenings.

The latest chapter, launching today, is titled “Seeking.” A :60 spot starts out showing patients, while a voiceover declares “Seeking. The unsatisfied, emotional, defiant, those who take things personally.” The images then shift to healthcare workers, while the VO continues, “Seeking. Exceptional people to do exceptional things, to find a treatment where there isn’t one…those who refuse to accept medicine as it is, so they put themselves in a position to change it.”

Then the ad takes on a “help wanted” tone as graphics show that Lilly is “seeking,” in particular, a “clinical research physician, medical science liaison” and “manufacturing operator” and, in general, “applicants” to visit lilly.com/careers.

So, is this a recruitment ad, an image ad -- or both?

While acknowledging it as “the biggest recruitment ad a pharma company has ever put out” and that, yes. actual jobs are available, Lilly’s chief corporate brand officer Lina Polimeni stresses to Pharma & Health Insider that the ad also functions as a statement of the company's purpose: “When we say that we put health above all, it’s not just something we say, but something we do every day.”

The new campaign will run throughout the year. Other paid elements, co-created with Wieden & Kennedy Portland, Lilly’s creative partner since the start of the branding effort, include cut-down videos, paid social, print and out-of-home.

The shorter videos will home in on specific Lilly job areas and titles, such as this :30 spot focused on manufacturing (“Seeking. Manufacturing operator, maintenance technician, automation engineer”). Other versions will zero in on R&D and core therapeutic areas.

The print campaign is breaking in The New York Times on Sunday and The Wall Street Journal  the following day. Polimeni says lifestyle magazines will also be in the mix.

The OOH campaign will appear in Los Angeles and New York, with media in the latter expanding from previously used billboards (e.g., Times Square) to also include the likes of bus shelters, because “this is such a personal message, we wanted to bring it closer to people, literally more at their eye level,” Polimeni says.

And you can expect Lilly to continue tie-ins to what she calls “tentpole moments,” which in the past have included the Oscars and the Olympics. “Seeking,” for example, will be present during the NBA playoffs this month, the NBA finals and draft in June, and the WNBA All-Star Weekend in July.  Polimeni also noes that by the end of the year, the upcoming Milan Winter Olympics will also come into play.

“I want the brand to be part of life conversation, not just illness conversation,” she says. “That’s why we lean into cultural moments where we know those conversations happen… We started behaving differently than what most pharma companies and brands do: really looking for those key elements of culture that we can lean into…as a way to talk about the importance of health.” 

She continues: “Our work has a direct impact on health, and health is our way to impact humanity,” explaining the ethos of Lilly’s branding. “We understand the precariousness of life, and…while I would argue that all pharmaceutical companies are patient-centric, seeing a person at the other side of the prescription really homes into the humanity.”

Finally, “It’s a way for us to express the values that we operate under, and who we are as people.”