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Kim Wijkstrom of Vanda Pharmaceuticals on the AI Revolution in Health Marketing
He's all about big-picture brand thinking
Kim has served as SVP and CMO of Vanda Pharmaceuticals since 2019. Previous stints include senior posts at One Main Financial and Perry Ellis. Kim also worked at agencies including TBWA\Chiat Day, BBDO and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he developed campaigns for Absolut, Apple, Volkswagen, Activision, Cunard and more.
We spent two minutes with Kim to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he’s admired.
Kim, tell us …
Where you grew up, and where you live now.
I grew up in Yekepa, Liberia; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Old Greenwich, Conn. I currently live in Washington, D.C.
How you first got interested in health.
My parents were very much about living a healthy lifestyle. When I was at Chiat Day, I read an article (in 1998) by Holman W. Jenkins called “Is Advertising the New Wonder Drug?,” which argued that campaigns successfully drove consumers to seek medical care, thus “curing” a huge number of people who otherwise might not have sought medical attention. I found this very interesting, both as a testament to the power of advertising and the specific social benefit healthcare marketing generates. Like many, I was also underwhelmed by the quality of pharmaceutical commercials. It occurred to me that the opportunity existed for creative disruption in this space.
One of your favorite projects you’ve ever worked on.
Creating “Absolut Pictures.” This was a global cinema campaign. Directors would create a fake movie trailer as a tribute to a genre or to honor a celebrated filmmaker. Think Spike Lee creating his take on a Pedro Almodovar movie, but in a trailer format.
A recent project you’re proud of.
The ongoing launch of Nereus (tradipitant) for prevention of vomiting caused by motion sickness, our first DTC effort.
One thing about how health is evolving that you’re excited about.
There are lots of reasons to be hopeful about what AI can do for health and research. But from a communications point of view, there’s a bit of a revolution in the quality and innovation of marketing occurring in the space as well.
Someone else’s work, in health or beyond, that you admired lately.
In insurance, Progressive and Liberty Mutual (Goodby Silverstein) keep doing great work. The new Huggies campaign from Mischief is great. The Patron Tequila spot “The Perfect Pour” by BBH, featuring Guillermo Del Toro, does everything a spirit client could want yet is both beautiful and quirky. The World Cup commercial by Special US and Fox Sports is all it should be—big, bold, emotional. Timothee Chalamet’s Zoom call promo for Marty Supreme was brilliant yet so cringe-worthy.
A book, movie, TV show, or podcast you recently found inspiring.
Books: Niall Ferguson’s The Square and the Tower and Francoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse. Podcast: Scott Galloway.
A visual artist or band/musician you admire.
Kiss, because that was my first education in branding. More recently, Yung Lean’s “Storm” video is just amazing
Your favorite fictional character.
D’Artagnan. Or James Bond.
Your main strength as a marketer/creative.
Big-picture brand thinking. And a focus on execution.
Your biggest weakness.
I agree with Julie Fleischer’s observation that “90 percent of data is crap.” Of course, the insights can be critical. But I hate the slog of long meetings with Excel charts larded with industry acronyms. Also, chocolate.
Something people would find surprising about you.
I won the State of Connecticut Music Composition Festival XII Composers Award.
2 Minutes With is our regular interview series where we chat with creatives about their backgrounds, creative inspirations, work they admire and more. For more about 2 Minutes With, or to be considered for the series, please get in touch.
