R/GA's Jacqueline Lovelock on Creativity and Tech in Healthcare

Jacqueline Lovelock began her career in brand consultancy—brand positioning, reputation management, creative development—learning the importance of understanding true customer insights in competitive environments. Her move into marketing, 12 years ago, took that core expertise plus behavioral and cultural data to create actionable strategies for clients.

Trained in digital-first creative agencies and experienced in a variety of categories, Jacqueline has spent the last several years focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. She is specifically interested in the ways technology will accelerate the transformation of how modern healthcare brands connect with their customers beyond messaging to provide utility and meaningful service.

Before coming to start the R/GA Health practice, Jacqueline was most recently SVP, strategic planning director at FCB Health, and before that, SVP experience strategy at McCann Health.

We spoke with Jacqueline for our series Checkup, where we chat with leaders in the healthcare marketing space.

Jacqueline, tell us…

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

I grew up in Sydney, Australia. I live in Upstate New York now.

How you first got into healthcare marketing, and what attracted you to it.

I worked in general and digital advertising for years, servicing a broad range of categories. On reflection, I realized that the problems in health felt eminently more significant—and, to me, more interesting—than any other space. Right now is an especially amazing time to be working in the category, as it is finally leaping forward to embrace technology—not just as a vehicle for comms, but as a way for brands to provide new services in a meaningful way.

Something people might not know about the healthcare industry.

We are in a moment of change and real momentum in the category—many of our current clients have been recruited from out-of-category, “new economy” or tech bands, with the deliberate goal of bringing different perspectives into this world. The most important category, health, is finally doing some of its most exciting and important work.

A recent project you’re proud of.

In 2021, we helped define and launch a new health services brand called Evernorth. Born out of the merger between Express Scripts and Cigna, this new entity was created to serve the admirable and lofty belief that health is the starting point of human potential and progress. We’re proud to have created a brand that feels modern, human, full of momentum, and distinct within the health services landscape.

Someone else’s project in healthcare that you were impressed by recently.

Specsavers “Your Eyes Are Priceless.” This campaign isn’t particularly recent, but it’s recent to me. I believe there is no category more important than health, and this campaign does an amazing job of dramatizing that basic human truth, in a provocative way.

A major challenge facing healthcare advertisers today.

Many brands—big and small, old and new—are saying and promising the same thing. It remains to be seen which brands will actually be able to deliver on these promises and which can win the hearts and minds of their customers.

One thing about how healthcare is evolving that you’re excited about.

There is an enormous amount of health-tech startup activity right now. Many of its legacy challenges—underserved populations, overlooked ailments, lack of transparency and access to personal data, etc.—are being explored from different perspectives, and therefore being solved in innovative ways.

How healthcare can attract more creative talent.

The industry tends to get a bad rap because it was synonymous with creative limitations. However, by showcasing the potential of what this category can impact through technology, it opens up a whole new world for creatives. A category where communication can provide a service, instead of a brochure full of fine print. A category where success is about not just marketing metrics, but genuine health outcomes. The right type of creative is going to see these challenges as opportunities.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in healthcare marketing?

Working in a medi-spa, trialing new products for free, every day.