#009 · 6th September 2023

That’s right this is the out-of-office edition. This lands in your inbox the morning I fly to Ibiza for a girls' weekend to celebrate my friend’s 40th birthday.

I’ve had a stonkingly busy two-day week at work and a packed weekend with friends visiting. I respect my own boundaries, so rather than pushing myself with the usual opinion and content, expect a very different pace in this week's drop.

Oh and a big hello to all my new subscribers! There are so many of you this week! 🙏🙏🙏

Right then, get this Ibiza classics soundtrack on, pour yourself a margarita and strap in…

Might as well kick off with music then!

🎶 Check out this podcast from MMM, there’s a lovely chat about sonic branding. In a world where marketing conversations focus on “brand codes” and/or “distinctive assets,” sound is a sense healthcare brands can’t ignore.

🕹️ I am on a personal journey to one day host a patient round table in a game setting. Fortnite? Roblox. I am 100% sure there is room for this. And this piece of research into mental health and gaming is more fuel for my fire. Because guess what… people do open up, and have deep and meaningful conversations when they connect through gaming.

🤔 Language is so important in healthcare – especially between HCP and patient, so I just found this whole piece on ‘not everything we call cancer, should be called cancer’ really thought provoking.

PS… I only discovered gift links in my NYT subscription this week… so apologies for any previous articles you couldn’t access. Drop me a line if there is one you were itching to read from a previous issue.

🍚 Do you ever struggle with numbers and scale? It’s certainly not unheard of in science and health, so I suspect you might enjoy this rice scale video that I spotted on Instagram at the weekend.

👓 Coffee is the new plastic, in this crazily brilliant innovation to come out of the Ukraine. Old coffee grounds are being used to create a plastic-like material that’s being used for stylish eyewear frames.

👗 I love a bit of fashion meets health don’t I!? So, reading about the strategy behind Eric Emanuel’s collaboration with the American Red Cross was a delight. When people are willing to give blood sweat and tears for an exclusive… make them give blood! And who doesn’t love a blood cell-inspired design for a pair of shorts!?

🤯 As someone who has worked in health and luxury, the headlines about Novo Nordisk taking over LVHM as Europe’s most valuable company are blowing my tiny mind, whilst also validating the existence of this newsletter!

From the never in pharma, to the only in pharma…

⛔ The consumer strategist in me is like what!? But the health strategist in me totally gets it. GSK has asked the US patent office to refuse Moderna’s Covid Mvax trademark application, as it is too generic!

For all my pals in health agencies that have had the weird and wonderful and slightly unethical privilege of working in aesthetics, the crackdowns are coming! Stricter rules for botox providers have been announced.

This has been the OOO edition of CULTURx. Normal service resumes for issue 10 (OMG issue 10!!).

I appreciate the format is super different to normal, and I’d love to hear your thoughts about that. So please let me know what you think about the topline vs more in-depth opinion. CULTURx is such a baby still, and your feedback will help me shape it for the future.

Until then, Balearic vibes are calling… ✌️