MRM Spain's Félix Del Valle on the Limitless Creative Potential in Healthcare

Félix Del Valle is chief creative officer of MRM Spain, which he joined in November 2021 after five years as CCO of Ogilvy Brazil.

Félix arrived in Brazil in mid-2015, and during his stint he was the only foreigner to lead an agency in the iconic Brazilian market. He loves storytelling no matter the format, media or technology, connecting bold brands to big ideas. Prior to Ogilvy, Félix was the creative lead of Contrapunto BBDO in Spain. In 2017, Félix was recognized as one of Ogilvy's 100 most outstanding people at a global level.

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

Félix, tell us...

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

I was born in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and if you haven't been there, I highly recommend you go there and walk the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) on your next vacation. Now, in terms of advertising, I started out in Madrid, in an agency that no longer exists, where I was given the opportunity to start loving this job.

Then I had some stints in different agencies until I arrived at Contrapunto BBDO, where I developed most part of my career in Spain. A year before the Rio Olympics, I was invited to join Ogilvy Rio. There I spent two fantastic years, it was a great experience. After those two years, Fernando Musa gave me the opportunity and confidence to continue growing within the agency and I become Ogilvy's São Paulo CCO. I spent almost five years there that I will always remember with great affection. I made some good friends and we developed great work.

A year ago, I returned to Madrid with great memories of that stint and with a Brazilian son, too. So, it couldn't have been better. We are starting an incredible project together with María Martínez and the rest of the team and clients here at MRM Spain.

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

There was a healthcare department at Ogilvy São Paulo, and I felt from the very beginning lots of great creative opportunities appearing there. Step and step by step I started learning about the category and we end up creating relevant and award-winning work for different brands. We came up with ideas such us "Vaccine in Game" for Pfizer as well as "VR Vaccine" and "Flower of Life," for both for Hermes Pardini, among others. We really enjoyed working on those campaigns and it helped me to find new points of view and new solutions for our clients.

Something people might not know about the healthcare industry.

It is an industry that is continuously moving forward, and will continue to gain relevance every year indeed. In the case of the clients I work with, there is a great ambition to create relevant work. I personally see no barriers between healthcare and other categories; it's all about doing great and meaningful work and it doesn't matter if it's healthcare, fast consumer goods or automotive, for example. It's always about making ideas come true. 

A recent project you're proud of.

We are working right now on several new projects, so I guess that in just a few months when we launch these campaigns we will surely be proud of these ideas that we are working on together with our clients. At this precise moment they are all being worked on with great love and care. Hope to give you some good news and share with you some links of these campaigns pretty soon.

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

It may not be purely healthcare, but I really liked the latest from Apple. There are a lot of brands that are not "purely" in the category but they are getting in there thanks to the technology and through their products or experiences they offer.

A major challenge facing healthcare advertisers today.

As every industry is about being relevant, having a clear purpose, going beyond just developing the best product and having a meaning in people's lives. Is also about establishing an emotional bond and building a trusting relationship. Today I feel healthcare is an area full of opportunities to have an impact on culture and people's lives.

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

As I said before, more and more opportunities are emerging within the category at all levels. From storytelling and narrative areas to the work focused on purpose and related to innovation, I see a world full of possibilities. Exciting times ahead.

How healthcare can attract more creative talent.

Well, I don't put barriers between healthcare and any other industry. For me it's a matter of generating good ideas, work that makes people feel something, that makes them feel that the brand. Creating brilliant and relevant work for this industry is the best way to attract talent.

What you would be doing if you weren't in healthcare marketing.

Truth is that I if I weren't in advertising, I can't imagine anything different from what I'm doing today.