James Kotecki (00:07):
This is CES Tech Talk. I'm James Kotecki, bringing you one of the many conversations I recorded live at CES 2025 in the C Space Studio. You can find all our C Space Studio interviews on the CES YouTube channel, but we've selected this one especially to bring directly to your podcast feed. Enjoy.
(00:28):
Welcome back to the C Space Studio, sponsored this year by Integral Ad Science. We are at CES 2025. I'm James Kotecki and I'm here with Eric Weisberg, Global Chief Creative Officer, Havas Health Network. Thank you so much for joining us in the C Space Studio.
Eric Weisberg (00:42):
Pleasure to be here. Been a long time fan of here, so it's good to finally meet you.
James Kotecki (00:46):
I know. I'm a little nervous about this interview. Hopefully you don't drop any bombs from my past. But let's talk about the future specifically what's coming up next this year in 2025. What does Havas Health Network, first of all, what does it mean in 2025?
Eric Weisberg (00:58):
Well, I think, look, we're living in an interesting time and health and I think Covid was sort of an accelerator to our awareness of our own personal health, the health of our families, the health of our communities. And as a creative person, I look at this year as being the year of creative convergence. So we live in a place where people are having an ongoing argument, whether data is the new creativity or culture is the new creativity or content is the new creativity. And I think we're really witnessing a convergence of all of that. You see it here on the floor.
James Kotecki (01:33):
So what's your message here at CES 2025? I understand you just conducted a tour of the health section of CES. You're obviously right in the mix.
Eric Weisberg (01:40):
Yeah, I think, look, my message is I think, sort of clear in what we're seeing, which is that every brand today is a health brand. You see the biggest brands in the world, Samsung, Apple, Google making an investment of health. And so they're becoming health brands in their own right. And you see on the floor there health brands with hospital level technology becoming consumer brands. And so in a world like that, every brand is a health brand and needs to put health first.
James Kotecki (02:08):
That is a great term because we always used to hear every company is a tech company, and I still think that's true.
Eric Weisberg (02:13):
That's true.
James Kotecki (02:14):
Every company is a media company and I still think that's true. And now we're learning every company is a health company. Companies have a lot on their plate, a lot of different things that they have to be.
Eric Weisberg (02:22):
There is a lot going on, but I mean, look, Tim Cook said that Apple's biggest contribution to the world will be in health. That's something I don't think we thought we would've heard 10 years ago.
James Kotecki (02:32):
Yeah. Anything specific stand out to you on the show floor that you want to call out? I know there's a lot to see there.
Eric Weisberg (02:39):
There is a lot to see. I'll say there was one thing that blew me away, which is this company, Withings, has a mirror. You stand in front of it, it scans you, it has all of your vitals. It uses AI, agentic AI to sort of interpret that data and then help you make better decisions about your health. To me, that's the future. It's a prototype, you can't go buy it tomorrow, but holy cow.
James Kotecki (03:05):
I want to talk about weight loss medications like Ozempic and there is a creative strategy that companies need to have when selling this kind of stuff and approaching the messaging around this kind of stuff. And I'm curious what your thoughts are on that.
Eric Weisberg (03:18):
I mean, look, I don't think any of us have seen a blockbuster like this GLP-1 era ever in the world of health. It's projected to be a $500 billion business. It is, if you believe, which I do in the sort of Galloway prognostication, is that GLP-1 will be bigger than AI. And so we've launched a consultancy not to help GLP-1 brands, but to help every brand have a GLP-1 strategy. It affects what we eat, what we drink, where we travel, decisions that we make about our mental health. It touches everything.
James Kotecki (03:55):
Let's dive into some of those. So give us some more of those kind of second order effects that other businesses might need to be thinking about given the reality of these drugs.
Eric Weisberg (04:03):
So they have an incredibly positive impact, which is that you lose weight from them. What comes from that are positive and negative effects of that. So if you're a beauty brand, when you lose all that weight, it changes the composition of your face. It changes the decisions you make about what you do to look great. There are also side effects and we're working with companies, whether that's gastrointestinal distress, whether that's muscle loss that requires more protein. So it pretty much touches everything in our lives and it will change how we travel and vacation.
James Kotecki (04:40):
Yeah, tell me more about that.
Eric Weisberg (04:41):
Well, you think about what vacation has been, which has been letting go of your inhibitions, indulgence in all-
James Kotecki (04:51):
That midnight buffet on the cruise.
Eric Weisberg (04:53):
Exactly. Suddenly those aren't interesting to you. You're not driven by those same things. So it will change the makeup of a programming for Disney, for cruise ships, for resorts.
James Kotecki (05:03):
Yes. Speaking of health tech, I understand that you have an upcoming report, your Superwomen report? Superwomen report, and you're looking at how health tech has historically been designed for men. So what's the opportunity for brands as women's health gets more focused-
Eric Weisberg (05:20):
I mean, I'll throw a little statistic at you, which is that 80% of health decisions in the family are made by women. Yet in 2023, only 2% of investment by VCs in health tech were for women. Crazy, right?
James Kotecki (05:37):
That's pretty shocking, yes.
Eric Weisberg (05:39):
Only in spite of women being 51% of the population, less than 30% are in clinical trials. And we live in an era where medical gaslighting has been a reason that women spend 25% of their lives in chronic pain or other conditions at a significantly higher rate than men. And so when we are looking at this creative convergence of what's happening in health, we're seeing that there was a health equity gap with women and we're seeing that shift finally happen. And so we put out this trend report called Superwomen. It's a follow-up of a trend report we did called Superhuman last year about technology and the increasing impact on longevity. And so that was a big passion for us this year.
James Kotecki (06:25):
We're living at a time, I think when we're getting a lot of mixed signals about the future of health and healthcare. We're at CES, we're extremely optimistic about the future. We have all these great technologies. We have these seemingly miraculous medications. We have hopefully a more focus on women's health. And we also have huge political strife around the healthcare system. It continues to be a political issue here and elsewhere. How do you think about brands navigating this kind of fraught moment where all these things are being held in tension?
Eric Weisberg (06:50):
Yeah, I mean, look, I think there's an interesting reality, which is that we have questionable belief in our governments, in a lot of things in our lives, in our news sources. Brands have an interesting opportunity to be the trusted sources for information and help. And I think they're in an interesting place to put inclusivity at the center of it. We talk about closing these health equity gaps. Brands are really good places and good things to be taking those things on. And that's what we saw in Superhuman and then Superwomen this year.
James Kotecki (07:29):
So then expanding that conversation on inclusivity to DEI initiatives, diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives, we're also at an era where maybe those are politically controversial and companies may be thinking about backing away from that. Where do you stand? Where does your business stand? And I was thinking also just zooming out, is this kind of intuition that I have actually true? Are brands kind backing away from this?
Eric Weisberg (07:51):
I think there's a few things going on. I do think there has been a backlash against purpose washing as opposed to purpose doing. Are brands putting a patina of purpose on things or are they actually doing things that make a difference? And I think health is an example where when we talk about every brand being a health brand, brands really have an opportunity and a responsibility to be as inclusive as possible. Look, anybody that shrinks their investment, mental investment or capital investment in D&I or inclusivity initiatives, they do so at their own peril. More inclusive companies, more inclusive brands are more successful, brands are more creative brands, are more innovative brands. It's been proven all day every day. So I don't know, there may be brands out there doing it. It certainly, I think they do so at their own peril.
James Kotecki (08:46):
Are there other industry trends that you want to highlight here at the beginning of the year that you think people should pay more attention to?
Eric Weisberg (08:51):
Well, I think we get into a lot of conversations at events like this, where is it this or that? Is it AI or is it creativity? Is it data or is it creativity? Is it media or is it traditional marketing? I guess I've lost patience with the "or" mentality. I think when I talk about creative convergence, that's an "and" mentality. What is the right combination of things to build a brand today? And I think to me, that I think is where the future is going to be. I mean, 55% of the media we consume is not ad supported. So advertising alone is obviously not the solution.
James Kotecki (09:35):
So I love this idea of an "and" mentality. And as we wrap up here, I'm wondering, is there a technology or an industry maybe outside the direct health space, but another technology maybe here or elsewhere that is inspiring to you and you think could have interesting confluence with some of these things that you're talking about?
Eric Weisberg (09:53):
I'm going to go full nerd for a moment.
James Kotecki (09:54):
Yes, please do. We're at CES.
Eric Weisberg (09:57):
Which is I think the technology that I'm most excited about are solid state batteries.
James Kotecki (10:02):
Okay.
Eric Weisberg (10:03):
Crazy, right?
James Kotecki (10:04):
Well, say a little bit more about that.
Eric Weisberg (10:05):
So the biggest health issue of our time is climate change. A huge opportunity to make a shift in that. So climate change for... How does it impact your health? Much higher rate of asthma and other respiratory disease, infects cardiology, pests, mental health, heat exhaustion, all of these things. What is the solution? The solution is a shift in our consumption of energy. And solid state batteries are this massive shift that go from cars and trucks with range anxiety and waiting a half hour or an hour to charge them, to charging them in minutes to going 650 miles on a charge. So there's a technology that we are on the cusp of companies like Honda and Toyota and Hyundai solving, and if they do it, it will change human health for the better.
James Kotecki (10:59):
Well, thanks for connecting so many dots for us today. This has been a fantastic conversation. Eric Weisberg, Havas Health Network. Really appreciate your time today.
Eric Weisberg (11:06):
Pleasure to meet you.
James Kotecki (11:07):
And thank you so much for joining us here in the C Space Studio. I'm your host, James Kotecki. More conversations are just ahead, so keep it here. This is CES 2025.
(11:17):
Well, I hope you enjoyed that conversation from CES 2025. That is our show for now, but there's always more tech to talk about. So if you're on YouTube, please subscribe and leave a comment. If you're listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartMedia, or wherever you get your podcasts, hit that follow button and let's give the algorithms what they want.
(11:35):
You can get even more CES at ces.tech. That's ces.tech. Our show produced by Nicole Vidovich and Paige Morris. Our C Space Studio episodes are produced and edited by Cramer. I'm James Kotecki talking tech on CES Tech Talk.
