‘Health is the zeitgeist’: Eric Weisberg on redefining the rules of wellness

That spark quickly turned into action. After a brief early role in Cleveland, Ohio, his first major professional milestone came when he joined Leo Burnett in Chicago. He pitched an idea for a high-profile Reebok assignment, and to his surprise, the brand went for it.

“At the time, Reebok and Nike were fighting it out for number one. It was a bit of a different time than it is now, and Reebok was a was a real force,” Weisberg explains, noting that they had brand ambassadors such as basketball legens Shawn Kemp at the time.

“In a stroke of luck, we sold this spot, this crazy, super heavy on the special effects spot. I imagine, if I looked at it now, it would almost be laughable, but it was one of those things that took the better part of six months to produce because of its complexity.”

He adds that everything came together perfectly on that project and it was shortlisted for many awards. “I thought that was how it would be forever,” he says.

Later, Weisberg would return to New York to take creative positions at Saatchi & Saatchi, JWT, Doner and now Havas. There was a brief period in the early 2000s, as the ‘convergence’ or rise of digital was happening, that Weisberg left the advertising business to work at a digital experience company called K2, because he felt that the way we consumed media would change. (He wasn’t wrong).

Realizing that separating digital and advertising wasn’t smart, Weisberg says, “I went back to J Walter Thompson and created the first integrated group there, because I think the two sides shouldn’t live on separate floors and not speak each other's language,” he adds. “And so that became the next pivot, integration. Moving from traditional to digital, back to integration.”

There have been many projects that are “deeply meaningful” to him. He’s extremely passionate about the work done with Tylenol over the years. “Tylenol is this brand that is the first medicine you ever have as a child, you get it during your first fever, and it’s the last medicine you have in your life, because it also works for arthritis,” he says. “It’s one of those brands that is with you for your whole life.”

Weisberg explains that Tylenol’s marketing is rooted in family but the “definition of family was changing” in the States and in 2015, the Supreme Court was about to legalize gay marriage nationally. “The clients wanted to be a part of that conversation,” he says. “And we did this project called ‘How We Family’, and it was to celebrate that Tylenol supported you no matter how you define family. That was the start of the redefinition of health for me.”

Weisberg joined Havas Health four years ago as its global chief creative officer. At that time, he says that the “industry was shifting” and that “creativity was waking up” on health. This was coming off the back of the peak Covid-19 outbreaks happening globally, which “poured rocket fuel” on a change already happening, he says.

Weisberg’s passion for health and wellness is unmistakable. He shares that he's about to head to Cannes, where he will serve as Jury President for the category at the Lions. “That work, there’s no asterisk there. It’s not health and wellness work with an asterisk. It’s the best work in the industry. It’s leading innovation,” he explains.

Today, “every brand is a health brand. Health is the lens, it’s the zeitgeist of our time. It’s how we look at society in general,” he adds.

Weisberg explains that the best brands, and the best advertising minds, have made a pivot to health, citing Apple, Amazon and Google. “All of these brands have started to make their purpose, or their core business goals, health,” he shares. “I mean, Tim Cook says, Apple's biggest contribution to society will be on health.”

Work that celebrates the abilities of people with disabilities, such as Apple’s ‘Relay and ‘Heartstrings’ are powerful examples of health advertising, says Weisberg. Similarly, Havas Health’s latest work for the brand My Doctor's Recipe, which won an Impact pencil at D&AD last month.

As a creative, a leader and a person, Weisberg says there are a few things that define him. “I always put people first and believe the rest will follow,” he explains. “I’m hard on the work and kind on the people.” He believes his curiosity, and ability to run toward projects that other may shy away from, have been crucial to his success.

“I’m a Midwest boy. I bring Midwest values to the table, even though I’ve spent most of my adult life in New York, and I think I’ve always wanted to do purposeful work, that was meaningful, that was about people,” he adds. “Work that had a life that extended beyond the 60-seconds.”

He believes that nothing good creatively can come from comfort. “Bland art, bland music. All of that comes from getting comfortable with the status quo,” Weisberg says. “And so, it’s always been more interesting to me, both for myself, but also for the teams that I’m building, to create an environment where it’s a safe place to be brave.”

Weisberg describes himself as a “big nerd” and has a vast interest in technology. “I’m a big believer in AI, but, at the same time, if there is not a balance of the robots and the geniuses, we end up with bland-vertising,” he says. “In an industry that feels like it’s focused on chaos at the moment, we’ve been focused on our client and where the work is going, where people’s media consumption habits are going, what’s meaningful to people in a world that, frankly, doesn’t always make a lot of sense.”

The creative believes that the industry is at a significant inflection point. AI, which has been in the present for a long time, had a breakthrough two years ago that's now reshaping everything. He shares that some believe it will replace most creatives, while others argue it can never match human emotion or imagination.

Weisberg sees a middle ground. The industry has evolved through every technological leap, from print to desktop publishing, film to digital. Each shift didn’t eliminate jobs but transformed them. He believes that the same will happen with AI and that creatives will adapt, not disappear.

“The creatives of the future will be just like the creatives of the past,” he says, adding, “The ones that are at the forefront of embracing this as part of how they work, are the ones that will come up with the best ideas.”