COMPRIX 2026: double gold for bold healthcare communications.

At COMPRIX 2026, the leading creative awards for healthcare communication in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), WEFRA LIFE won two gold awards: one for its ‘Indulge Yourself Down There’ OTC campaign (octenisept® vaginal treatment, Schülke & Mayr) and another for a pharmacist campaign for Phytohustil® (Bayer Vital). Both awards recognise an approach based on thinking like the audience, rather than about them.

‍

Gold #1: ‘Indulge Yourself Down There’ – a campaign for octenisept® vaginal treatment

‍

A bold approach to a stigmatised topic.

There are some topics where people lower their voice. Vaginal infections are one of these topics. People do not talk about them, not at breakfast, not with their partner and definitely not in advertising. Instead, people resort to euphemisms, soften their language and lose themselves in metaphors until all that remains of the actual topic is a feeling of discomfort.

For octenisept® vaginal treatment from Schülke & Mayr, we decided not to dance around the subject. And the result was a gold award in the OTC Products/Integrated Campaign category at COMPRIX 2026.

‍

What ‘bold’ actually means here.

‍

Our ‘Indulge Yourself Down There’ campaign is bold. However, it was not bold because it was loud. The campaign was bold because it was simply ‘normal’ – it spoke to young women just like they speak. On equal terms, without preaching at them, without making the topic any smaller than it is.

When a topic comes with stigma like intimate health does, effective communication needs to speak to people like equals and not lecture them. This is what differentiates contemporary healthcare communication from the old way of speaking at patients. In other words, OTC campaigns for sensitive women’s topics attain greater reach when they speak the language of the target audience instead of employing medical jargon or embarrassed, ‘Shhh’-style communication.

‍

Social first: be where questions are asked.

‍

A campaign like this, logically, has to meet people where they already are. That is why we started social first, so that we would show up right in the target audience’s feed. The exact place where questions about intimate health are actually asked.

We guided young women from the first encounter in their social feed through to their decision at the pharmacy – or through to the recommendation given by that pharmacy, since the campaign delivered clear, compelling arguments to pharmacy assistants and pharmacists, too. As we say, ‘Relevant communicators speak with their audience, not about them.’

‍

Gold #2: Phytohustil®: the ‘RZHSTN’ pharmacist campaign.

Another task: oversaturated market, clear message.

‍

The second gold COMPRIX award, in the OTC Pharmacist Campaign category, honoured our Phytohustil® campaign (Bayer Vital). It was a different topic with a very different task: instead of dealing with stigma, the campaign had to take on the near-oversaturated market for cough remedies.

‍

Thinking like the audience: pharmacy assistants and pharmacists.

‍

For this campaign, too, we thought just as the audience do. Pharmacy assistants and pharmacists want to know one thing above all: ‘What can Phytohustil® do? Why should I recommend it?’ We answered this question directly with a single idea.

‍

The idea: less letters, less cough.

‍

The product makes it simple – its proven benefit is reducing the duration of a dry cough. Instead of explaining that at length, we made it immediately visible, stripping down the German word for ‘cough’ – ‘REIZHUSTEN’ – to ‘RZHSTN’. Less letters. Less cough. An idea you can grasp in a fraction of a second, which happens to be about as long as an ad in a trade journal or a social post has to capture someone’s attention before they turn the page or scroll away.

‍

Why COMPRIX gold matters and what lies behind it.

‍

COMPRIX has been the leading showcase of healthcare communication in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – the German-speaking countries – since 1993. With over 350 entries in 2026, the competition is a robust barometer of creative excellence in the industry.

It was no coincidence that two of our campaigns picked up gold awards in one evening, with various other Campaigns – including MEDICE, Smith + Nephew and Gilead – becoming finalists. It is the result of a clear conviction. A conviction that good healthcare communication understands the people it is trying to reach. Instead of thinking about the audience, it thinks like them.

‍

‍

‍

The projects that we’re the right agency for

‍

Frequently asked questions

‍

What is COMPRIX?

‍

The COMPRIX awards are the leading creative awards for healthcare communication in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), with over 350 entries in 2026.

‍

What OTC topics does WEFRA LIFE SOLUTIONS develop campaigns for?

‍

From sensitive women’s topics such as intimate health to respiratory disease as well as complex, prescription-only products and B2B2B topics, the WEFRA LIFE SOLUTIONS portfolio spans OTC campaigns, pharmacist campaigns and integrated communication concepts for pharmaceutical and healthcare brands.

‍

What steps are there in a campaign for a stigmatised topic?

‍

The process starts with a detailed target audience analysis: where are the affected people? How do they speak? What channels do they use? This serves as the basis to create a social-first concept that communicates on equal terms, without embarrassment, without lecturing.

‍