Making Brands Stick: VCCP's CHESS moves to create work that works

April 9, 2026·14 min·1 clip

Chris Brandau explains how VCCP's CHESS framework makes healthcare ads memorable enough to be prescribed.

Host Jack O'Brien of the MM+M Podcast interviews Chris Brandau, head of account management at VCCP Health, about the agency's CHESS framework for healthcare advertising effectiveness. The episode opens with the thesis that memorability and prescribing are directly linked — brands remembered by patients are more likely to be mentioned to physicians at the point of care. Brandau explains CHESS stands for character, humor, emotion, surprise, and sonic branding, and is grounded in behavioral science research VCCP calls 'Cracking the Memory Code.' The character element is illustrated by Kologuard's talking box mascot, which achieved enough cultural recognition to be parodied on Saturday Night Live. For humor, Brandau cites Novartis Super Bowl campaigns for prostate and breast cancer, including a recent ad built around the phrase 'relax your tight end.' The emotion lever is illustrated by 'The Most Beautiful Sound,' a campaign featuring actual audio of cancer cells dying, played for real patients whose reactions were filmed. Sonic branding examples include the Ozempic, Trulicity, and Skyrizi jingles, which Brandau describes as 'earworms' that encode brand recall in memory far more durably than visual ads alone. The surprise element is demonstrated by Pfizer oncology using an LL Cool J soundtrack, an unexpected creative choice for a pharmaceutical brand. Brandau notes that using multiple CHESS elements simultaneously compounds memorability effects. The conversation shifts to the regulatory environment, with O'Brien raising the threat to DTC advertising from multiple federal agencies including the FDA, FTC, and FCC. Brandau argues that if DTC advertising were restricted, the CHESS principles would transfer to HCP-targeted marketing, because physicians and nurses respond to the same memory and emotional triggers as consumers. He describes what he calls 'blue jean moments' — times when doctors are thinking like ordinary people. The episode also covers the practical challenge of MLR approval for creative campaigns, with Brandau advising agencies to involve medical, legal, and regulatory teams early in the process rather than presenting completed concepts. He frames regulatory relationships as a trust-building exercise requiring ongoing communication. O'Brien asks whether brands need to deploy all five CHESS elements simultaneously; Brandau says more elements compound the effect but forced inclusion of all five is counterproductive. The closing discussion ties memorability directly to commercial outcomes: with $30 billion in annual healthcare media spend and only 15% recall, Brandau argues creative effectiveness is not an aesthetic preference but a measurable business lever. He encourages pharma brands to adopt CPG-style creative thinking, noting that the same memorability science applies across categories from beverages to automobiles.

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