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Lundbeck Foundation

Getting the brain prize into people’s minds

A layout displaying four printed newspaper advertisement spreads side-by-side, each featuring one of the four campaign posters (the favorite song, falling in love, switching hands, and losing the thread). Below the newspaper spreads, the logos for major Danish newspapers are listed: Jyllands-Posten, Berlingske, Børsen, and Politiken.
Client
Lundbeck Foundation
Task
“Brain Prize” awareness campaign
Deliverables
  • Brand platform
  • Brand campaign
  • Graphic design
  • Brand audio identity
  • Social media content
  • Webdesign
  • Print
  • Film production
  • Educational content

The challenge

The Lundbeck Foundation awards The Brain Prize, the world’s largest prize in brain research, worth DKK 10 million and recognised at the highest level of neuroscience. Yet outside the scientific community, awareness was minimal. The challenge was to create  a clear, unifying platform that could inform and inspire Danes who rarely think about brain research or how remarkable their own brains are.

Approach

So we asked ourselves, “How can we help a wider audience understand something as abstract, complex and essential as the human brain without placing them in a doctor’s surgery or a lecture hall?”

Solution

We developed a campaign built on one simple yet powerful idea: our brain is everything.

The concept celebrates the brain as the source of everything that makes us who we are. It is the reason we can move, laugh, love, remember, create, and feel. Through this lens, we could thank our brains for some of the most significant and relatable aspects of everyday life such as dancing to a favourite song or falling in love.

Each image in the campaign was paired with a punchy headline and short commentary, linking familiar experiences to the incredible complexity of the brain and the research that helps us understand it.

By connecting these universal human experiences to the science of the brain, the campaign made neuroscience feel personal, emotional and accessible to everyone.

Result

The campaign created strong engagement and delivered measurable impact, proving that brain research isn’t just for those interested in neuroscience, affected by brain-related conditions or within certain age groups but is relevant for everyone .

Ad recall reached 56%, a 9% increase from previous campaigns, while ad liking scored 48%, performing 17% above the TVC benchmark.

Even more importantly, 42% of respondents said that the campaign made them want to learn more about The Brain Prize – clear sign that we succeeded in sparking genuine curiosity about the brain and its research.

A campaign poster featuring a smiling man with glasses, a short beard, and a brown turtleneck. Above his head, a cloud of playful green line illustrations shows physical activities: a person running, a bicycle, a tennis racket, a basketball, and a bus. The bold green headline reads 'DERFOR KAN DU TAGE SKEEN I DEN ANDEN HÅND' (That's why you can take matters into your own hands / switch hands), with text explaining the motor system.
A campaign poster featuring a young woman with long red hair looking forward with a slight smile. Above her head, a cloud of stylized green line art illustrates romantic themes: a cupid with a bow, a flying Pegasus, hearts, butterflies, and lips. The bold green headline reads 'DERFOR BLIVER DU FORELSKET' (That's why you fall in love), with text below detailing how love hormones are triggered by the senses.
A campaign poster featuring a young man with wavy brown hair in a blue button-down shirt. Above his head, whimsical green line art depicts musical notes, a guitar, vinyl records, headphones, and speakers. The bold green headline reads 'DERFOR HAR DU EN YNDLINGSSANG' (That's why you have a favorite song), accompanied by body text explaining how music activates the brain's reward center.
A campaign poster featuring a close-up portrait of a mature woman with silver-grey hair looking directly forward. Above her head, a cloud of playful, stylized green doodles shows memories and thoughts like a bride, a baby, a book, a passport, and question marks. The bold green headline reads 'DERFOR TABER DU TRÅDEN' (That's why you lose the thread), with an explanatory paragraph about memory beneath her.

“The brain is incredible. There’s so much we can thank 🧠 for.
I’m incredibly proud to have helped develop and bring this campaign to life together with the best colleagues and partners.
With brainfelt thanks.” (in Danish: “Af hjernen tak”.)

Jesper Slot Møller
Head of Media Relations, The Lundbeck Foundation

Voice over

A promotional banner for The Brain Prize by the Lundbeck Foundation. The left side features bold gold typography with the campaign slogan in Danish. The right side features a video embed showing five diverse people lying down on a paved surface in a circle, surrounding a large gold medal emblem. Intricate green and yellow neuron line art frames the corners.
A laptop showing the Lundbeckfonden website homepage with the header 'THE BRAIN PRIZE'. The main banner displays a young woman with long red hair against a textured grey background. Whimsical line drawings of a cupid, a flying horse, and a rainbow emerge like thoughts from her head. Danish text reads, 'Der er så meget, du kan takke din hjerne for' (There is so much you can thank your brain for).
A whimsical, fine-line cartoon illustration centered around the theme of falling in love. The drawings form a heart-shaped frame around a blank center, featuring a cartoon cupid drawing a bow, rainbows, clouds, flying butterflies, pink flowers, floating hearts, and stylized lips locked in a kiss. The base of the illustration transitions into dense, tangled green neuron pathways.
A whimsical, fine-line cartoon illustration depicting motor functions and active lifestyle themes. Arranged in a frame with a blank center, the drawings show various activities: a person running, a moving bus, children playing, someone riding a bicycle, a person walking a dog, and an athlete playing tennis with a massive tennis ball. The bottom sections of the action loops connect down into a complex web of green nerve cells.
A whimsical, fine-line cartoon illustration celebrating music and sound, arranged as an open frame with a white center. The doodles feature musical elements including a microphone, an electric guitar, vinyl records, music notes, a drum symbol, headphones, a speaker playing sound waves, and a trumpet. Swirling lines connect these instruments directly down to an intricate base of green neural cells.
A whimsical, fine-line cartoon illustration representing memory, life milestones, and forgetfulness, forming a frame around a blank center. The illustrations include a baby, a mother playing with a child, an open book, a set of keys, a dog, the Eiffel Tower, a wedding couple, photos, and a house. Interspersed among the dense, winding green neuron pathways at the bottom are scattered question marks.
A scientific yet stylized biological illustration of an interconnected neural network against a white background. The drawing highlights multiple neuron cell bodies (somas) in tan with long, sprawling green axons and dendrites forming complex synaptic connections, creating an organic frame structure around a clear white center.
Ann-Louise Rosen, Co-CEO, Partner

Ann-Louise Rosen

Co-CEO, Partner

+45 30 30 29 73
aro@advance.dk

Our work

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