Concentric Health Experience: 2017
Concentric Health Experience
330 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
Telephone: 212-633-9700
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: concentrichx.com
Accounts
Account wins 20
Active business clients 16
Brands by 2016 sales
Brand-product accounts held 35
$50 million to $100 million 3
$100 million to $500 million 11
$500 million to $1 billion 10
Products yet to be approved/launched 11
Client Roster
Aerie
Allergan
American Migraine Foundation
Bayer
Collegium
Emmaus
Ferring
Guerbet
Janssen
LivaNova
Novartis
Otsuka/Lundbeck
Rouses Point
Sage Rx
Sandoz
Sun Pharmaceuticals
Sunovion
When discussing what makes Concentric Health Experience one of the industry’s hottest agencies, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Michael Sanzen sums it up in one word: Agile.
“We like to say that we live in permanent beta,” Sanzen says. “We are driven to define change, not be defined by it.”
For the back-to-back Agency of the Year, Concentric’s leaders say 2016 proved to be a year of expansive transformation across all measures: in service model, leadership, and client relationships.
2016 continued the trend of organic growth lifting the agency, management says. Concentric grew existing clients Sunovion, Novartis, and Allergan. The agency also added new clients Sage, Bayer, Sun, and Aerie. The agency welcomed eight new clients and 20 new accounts in 2016 and to date.
According to agency leaders, the driving force behind these expanded relationships is the transformation within Concentric itself. Specifically, it is an experience-driven and design-driven vision that moves brands beyond communications toward solution-oriented, desirable experiences, managers say.
“Brand awareness is not enough today; you need to also create a great customer experience,” Sanzen explains. “Marketers have realized this, and are now using data to see what entices customers and what doesn’t. Awareness or ads are disruptive, but insight-driven experiences are desirable and facilitate customer action. For agencies, this means embracing the data-driven approach consultants have long championed, while keeping innovative creativity intact.”
The Year’s Accomplishments
Concentric’s leaders are especially proud of the brands and indications that were awarded to the agency based on performance and trust established with both longstanding clients and new partnerships, management says.
Of the 20 new accounts, nine were awarded without a pitch. Executives say Concentric transformed its client roster with new business wins. Of the eight new client relationships forged, six are bringing new therapies for rare or orphan diseases in hematology, hemoncology, infectious disease, epilepsy, and oncology. Sanzen and Agency Founder and President Ken Begasse Jr. credit the agency’s growing integrated consultancy, Concentric Health Intelligence (CHI), for its ability to solve behavioral and practice challenges in these areas.
“Our future is tethered to helping our clients transform their business and their brands,” Begasse says. “This requires behavioral and cognitive science, and clinical specialization, married with an in-depth understanding of commercial operations. We are leading our clients in commercializing first-to-market therapies that will shape the value of their organizations. There is no greater responsibility.”
Executives say in 2017, Concentric will launch seven new products and three new indications, plus four disease awareness campaigns that will help pave the way for early 2018 launches.
Concentric was recognized by the industry for its inspirational performance with two Agency of the Year accolades at the Manny Awards and Trailblazer awards, and picked up an all-time high of creative awards. But according to agency leaders, there was one campaign and client that continued to steal the spotlight at each show: the Rexulti “Into The Woods” launch campaign.
“We enjoy being recognized, but we especially enjoy when our clients get recognized for their dedication and performance, but above all, for being brave,” Sanzen says.
Rexulti was awarded at every major award show in 2016, with the launch, the campaign, the brand team, and the marketers taking top bill. “The campaign was patient inspired, and the awards were inspired by the teams at Lundbeck and Otsuka,” Sanzen says.
Structure & Services
Concentric Health Experience has been structured to address the complexities of the modern marketing ecosystem. Recognizing the convergence of a data and technology brand experience, Concentric spun out mini consultative practices to help their clients build modern health brands, executives say.
“Modern healthcare brands require a modern agency model that serves as a trusted advisor, not a service provider,” says General Manager Robin Roberts. “Concentric Health Experience now consists of six integrated disciplines. Individually, each discipline can add inspiration to any aspect of your brand plan. Together, we help clients create inspired and integrated brand experiences.”
These focused practices include strategy, medical education, promotion, engagement, influencer, and innovation. Executives say these practices provide brands with highly focused specialization while driving an integrated brand experience.
Agency leadership is bullish on the growth of Concentric’s European hub in London. The growing group welcomed an inspired leader in Managing Director Simon Pickup, who most recently was running digital innovation for GHG, and was general manager at Publicis Europe. “There exists a real void in the European market for smart and strategically sound experience-driven brand builders,’ Pickup says. “Sadly, much like in the U.S., fragmentation reigns.”
Future Plans
The next 2 years promise significant growth for Concentric, according to management. The agency will help launch nine new products and five indications over the next 18 months. Concentric leadership has always taken the long view on growing the agency, believing it has been paramount to the agency’s sustained success.
“Our clients trust us to do the right thing for their business, which means focusing all of our amazing staff on their challenges, not a pitch,” Sanzen says.
In fact, while pitches are still the main means of winning new business, agency leaders are seeing a shift in the marketplace. “Many pitches are too expansive in ask, I believe because being ‘comprehensive’ is the main driver,” Begasse says. “With more frequency, we are seeing a new approach where it’s about the people and the power of the idea. This is a step in the right direction.”
Concentric executives see significant growth in their inspired business model and through a continuous vision in anticipation of client demand. Nowhere is this more evident than in their inspired practices within influencer marketing and innovation design. According to Fred Petito, senior marketing executive, “Innovation should be embedded in every business plan as a transformative value to our client’s organizations. We see innovation beyond the current lens of technology, but innovation in the way brands and organizations adapt for future market potential.”
Philanthropy/Citizenship
Courage, compassion, and community are the core values at Concentric, and the agency lives them each day, according to its executives.
“Compassion is the inspiration behind our agency and our focus for being an agent of change within our community,” says Lourdes Molina, the agency’s head of talent and culture. “At Concentric, we think it’s our privilege to further the causes closest to our employees, improve the health experiences of those below standard, and amplify the smallest voice to ignite change. This takes the courage to see an inequality and do something about it.”
In 2016, Concentric continued its Health Fix program with the e-NABLE Community Foundation, an organization that uses 3D printing technology to provide prosthetic devices to children who need them at little to no cost. The foundation was named one of the top 10 business opportunities for 2016 by Springwise. Concentric is partnering with e-NABLE to help build a sustainable development infrastructure connecting innovative designers to open-sourced fabricators around the world.
In 2016, Concentric also supported the following causes: Together We Can: Uber/City Harvest Food Drive; Tree Census; Melanoma Research Walk; MS Bike Ride Team Bike Event; Hudson Square Daffodil Planting Hudson Square Connection; Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Central Park Walk; NY Cares Coat Drive; Dare to Stair; In God’s Love We Deliver: Bag Decorating; and StrongMom (strongmom.org).