Harrison and Star

75 Varick Street

New York, NY 10013

Phone: 212-727-1330

Website: harrisonandstar.com

 

Services Mix

Advertising 50%

Digital 40%

CRM 10%

 

Client Roster

Bayer

Beiersdorf

BTG

Daiichi Sankyo

Eisai

Family Reach

Genentech

Genoptix

Gilead

Hyacinth

Lexicon

Merck

Novartis

Pfizer

Roche

Salix

Teva

Valeant

Vanda

 

 

According to executives, it’s about the people. “Many agencies say their employees make the difference,” agency leaders say. “But Harrison and Star rises above the rest in attracting, cultivating, and retaining many of the top talents in the industry.”

By putting people at the center of everything that it does, agency leaders say Harrison and Star has been able to create a competitive advantage that is second to none and the results speak for themselves.

“15 consecutive years of double-digit growth is impossible to achieve without the best and brightest people in the business,” says Ty Curran, chairman and CEO. “It’s because of our focus on people that Harrison and Star is looking forward to continuing that trend into 2016.”

As an 18-year veteran of Harrison and Star, Co-President Mardene Miller says she also has extensive experience with this model of success. “People come here to be part of a winning team where they will be pushed to do great work. And we find that they stay because of what they achieve – as a team and agency as a whole,” Miller says. “Truly having a hand in shaping the agency’s future is something that is almost impossible to find anywhere else.”

According to Harrison and Star leaders, the world’s largest and most successful agency focused on communicating to medical specialists has a lot of admirers beyond its walls as well. “It’s not just our staff who have a long standing love affair with this agency,” says Co-President Mario Muredda. “Clients are in it for the long haul too. Over half the agency’s revenue comes from clients who have been with the agency for 10 years or more, which speaks to the long-term investments we make with all our clients.”

Promoting the personal and professional growth of its employees continues to pay off, executives say. During the past year, the expansion of established relationships with Bayer, Genentech, and Teva has been matched by winning new accounts from Gilead, Teva, Novartis, Genentech, and Lexicon.

Chief Creative Officer Mark Friedman says he is also a true believer in the power of their people to produce work that differentiates brands in the minds of customers, and instill affection for the agency in the hearts of clients. “What we hear time and time again from clients old and new is that yes, we are the best specialist agency out there, and yes our creative sparks the type of emotional response that stays with a brand forever, but what really sets us apart from everyone else is the people who make it happen,” he says.

 

The year’s accomplishments

Harrison and Star continues its growing support of clients working in categories with very high unmet needs, which are associated with accelerated regulatory review pathways. “In 2015, we successfully launched 4 new indications and had 17 new business wins,” says Marina Jean, managing director and also head of the Medical Department. “And this year shows no signs of slowing down, with a four-fold increase in launches scheduled for 2016.”

Agency victories have included: Gilead’s HIV and PrEP franchise; the Neurodegenerative Disorder franchise from TEVA that includes two brands being developed for chorea associated with Huntington disease and tardive dyskinesia; the professional and digital business for Esbriet, a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis produced by Genentech; and midostaurin, the first targeted therapy for acute myeloid leukemia by Novartis.

Despite the agency’s high success rate in attracting new accounts and generating organic growth, executives say the key is finding opportunities that are a great fit with the agency and its people. Agency leaders say Harrison and Star also understands that as individuals grow in their careers, so to does the business. Thus, the agency continues to invest heavily in training and fostering an agency-wide culture of digital training and mentoring.

 

Structure and services offered

Harrison and Star is the top healthcare communications company in the Omnicom network. In addition to its headquarters in New York, there are branch offices in San Francisco and London. Agency veteran Ane Jones, based out of the growing London office, serves as global managing director.

In addition to Curran, Miller, Muredda, Friedman, Jean, and Jones, the leadership team includes: Terese Kung, executive director, strategy and innovation; Charles Doomany, chief financial and operating officer; Robert Gemignani, director of human resources; and Bill Major, director of agency excellence. And as part of its expanded offerings in managed markets, Lori O’Neill has joined the agency as the director of market access and payer marketing. 

 

Future plans

Intensive in-house training in all aspects of digital creativity and strategy are ongoing, and so are Harrison and Star’s unique mentoring and manager training programs, which help people’s personal growth while advancing their careers at the agency. According to agency leaders, Harrison and Star’s highly specialized strategic and creative firepower, coupled with its leading technology offerings, poise the agency for sustained growth and success in 2016.

 

Philanthropy/citizenship

Harrison and Star continues to sponsor various charitable and planet-conscious initiatives. For many years, the agency has done pro bono promotional work for the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, an HIV social services organization in New Jersey. Other longstanding programs include Caring Hands, which enables agency personnel to volunteer their time and efforts to help a wide range of charities and advocacy programs, and GHS, an aggressive “green” initiative that has helped transform the business into one that is much more environmentally sensitive.

More recently, Harrison and Star has expanded its efforts to contribute to those most in need. Employees have donated their time and talents to help organizations such as the Family Reach Foundation, the only charitable organization that raises and distributes funds to families who are under financial duress owing to the costs of cancer care for a family member, as well as Dream Foundation, the only national dream-granting group for adults and their families struggling with life-threatening illness. And the agency also partnered with Stephen C. Krieger, M.D., a neurologist clinician/researcher, to develop an award-winning app that presents a new unified clinical source model for multiple sclerosis.