HCB Health: 2017
HCB Health
701 Brazos, Suite 1100
Austin, TX 78701
Telephone: 512-320-8511
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: hcbhealth.com
Finalist
Agency of the Year, Category III
Accounts
Account wins 15
Active business clients 17
Brands by 2016 sales
Brand-product accounts held 48
$25 million or less 10
$25 million to $50 million 10
$50 million to $100 million 15
$100 million to $500 million 3
$500 million to $1 billion 1
$1 billion or more 1
Products yet to be approved/launched 8
Services Mix
Interactive 59%
Advertising 29%
Media 12%
Client Roster
Abbott St. Jude Medical
Alcon
Aptitude Health
Aries Pharmaceuticals
Baxter
Galderma
Gore Medical
Mallinckrodt
Medac
MT Pharma America
Schumacher Clinical Partners
Smith & Nephew
Teva
Texas Oncology
TIDI
Vetter
Xenex
Zeltiq
HCB Health celebrated its 15th anniversary during 2016, which represented its biggest year in revenue since being founded in 2001, managers say. The year started off with modest growth but, by the second quarter, it was a whirlwind of activity with a number of significant new business wins, adding even more growth for the agency.
The Year’s Accomplishments
2016 also marked the Austin-based agency’s one-year anniversary of its expansion into the Midwest with a full-service office in Chicago. With a combined staff of more than 85 across two offices, HCB executives say they put together an offsite themed
“Go4orth” to bring everyone together and discuss the agency’s plans for the future.
“It was important to get us all under one roof and collaborate around the path forward,” says agency CEO Kerry Hilton.
According to executives, “The two-day event in Austin helped unify teams in the creative, account, strategy, digital and media departments with challenges to improve our processes with a ‘customer first’ mentality. The offsite yielded stronger relationships between staff, created a ‘one agency’ approach between offices and generated new ideas for supporting the best clients in the world.”
Agency leaders say Go4orth 2016 was also the perfect venue for unveiling the agency’s refreshed agency brand. “A new logo designed with a bolder font and color palette conveys the agency’s dynamic expression for creativity and innovative thought,” executives say. “And a new ad campaign more fully represents HCB’s belief that, with the right partner, there can be freedom in the fine print. Where other agencies might see limitations, we find liberation. Our team of strategists digs deep to find insights that have been overlooked and partner with our clients to bring them to life in new ways. How do we do this? Recently, HCB uncovered a unique truth about its DNA that’s had a profound effect on serving our clients. Where other healthcare agencies flaunt their turtle-necked staff donned in black and gray, telling clients what they must do, HCB begins with a completely different approach: we listen to them.”
In HCB’s annual client survey, one client said, “No other agency I’ve worked with in my 20-year career listens better than you guys do.” Another client told the agency, “There’s a humility that HCB brings to the table, and a third stated, “You bring your energy and enthusiasm – but leave the ‘we know because we’ve done it all’ attitude behind – it’s awesome.”
“That’s why HCB initiated listening sessions for its clients and prospects,” executives say.
“Clients are tired of their agencies ‘talking at them,’ says Partner and CMO Nancy Beesley. “Listening and hearing are two different things. Very often we are just all waiting for our turn to speak. Listening requires discipline and curiosity. All our employees have to have that – or they won’t work out here.”
It was during a listening session that a forgotten value was uncovered about a brand, which was used as the platform for a new product launch. “This simple yet refreshing approach helped attract 15 new clients in 2016 with momentum leading into the new year,” executives say.
According to agency leaders, 2016 also brought HCB some “incredible” top-tier talent.
“Our culture, which is decidedly Austin-driven, has seen a seismic shift in talent acquisition,” executives say. “Our new hires were looking for a change – and HCB Health was it. We expanded our digital offerings by adding Harry Stavrou as VP/Digital Services, who joined us from Ogilvy CommonHealth. Associate Creative Director James Hamilton made the move to Austin by way of LehmanMillet. From AbelsonTaylor we added Nick Rambke as VP/Group Account Director in Chicago.
“At the end of the year, Francesco Lucarelli joined the Austin strategy team as VP Strategic Services after working extensively with McCann out of New Jersey. And adding to the agency’s commitment to hiring only Badass associates, the agency added 22 new staffers and had an attrition of less than 2 percent. Employee surveys tell us that it’s the agency’s ‘culture and attitude’ that has attracted them to HCB and a commitment by the partners to maintain a sense of community regardless of growth.”
“There’s a sense of momentum and excitement at the agency,” Rambke says. “We’ve assembled together some of the best people the industry has to offer. Our hard work is paying off.”
Another unique driver of HCB Health is its independent spirit, agency leaders say. “Though we’re not alone in this category, we believe we’ve leveraged our independent status in a new way,” they note. “We’ve found great allies with other agencies who share our core values of service and creativity. In March of 2016, HCB Health partnered with AbelsonTaylor and JUICE Pharma at the annual SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. Three independent agencies set aside their competitive nature and came together for the greater good of healthcare. In partnership with MIT, we developed a three-day hackathon to rethink the world of patients, providers, and products.”
Execs say HCB was proud to share the Manny Heart Award with AbelsonTaylor and JUICE Pharma in the recognition of this powerful collaboration.
HCB management says 2016 was a banner year for the business development team, led by Beesley. The group added nine new clients to the roster in 2016, up from seven the prior year. “We took on projects we wanted to work on and said no to the ones we didn’t,” Beesley explains. “Customer service is critical and, if we can’t deliver the listening we promise, we have to walk away.”
Agency leaders say foundational planning and new business development talent are setting up 2017 to be “epic.”
“The phone keeps ringing and the clients on the other end are restless,” according to HCB leadership. “They want an agency that knows that you aren’t learning anything when you are talking. We admit we don’t have all the answers.”
After a successful integration of its operations in Chicago, HCB turned its eyes east, executives note. “In 2016, we opened an office in Scotch Plains, N.J.,” they say. Led by Managing Director Ari Wexler, HCB New Jersey landed a number of exciting assignments from the pharma community there, according to HCB executives.
“This early success has brought added momentum to the agency and, with it, more investment in the New Jersey office,” agency leaders say. “By deepening our footprint in the East, we are bringing our Austin culture and listening approach to a ready and willing target. In Q4 alone, the NJ office brought in over $1 million in new revenue. Future deals in New Jersey have helped fuel our 2017 agency-wide revenue projections in the neighborhood of $17 million.”
Structure & Services
As the agency grew in 2016, the team needed to grow with it, executives say, and Associate Partner/Executive VP Kim Carpenter created a new group around integrated services. “To act as one, we must think as one,” she says.
By centralizing leadership for the account service departments in all offices, the agency found synergies between the teams and was able to implement a seamless approach to service, executives say, adding, “With this unified services model, both digital and media can better serve our clients across the industry. By having a singular process for all, we are able to bring more impactful solutions to the market in a more efficient manner.”
“Digital is a catalyst for dialogue,” explains Harry Stavrou, VP Digital Services. “By listening to what target audiences are saying across multiple channels, we can provide them with content and services in ways that are really meaningful to them … and then we listen again.”
Working closely with the digital group is HCB Media, and executives say the seamless transfer of data between the teams gives the agency the ability to create effective customer touchpoints. “By far, most of the media we buy these days is digital” says Dave Russell, VP Media Strategy. “Our insights into customer habits, terminology, and motivations allows us to hyper-target audiences, whether they’re healthcare professionals or patients.”
While Integrated Services has brought three offices and multiple departments together, a more robust Strategy Group has emerged from the agency, according to HCB leaders. Associate Partner/EVP Amy Dowell has added Francesco Lucarelli to her team to help aid in the growing demand of strategic planning. Executives say Dowell and Lucarelli complement each other with combined strengths in medical device and pharma expertise.
“Because HCB continues to acquire more high-science clients across the United States and globally, we’ve added talent that reflects the need,” Dowell says. “I’m excited to have Francesco here.”
Executives say one of Dowell’s first clients to apply her strategic guidance to is the agency itself. “The HCB Strategic Process has been turned into a playbook for success and rolled out in all offices,” executives say. “Our growth demands that we stay unified in our thinking.”
“The concept of a playbook is critical to our commitment to be one agency,” reiterated SVP/Creative Director Abby Mansfield. “As many of us work across all offices as part of integrated teams, a consistent approach means seamless service for our clients.”
Additionally, a service that the agency added a few years back really grew in 2016, executives say. HCB Consulting has picked up three new clients in the medical device, device and drug and pharmaceutical spaces. “Consulting is unique from our other service offerings,” Beesley says. “It requires a lot of one-on-one time with CEOs and CMOs who need big thinking, sometimes far upstream from commercialization.”
According to executives, the agency’s commitment to listening has helped many customers rethink their approach, often with the rally cry of “Go big, or don’t go at all.”
Future Plans
“Our plans for the future reflect the formula for success we started 15 years ago: Invest in great people,” managers say. “In the coming months, you’ll see us add more great staff in Austin, Chicago and New Jersey. You’ll see us invest in more digital prowess, more analytical minds and more creative powerhouses. It’s all about people. Enough said.”
Philanthropy/Citizenship
During the 2016 Go4orth offsite, HCB leaders say they spoke of “A Servant’s Heart.”
“What does it mean to serve? Why is it important?” executives say. “Because by serving others, we actually serve ourselves. We’re better people for it, and a better agency, too.”
According to agency leaders, this is why HCB offers its staff a “Day of Service” in order to foster a commitment to community giving. Employees are encouraged to take a day off and make a world of difference to others in need. “We exemplify this by extending our services to the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Texas, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Partners in Hope Community Services,” executives say. “But one of our dearest charities is Front Steps, a local Austin organization that provides a pathway home for those experiencing homelessness by offering emergency shelter, affordable housing, recuperative medical care and supportive services as well as promoting community awareness. Because homelessness is a journey, not a destination, Front Steps helps restore their clients’ hope and helps guide them home.”
Beginning in 2016, HCB partnered with Front Steps by producing a video to raise funds for its recuperative care program, an initiative that transitions those who are too well for the hospital but too sick to live on the street. “This is an organization that is not just talking about the intersection of healthcare and homelessness, but also helping to solve for it,” says Senior VP/Creative Director Amy Hansen. “We’re honored to be part of such an important cause.”
HCB also did its own donation drive inside the agency and raised more than 1,200 items such as toothbrushes, backpacks, socks and other life necessities. “We look forward to doing even more in 2017,” executives say.
