McCann Torre Lazur: 2017

 

McCann Torre Lazur, A McCann Health Company
20 Waterview Blvd.
Parsippany, NJ 07054
Telephone: 973-263-9100
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: mccanntorrelazur.com

 

Finalist

Best Philanthropic Campaign

 

Accounts
Account wins    11
Active business clients    9

Brands by 2016 sales
Brand-product accounts held    30

 

Services Mix

Professional Advertising & Promotion (print, interactive, and digital media)    70%
DTP    30%

 

Client Roster

Actelion
Alcon
Allergan
Alexza
AstraZeneca
Celgene
Daiichi Sankyo
Eisai
GlaxoSmithKline
Grifols
Janssen
Novartis
Teva

 

 

2016 was a pivotal year for McCann Torre Lazur (MTL), a McCann Health Company, which achieved double-digit growth. Early in the year, Amar Urhekar, president of McCann Health Americas, promoted Mark Willmann to president of MTL. In his first strategic move as president, Willmann appointed two new managing directors, Lauren Lewis and Pete Irizarry, and promoted Nicholas Megjugorac, PhD, to head of strategy. Marcia Goddard continued in her role as award-winning chief creative officer for MTL. Willmann emphasized, “collaboration and cohesiveness” as the guiding principles and reason for the agency’s rapid growth.

The Year’s Accomplishments

“2016 was a year to be proud of at MTL,” Willmann says. “With an outstanding new senior leadership team in place, MTL grew 10 percent. We created new opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborations and added 16 new accounts to our roster in 2016.” These efforts paid off as Willmann led the agency to a pitch win rate of 86 percent in 2016, adding new brands to MTL’s roster from clients such as Alcon, Janssen, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Celgene. MTL answered these wins with a major talent expansion, which included more than 50 new hires across disciplines, throughout the year.”

MTL also grew by expanding business with its portfolio with existing clients, including many of the world’s most innovative biopharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Janssen, Celgene, Actelion, and AstraZeneca. With these and other clients, MTL truly has cultivated a global footprint – 40 percent of its clients are global brands.

In 2016 MTL shifted its focus from launching new products to the prelaunch phase for numerous brands. This led MTL to deeper strategic problem solving and groundbreaking creative work through interdisciplinary alignment. On the creative front, MTL was internationally recognized for its work for AstraZeneca, Allergan, and Daiichi Sankyo as well as its pro bono work for #attemptlife.

In total, MTL won 22 awards from major award shows like The RxAwards, The Creative Floor, Creativity International, MM&M, IPA Best of Health, and PM360. MTL also had a strong presence for the third straight year at the Cannes Lions Health awards, including being a part of McCann Health’s significant win for 2016 Cannes Lions Healthcare Network of the Year.

Structures & Services

While MTL has always provided full-service healthcare communications, 2016 saw even more attention given to partnering with sister agencies and the network at large to deliver even more robust offerings. “The overarching strategy is to integrate,” Urhekar says. “It further builds on the strong brand equity that each of our agencies has built over decades and earned the trust with clients and within the industry.”

Beyond agency-wide growth, expanding digital capabilities was another top priority for Willmann. Specifically, MTL set out to double its Digital Strategy Department– a goal that was handily achieved, according to agency leadership. Willmann also restructured account management to be led by two executive VP, managing directors, Lewis and Irizarry.

MTL’s extensive portfolio of experience includes a wide range of categories, including Cardiovascular and Respiratory, Oncology and Hematology, Rare Diseases, Diabetes, Nutrition, Pain Management, Neurology, Hematology, and Immunology.

Future Plans

Looking ahead, MTL will continue to bring best-in-class solutions with an unparalleled network offering. With a diversified group of brands – ranging from rare disease to blockbuster – MTL is focused on ensuring each one reaches its full potential and delivers a meaningful impact on patients’ lives. “The pride MTL has in our people and for the brands we represent gets stronger as we expand, and we are getting a sense of what the next generation at MTL will be,” Willmann says.

Embracing its “creativity-first” culture has always been a staple at MTL, and that will continue into 2017. “Creativity is at the epicenter of what we do,” Goddard says. “But great creative can only be achieved when everyone shares a similar mind-set to get there, which is why we are always on the lookout for talented people who embrace this belief.”

Philanthropy/Citizenship

MTL embarked on a number of philanthropic endeavors in 2016. In October, the agency centered the entire month on wellness, offering seminars focused on nutrition, courses dedicated to teaching employees proper workout techniques, and classes on how best to manage stress in the workplace. Activities also included an event titled “Walk and Wag,” where dogs from a local animal shelter came to the agency so employees could learn a thing or two about their own health habits, then take turns getting some exercise by walking them around the parking lot. All of the dogs were adoptable, and for the second straight year, the agency provided forever homes to these shelter dogs.

“Building health awareness within our walls is critical, but even more so is how we can expand beyond to help the community through various endeavors,” Willmann says.

The creation of The Orange Project was another major accomplishment at MTL in 2016. A global movement intended to reduce the stigma of suicide and raise awareness of suicide prevention, The Orange Project is the continuation of the successful #worthliving and #attemptlife campaigns. In addition to #worthliving being the most awarded McCann Health philanthropic campaign, the efforts of this initiative were expanded with the creation of a comprehensive website, agency leadership notes. The goal was to make a difference at the global level by building the world’s largest online album of handwritten notes of encouragement, thereby using this platform to raise awareness of the importance of suicide prevention, and hopefully save lives.

“Because we are part of the healthcare industry, ensuring a person’s well-being is really the end result of everything we do,” Willmann explains. “I am continually impressed by our employees’ dedication to philanthropic efforts that extend beyond their day-to-day requirements. Watching this happen every day is by far one of the most satisfying parts of my job.”