Sentrix Health Communications: 2016
Sentrix Health Communications
230 Park Avenue South
New York, 10003
Phone: 212-771-1300
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: sentrixhealth.com
Accounts
Account wins 5
Active business clients 7
Brands by 2015 sales
Brand product accounts held 9
Services Mix
Advertising 75%
Medical education 20%
Managed markets 5%
In the past two years, Sentrix transformed from a lean team into a robust agency, executives say. Revenue quadrupled and the size of the agency more than tripled. This astronomical growth came from business generated both through new business wins and organic growth. According to agency leaders, the growth was part of a concerted effort to expand and rebrand the agency under the mantra “Anything but Typical,” which represents the agency’s pursuit of a high-caliber creative product that is unique and unexpected.
The year’s accomplishments
In 2015, Sentrix was recognized for its success with a nomination for MM&M Awards Small Agency of the Year. The agency’s self-promotion campaign, “Call for Good Creative,” won the 2015 PM360 Pharma Choice Gold Award for Best Self-Promotion (Print). Sentrix also launched its new website toward the end of 2015, which executives say showcases the agency’s fresh aesthetic and mobile-first web development approach.
The agency continued to increase its account roster last year by bringing on two oncology products and a virology product set to launch in 2016, a very well-known OTC product, and expanding an existing account to also include the direct-to-patient assignment.
In a forward-thinking move, agency executives say, Sentrix expanded its offerings beyond traditional HCP promotions this past year. “Sentrix acquired a medical education company and began offering a unique combination of medical communications and professional promotions,” executives say. “By integrating these offerings, we are able to provide more interdisciplinary thinking and cross-functional solutions. Sentrix also added a managed markets expert to the full-time staff. As the Affordable Care Act, pricing and payer practices become more and more important factors determining how brands are positioned and received, it’s important to have payer expertise integrated into the agency and our teams.”
Structure and services
According to agency leaders, Sentrix Health Communications is a creatively driven, full-service healthcare agency. “But that’s where typical ends,” executives say. “We build and revitalize healthcare brands by taking a decidedly different approach. Sentrix specializes in both professional healthcare promotion and medical communications, therefore creating stronger, more compelling stories that drive deeper engagement with customers at every stage of their relationship with a brand. Our unconventional approach is not just more holistic, it delivers the integration and efficiency needed to succeed in today’s healthcare landscape.”
Born from the world’s first and largest healthcare communications company, Sudler & Hennessey, executives say Sentrix deftly combines the immense resources of the S&H global network with a focus on more intimate client relationships. “With one of the few managing directors in the industry hailing from the creative side, creativity permeates all aspects of the Sentrix approach, from billings to banner ads, strategy to client services,” executives say. “Our creative approach also enables flexible processes in an often-rigid industry.”
Agency leaders also contend that Sentrix takes a fresh approach to agency structure, fully embodying “Anything but Typical.”
“We have overhauled our reporting and team structure to be organized into ‘tribes,’” executives say. “Based on the writing of Seth Godin, the ‘tribe’ structure takes advantage of and leverages something we all do instinctively as humans: we are tribal and look for natural leaders, meaning, and community. Therefore, everyone reports into a leadership team comprised of the creative director, client services director, and strategic director.
“We find this approach makes teams more accountable to the brand rather than individual departments. In a typical agency, editors, project managers, and studio operators report into their respective department heads, creating silos. At Sentrix, editors report into copy, project managers report into account, and studio operators report into art. This approach makes us more effective, accountable, efficient, and adaptive. We are also physically arranged according to tribe within the agency, so a copywriter sits next to an account person, who sits across from an editor, who is next to a project manager. This cross-discipline approach has been integral to our efficiency and flexibility.”
Future plans
Agency leaders say, “Special to Sentrix is the inclusive culture that values ownership. This close, passionate group is deeply invested in the work and agency. This comes in part because each person gets a voice, not just those at the top. We leverage everyone’s collective industry experience to improve the agency by generating new ideas and practices that work well and eliminating those that don’t.
“We are always looking to enhance our internal processes and client offerings. In the coming year, we plan to further integrate our promotional, medical communications, and payer teams to provide holistic thinking across all of our brands. The agency is looking to continue to expand its depth in these areas as well.”
The agency is preparing for three launches this year and executives say they are looking forward to making a sizable impact in all three categories as each product has the potential to be a market leader.
Philanthropy/citizenship
Agency leaders say Sentrix is fully committed to a number of causes through fundraising as well as pro bono work. “Team Sentrix came together last year in support of NAMIWalks, the largest and most successful mental health awareness fundraising event in America,” executives say. “The walk supports The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nations’ largest grassroots mental health organization. Team Sentrix contributed $2,420 in donations, adding to the $493,588 New York NAMIWalks has raised to date. The proceeds of the walk fund NAMI’s no-cost support and education programs for families and individuals living with mental illness.”
This past year, Sentrix was recognized for its pro bono work for the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) with the ICRF Corporate Philanthropy Award. Sentrix developed branding, logos and brochures for ICRF, the largest nationwide charitable organization in North America solely devoted to supporting cancer research in Israel.
As an additional pro bono effort, Sentrix developed a compelling campaign for AID for AIDS, which recovers unused, unexpired HIV medication and re-distributes them to developing countries. Sentrix also contributed materials to the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey and Women Helping Women, which provides affordable counseling services to women, young girls, and teens struggling with issues related to domestic violence, sexual abuse, divorce, depression, loss, self-esteem, peer pressure, relationships, and addiction.