Solstice HealthCommunications: 2016

Solstice HealthCommunications

P.O. Box 454

49 Route 202

Far Hills, NJ 07931

Phone: 908-306-1100

Facsimile: 908-306-1105

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: solsticehc.net

 

 

Accounts

Account wins                        1

Active business clients       5

 

Brands by 2015 sales

Brand product accounts held        6

$25 million or less   2

$500 million to $1 billion    2

$1 billion or more    2

Products not yet approved/launched     1

 

Services Mix

Advertising    40%

Interactive     33%

Medical education   15%

Relationship marketing      10%

Public relations        2%

 

Client Roster

Bavarian Nordic

Dyax

Halozyme Therapeutics

IRX Therapeutics

Novartis

NovaSom

 

 

Agency leaders admit that to some in the industry, Solstice HealthCommunications may seem like the new agency on the block. Executives say the agency’s team members, however, have deep roots in the healthcare sphere, and their collective talent brings clients the years of industry experience, insight, knowledge, and “fiery passion” needed to set brands ablaze.

Co-founded by Nanske and Bill Wood in July 2011, Solstice began with four employees and two clients at the Woods’ residence. Since then, say the agency’s leaders, two elements have remained constant: positive change and growth. The “small but mighty” agency relocated to an official office space in Far Hills, New Jersey in September 2011 and won its first pitch the next year. Then, in 2013, Solstice staffed up to 20 members and strengthened its digital capabilities to handle the expanding needs of new and existing clients. By 2014, more than 2,000 square feet of office space had been added to the Far Hills site, and extensive renovations had been made. These most recent changes were made to accommodate the agency’s many new employees and to create additional facilities for client meetings and other functions.

“Although Solstice may have had a humble start, the agency is now turning up the heat and blazing into the future,” executives say.

 

The year’s accomplishments

Solstice expanded its oncology portfolio with the addition of Votrient, a first-line VEGFR-TKI for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Work on this Novartis Pharmaceuticals brand included enhancing its messaging platform and evolving its sales pieces, including its sales aid and digital banners. With Novartis bolstering its RCC Franchise with the acquisition of Votrient, Solstice was also charged with developing internal education and awareness pieces to facilitate product integration.

Another highlight was taking the lead on the launch of a new neuroendocrine tumor (NET) indication for an existing Novartis brand that Solstice had won in 2014. The agency’s staff and leaders are eagerly awaiting the final reveal of the creative campaign, which is anticipated for mid-2016.

According to agency leaders, the summer of 2015 marked the official unveiling of Solstice’s “head-turning” Great in Bed campaign, spotlighting the AccuSom home sleep test marketed by NovaSom Inc. The campaign’s pieces, which were directed to healthcare professionals, spanned several media and included a sales aid, a promotional offer, and an educational video.

Internally, Solstice was adjusting to its tremendous growth in 2015, executives say. In terms of revenue, the agency doubled its billings, its executives claim. Staff also increased to 30-plus members, from 20-plus in 2014, requiring further expansion of the Far Hills campus. Some team members broke out into office space next door, and additional conference rooms were set up.

“All talent we’ve brought on board is dedicated to our shared vision of unconventionality, which we like to call Brand Blazing,” says Nanske Wood, president. This vision led the agency to create its own, internal branding.

 

Structure and services offered

Solstice is a privately held, full-service agency that goes beyond the bounds of traditional advertising, executives say. The agency has a nimble structure, one that is not hindered by the typical big-agency processes that can cause delays, break budgets, and push brands off strategy. According to executives, its mission, in a few words, is that what keeps clients up at night keeps them up too and fuels their hunger to help clients put their brands on the right path.

“We don’t sell prepackaged ideas. We dig in deep to help clients overcome obstacles,” says Nanske Wood. Often, agencies try to fit client needs into the services they offer as opposed to finding what works best for the client. Executives say Solstice offers clients the firepower their brands deserve, with strategic, medical, and creative expertise through every step of a brand’s life cycle – premarketing, prelaunch, launch, loss of exclusivity.

The majority of the agency’s team members have experience working in big agencies. At Solstice, they are combining their shared learnings, collective vision, and commitment in new ways within a unique, creatively stimulating culture. This culture, along with the agency’s important launch experience across multiple therapeutic categories, provides clients with successful results.

Agency executives say those successful results stem from chemistry between its team members.

“Solstice cofounders Nanske and Bill Wood have created an extraordinary team by carefully selecting staff members based on their complementary skill sets and personalities,” executives say. ““Finding the right balance between talent and personality is crucial.”

 

Future plans

In the coming year, Solstice will concentrate on becoming stronger in patient engagement, as patient centricity is increasingly a client focus, agency leaders say. “This makes perfect sense,” executives say. “Our agency and our clients have the same goal – to bring a strong sense of humanity and commitment to the ultimate customer, the patient.”

Solstice also plans to continue to create the strategic and innovative solutions that can set the stage for change and growth. Through effective planning, communication, and management, Solstice strives to harness the fundamental forces of the market to help clients realize the greatest potential for their brands, executives say.

 

Philanthropy/citizenship

In the spirit of being a woman-owned business and being certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, Solstice organized an internal clothing drive benefiting Dress for Success Morris County, executives say. This international nonprofit organization strives to empower women to achieve financial independence by providing career support and professional attire.

“I was overwhelmed by the generosity of our staff,” Nanske Wood says. “Employees donated everything from blazers to briefcases. It was an immense joy seeing everyone become so involved.”  By supporting women in the local community, Solstice hopes to help create a future full of influential, independent women.

In addition to organizing charitable events, Solstice supports team members who volunteer their own time to various causes. Several Solstice employees dedicate their time to going on Red Cross mission trips, working in the Morristown Community Soup Kitchen, and providing dinners at homeless shelters. “It’s important to encourage these employees,” Nanske Wood says. “The kind actions of just one person have the potential to create a ripple effect of positive change in this world.”