AREA 23 2015

AREA 23
622 3rd Avenue, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10017
Telephone: 917-265-2623
Website: area23hc.com

 

QUICK FACTS

Accounts
Account wins    12
Accounts resigned    1
Active business clients    16

Brands by 2014 sales
Brand-product accounts held    40
$25 million or less    7
$25 million – $50 million    1
$100 million – $500 million    3
$500 million to $1 billion    1
$1 billion or more    1
Products yet to be approved/launched    9    

 

Services Mix

Digital    65%
Advertising    35%

 

Client Roster

AbbVie
Bayer
Becton Dickinson
Boehringer Ingelheim/Lilly
F. Hoffman-La Roche
Genentech/Roche
Gilead
GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline/Janssen
Insmed
Lilly
Merck
Merrimack

 

 

For the agency named for a number, executives say this last year has been a flurry of exciting new numbers, including the number of new employees, the number of new product launches, and the number of creative awards. And with a growth number that exceeded expectations in every way, the agency now finds itself on the verge of crossing a major threshold.

“Every growing agency has its eyes on that $50 million mark,” says Renée Mellas, who returned to Area 23 in 2014 to lead the agency alongside Tim Hawkey. “And I’d hate to jinx ourselves by saying this out loud, we honestly think we’ll be crossing that threshold this year.”

The year’s accomplishments

According to executives, 2014 was a huge year for Area 23. “As for the numbers, let’s start with 25 percent growth, fueled by an aggressive year of pitching new business, and winning 11 new AOR assignments,” executives say.

The agency got off to a strong start early in 2014, adding oncology assignments from Genentech (alectinib), Merrimack (MM-398), and Lilly (olaratumab). In keeping with executives’ stated goals, the agency grew in the consumer space as well. Mid-year, Agency 23 won a key assignment with Bayer to manage the DTC business for Xofigo, a unique radiopharmaceutical. Based on the success of that account, later in the year Bayer expanded the relationship to include the U.S. and global HCP business as well. And Area 23 closed the year on a high note. After a five-month, competitive pitch at the holding-company level, Area 23, as the lead agency for IPG, was selected by a joint venture GSK/Janssen team to lead the worldwide launch effort for sirukumab, a next-generation biologic for rheumatoid arthritis.

The agency brought in 61 new employees last year, bringing the combined number of staff and open positions right up to the 200 mark, which executives say is “another exciting threshold to be crossing.” On the awards front, Area 23 brought home seven trophies for creative work from the top competitions, including the Mannys, MM&M, The Globals, and Rx Club.

“The Most Creative Agency nomination from the Mannys was the most meaningful,” Hawkey says, reflecting back on the year’s accomplishments. “That title, to this day, remains the top achievement in healthcare advertising.”

Area 23 executives say a year of business would not be complete without launches, and there was no shortage of big ones. Early in the year, GSK’s combination of Tafinlar and Mekinist gained FDA approval for treating metastatic melanoma. Midyear, agency teams shepherded the multinational ex-U.S. launch of Jardiance, a new type 2 diabetes medication from the BI/Lilly Alliance. This was followed only a few months later by the Jardiance U.S. launch. And the end of the year brought the launch of Viekira Pak, the hepatitis C combination treatment from AbbVie. FDA approved Viekira Pak in December, with EU approval coming one month later.

Structure and services provided

At the beginning of the year, Area 23 announced the “Year of What If,” an initiative geared to increase the agency’s output of transformational creative ideas. Agency managers report that “What If” has transformed the way people do business.

“We’ve turned into an idea machine,” Hawkey says. “Every month, we’ve got 15 to 20 outstanding new big ideas to choose from. Everybody is energized. Account and tech leads are pushing themselves to think more creatively, and creative teams are really going there… to some seriously weird, dark, inspiring, and surreal places. The result is the best damn creative work I have ever seen in healthcare.”

According to Mellas, the impact of this initiative has extended beyond the walls of the agency. “This is really changing the way we engage with our clients,” she says. “We’re coming to them on a regular basis with big ideas that they didn’t ask for, and didn’t even know they wanted.”

The agency took ongoing steps to strengthen its digital infrastructure to support the unprecedented growth. Mark Dean was promoted to a leadership role as senior VP, director of multichannel strategy. In his new role, he has agency-wide visibility as he optimizes the digital strategy team to best serve all of the agency’s clients.

In addition, Area 23 brought on Bill Hanff to lead the growing team of developers, welcomed new talent in analytics, and brought on Miriam Tomaselli as VP, director of integrated operations to lead the digital production team and streamline all delivery-side operations for the agency.

To strengthen its offering branding design and strategy, Area 23 brought in Fernando Fernandez as VP, branding director, to lead a team of designers and brand strategists web.

Philanthropy/citizenship

Executives say since 2014 was the single most successful year in Area 23’s history, it stands to reason that 2014 was the agency’s single biggest year for giving back. The agency volunteered time and money to work for six nonprofits over the 12-month period.

A team passionate about orphan diseases produced the “No Celebrities” PSA for the National Organization for Rare Disorders. For Mother’s Day, a team worked with NTM Info and Research to build NotesToMom.org and spread the word about a rare bacterial infection that strikes older women. The Mollie Biggane Melanoma Foundation tapped Area 23 to boldly take on the tanning bed industry, and the resulting Free Killer Tan campaign has already made a huge impact on social media. For World Diabetes Day, Area 23 and the diaTribe Foundation launched the State of Diabetes, a yearlong awareness project aiming to bring diabetes back into the spotlight at the United Nations. And agency teams gave not only their blood, but their ink to the NY Blood Drive, with a promotional campaign that raised participation to record levels.

But the most meaningful act of giving came on September 16, which was the 5th birthday of Prestun Seibel. Suffering from advanced neuroblastoma, Prestun was in New York receiving treatment a thousand miles from his home and his family. A team of Area 23 employees caught wind of his story and learned of his upcoming birthday. Two weeks later, the agency was transformed into a fantastical superhero’s lair. “We welcomed Prestun to run amok, capture some bad guys, and just be a kid again” says Pam Savage, a creative leader who spearheaded the effort. “It was a birthday he’ll never forget, and through the process, the team raised $2,000 for Prestun’s ongoing treatment.”

Future plans

“As can be expected, the future of Area 23 will include a lot of numbers, but not just the numbers you’d imagine like growth and profit,” executives say. “They are the numbers that shape our culture, like the number of energized, passionate employees putting their hearts into their work; the number of lives improved and saved by the work they do; the number of groundbreaking ideas created for their clients; and the number of meaningful moments created for people like little Prestun. Those are some numbers anyone can be proud of.”