Benchworks: 2018

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Benchworks
954 High Street
Chestertown, MD 21620
Telephone: 410-810-8862
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: benchworks.com

 

Accounts
Account wins 14
Active business clients 44

 

Brands by 2017 sales
Brand-product accounts held 61
$25 million or less 61

 

Services Mix

Digital and social 30%
Brand development and strategy 20%
Creative brand development services 15%
Brand team operational support 10%
Sales training 10%
Tactical plan creation and execution 10%
PR 5%

 

Client Roster

Noven
Otsuka
Pfizer
Shire
Supernus
West Pharmaceutical Services

 

The award-winning agency Benchworks provides strategy, design, production, and implementation of complete marketing, branding, and commercialization services.

“Since 2015, the Inc. 5000 has annually listed us as one of America’s fastest-growing companies, while MM&M has named us one of the top 100 U.S. marketing agencies in 2016 and 2017,” executives say. “MM&M also named Benchworks a 2017 finalist for Small Healthcare Agency of the Year.”

According to agency leaders, Benchworks earned five new clients during the past year. In particular, Benchworks became agency of record for Sun Pharma and Vertical Pharma. “Our pitch to launch Sun’s new oncology drug (Yonsa) led to a presentation for a new form of a long-term care drug (metoprolol sprinkles),” agency executives say. “We landed both brands, multimillion dollar accounts.”

For Vertical, while pitching for the launch of a new ADHD drug formulation (Methylphenidate ER 72-mg), the agency was asked to pitch for the launch of a new Parkinson’s disease drug (Osmolex). “After gaining AOR status for both, Vertical invited us to meet with their women’s health division, winning a portion of that business,” management says.

“We are constantly pushing Benchworks forward, stretching our belief in what is possible for an agency to achieve,” agency leaders say. “We blur the line between client and agency, making it a true partnership of the two. It’s this type of innovative, forward thinking that has enabled us to grow beyond the full-service marketing agency model.”

To reflect the agency’s wider scope of offerings, its leaders say they have repositioned Benchworks as a commercialization partner. “We have established leadership, experience, and resources in place, and we already leverage this expertise for our clients,” executives say. “But now our website and marketing materials also call out this aspect of our business.”

In addition, according to managers, Benchworks leveraged its years of expertise building successful pharma brands to launch a clinical research consulting practice that can help clients optimize the link between successful clinical trials and the approval and launch of new drugs.

“Benchworks believes utilizing one integrated partner to guide companies from initial clinical efforts to approval and launch enhances the commercial success of a pharmaceutical treatment,” executives say. Christina Norris, a 20-year veteran with experience planning, developing, and executing patient recruitment programs for clinical trials, joined the Benchworks team to lead the practice.

Benchworks specializes in the launch and support of brands for a wide variety of companies, executives say, and clients are highly concentrated in the life science sector of pharmaceutical and medical devices in North America and Europe. These clients include Pfizer, Sun, Otsuka, Supernus, Vertical, and Neos.

The agency’s capabilities include brand development and strategy; creative brand development services; digital and social media services; sales training and support; PR and communication services; brand team and operational support; tactical plan creation and execution; and patient recruitment and clinical services.

Benchworks maintains a relatively flat organizational structure that gives employees immense autonomy, according to management. “We don’t want arbitrary obstacles or long lines of communication between roles to hinder the execution of solutions for clients,” executives say. “We find this structure energizes and empowers employees, and is one reason for our high retention rate. It also creates enduring brand/agency relationships, shortens timelines, and cuts costs while maintaining high quality.”

Currently, Benchworks is in a period of sustained, double-digit growth as the agency gains greater market share, according to its leadership team.

“Our aim is to manage growth in a sustainable manner, guided by a relentless focus on quality and continued professional development of our people,” executives say.

Benchworks is committed to supporting and implementing innovation in the life science industry. “We continue to explore new opportunities and avenues that complement our capabilities as well as address unmet client needs,” executives say.

The agency continues to expand into the Boston market, strategically increasing its presence there, and plans to open a physical office in the next 12 to 18 months are on track, management says. For the Philadelphia office, growth has led the agency to secure additional space at the current Fishtown location. And Safe Chain, a Benchworks company that is a third-party logistics provider and distributor of pharma products, plans to open a West Coast facility in 2018.

“Benchworks is also committed to remaining family owned,” executives say. “In 2016, Thad Bench II joined the company full time and has taken on increasing responsibilities within the company during the past year.”

Management says Benchworks serves as an important economic engine for the local community in which it is headquartered, providing dozens of good-paying jobs and a place for young professionals to start and expand their careers.

“But we also give back,” executives say. “Employees are given paid time off to work in our local school system as part of Junior Achievement (two to three times per semester) and the Character Counts program (weekly). As part of the Kent County High School Externship [in Maryland], we annually host high school students for a day in the life of a marketing agency. Through a partnership with Washington College, we created an internship program that, for the past three years, has given students opportunities for hands-on, real-world experience. We even pay the entry fees for interested employees to participate in a number of popular walk/runs, such as the Radcliffe Creek School Tea Party Run/Walk.”

Executives say Benchworks is also a proud sponsor of a variety of organizations, including Chestertown Rotary Club; KART (Therapeutic Riding); Chester River Association; National Hemophilia Foundation; Gunston Day School; Devon Strafford Little League; Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia; American Cancer Society; National Music Festival; 4K for Cancer; The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; and Chesapeake Bay Trust.