Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide 2014

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650 Dundee Road
Northbrook, IL 60062
Telephone: 847-418-8000
Facsimile: 847-418-8088
Website: bluechipmarketingworldwide.com

Quick Facts

Accounts  
Account wins 18
Account losses 2
Active business clients 40
Brands by 2013 sales  
Brand-product accounts held 40
$25 million or less 3
$25 million – $50 million 4
$50 million – $100 million 3
$100 million – $500 million 19
$500 million to $1 billion 4
$1 billion or more 7
Services Mix  
Media 30%
Creative 20%
Digital 20%
Strategic planning and research 20%
Public relations 10%

Executives say it was a banner year for Blue Chip in the number, scope, and results of campaigns delivered for clinical and commercial clients. The agency continued to leverage traditional media to reach patients with common, chronic conditions while pushing the boundaries of hyper-targeting to connect with patients digitally.

The Year’s Accomplishments

For pharmaceutical clients, Blue Chip created strategically driven, multi-million dollar marketing campaigns designed to educate, inform and recruit patients to participate in clinical research trials. Patient recruitment is the bottleneck of clinical research that costs pharmaceutical companies millions of dollars a day in missed revenue.

A highlight of 2013, according to agency leaders, was a multi-channel campaign for a cardiovascular events clinical trial, which to date has generated almost 2.5 billion impressions across traditional and digital media as well as public relations. This trial used one of the first national broadcast television ads for clinical trials.

In an age when marketing is about creating consumer conversations, Blue Chip put the patient center stage in its patient recruitment efforts. Two clinical trials, one for lupus and one for celiac disease, featured actual patients in television commercials and patient education videos, allowing these small but active patient populations to connect more deeply with these clinical trial opportunities. Blue Chip further engaged these patients through advocacy and community groups. Because are few marketed treatment options available for celiac and lupus, clinical trials offer hope that new treatments are being developed.

Blue Chip innovated in the patient compliance arena, executives say, creating retention programs designed to keep patients engaged in clinical trials for several years or more. For Orexigen Therapeutics’ long-term weight loss clinical trial, Blue Chip developed a series of three grocery store videos, a food store map, and brochure featuring tips on how to incorporate healthier food shopping and eating habits into patients’ lifestyles.

Blue Chip continued its seventh year of providing strategic marketing communications solutions for Alva-Amco, a leader in over-the-counter medicine, remedies and non-prescription pharmaceuticals. The agency wrote, directed and produced television advertisements, planned, and bought the television and online media for Alva-Amco’s suite of brands including Diurex, Eczemin, Prosacea, Psoriasin, and UriCalm.

Blue Chip helped cough drop giant Ricola launch the company’s most successful digital/social media campaign, introducing “Chrüterchraft” (Swiss for magical herbal blend) to North American consumers. “The campaign is already building significant buzz and sales around the company’s legendary product line of herbal cough drops, including its latest offering, Ricola Extra Strength,” according to agency executives.

Blue Chip led the brand management, digital and in-store shopper marketing efforts for the Kaz USA suite of brands including Vicks, Braun, and Honeywell thermometers, air purifiers, and heating pads. The agency helped Omron enhance its fitness product line by developing a new product naming system as well as developing new packaging and design.

Blue Chip has formed several strategic partnerships with some of the major contract research organizations in the clinical development industry, including an initiative to capitalize on their expertise in rare diseases.

For the third year in a row, a Blue Chip executive was included on the PharmaVOICE 100 list of most inspiring people in the life-sciences industry. This year it was Bob Klein, Blue Chip’s chief strategy officer.

Neil Weisman, executive VP and general manager of Blue Chip Healthcare, presented on pediatric trial recruitment at the Drug Information Association’s 49th Annual Meeting. For the third year in a row, Weisman was a regular contributor to Media Post’s Marketing Health and CenterWatch Monthly. Blue Chip was also featured in the Wall Street Journal’s Marketplace section as well as in Medical Marketing & Media. Weisman was invited to chair a forum on patient recruitment for rare diseases at DIA’s 2014 meeting, as well at BIO’s 2014 Annual Meeting.

Structure And Services

Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide is a global, fully integrated marketing agency that focuses on brand, retail and healthcare marketing. Within its four walls are creative, digital, strategic research and planning, public relations, media and account management teams that create best-in-class client work.

All practice areas have specialists in patient recruitment that bring expertise in healthcare, as well as insights and trends from other industries serviced by the agency.

Future Plans

Looking into the future, executives say Blue Chip is actively developing its capabilities in rare disease, a rapidly growing area in clinical development. The agency also has plans to bridge the gap between clinical development and commercial launch. The insights gathered on the patient pathway during early-stage clinical marketing provides critical real world information that can help create more effective drug launches.