Centron: 2016
Centron
1745 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 646-722-8900
Facsimile: 646-722-8988
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: centroncom.com
Accounts
Account wins 15
Active business clients 18
Brands by 2015 sales
Brand product accounts held 28
$25 million or less 7
$25 million to $50 million 5
$50 million to $100 million 3
$100 million to $500 million 5
More than $1 billion 2
• Number of products yet to be approved/launched: 6
Services Mix
Advertising 70%
Promotional medical education 20%
Public relations 10%
Client Roster
Actavis/Allergan
Ariad Pharmaceuticals
AstraZeneca
Bayer Healthcare
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Celgene
Daiichi Sankyo
DBV Technologies
Eisai Inc.
EMD Serono
Genentech
Genomic Health
Glenmark
Ipsen
JED Foundation
Mayne
Medtronic
Novartis
Novartis Oncology
Orapharma
Origin
In 2015, Centron celebrated its 10th year, and agency executives say they used this milestone as an opportunity to reflect on how to best position Centron for the future of healthcare. As the landscape evolved, executives recognized the need to realign leadership, vision, and resources to maximize emerging opportunities. Says Marcia McLaughlin, CEO of Centron, “As we looked at the market, we understood that, more and more, our clients were looking for a truly integrated resource, one in which leaders of the agency marketing disciplines are actually working together daily to develop and execute the best strategy to deliver commercial results.”
Believing that true integration was the best way forward, Centron realigned its operational structure, unifying four already-established and successful marketing entities under the Centron brand with Marcia McLaughlin at the helm—Centron Advertising headed by Jennifer Samuels and Gary Stamps, Centron Medical Education headed by Shannyn Smith, Centron Public Relations headed by Erinn White, and Centron Market Access headed by Scott Baxter. Additionally, Centron created Centigration, a strategic planning unit under the leadership of Madeleine Gold. This change in structure, with the five unit heads in place as the management leadership team, formalizes Centron’s long-standing commitment to provide clients with best-in-class integrated marketing support. “Too often, integration has meant clients have to ask and pay for the agency disciplines to talk and interact with each other,” McLaughlin says. “We believe this approach should be ‘business-as-usual’ for all healthcare agencies, considering consolidations and shrinking resources in the industry. That’s why we feel so strongly that our restructuring allows us to best meet the evolving needs of our clients.”
In 2015, Centron underwent management changes. Michael Metelenis, agency co-founder and creative head, and recognized industry leader, began a transition to semi-retirement. Metelenis, who has partnered with McLaughlin for more than two decades, first co-leading KPR to record-setting growth, and then co-building Centron into an award-winning agency, will remain actively involved with the agency, focusing on special projects. Stamps, executive VP, executive creative director, joined Centron as the new creative lead. According to McLaughlin, “Gary has years of U.S. and ex-U.S. experience in bringing brands to life, and in agency leadership. Gary will partner with Jen Samuels to inspire creativity and growth for Centron Advertising.”
The year’s accomplishments
According to its leaders, Centron’s successes in 2015 – launches and new business wins – were fueled by the strength of the agency’s fully integrated approach. “Throughout 2015, we had multiple opportunities to actualize…and validate our integrated SOP,” McLaughlin says.
In 2015, Centron focused resources on several important launches. Early on, Centron finalized a wholly integrated launch into the U.S. oncology space for Ipsen’s Somatuline. Throughout the launch phase, a Centron team of senior executives from advertising, medical education, and public relations provided multiperspective strategic leadership. Executives say the Somatuline creative campaign powerfully introduced a new icon for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) and went on to win multiple awards. Centron’s medical education team worked with the KOL community to establish progression-free survival as a new, meaningful endpoint for the condition, spearheaded development of the scientific platform, and implemented speaking engagements across the country. The public relations team officially launched Somatuline at ASCO-GI with a satellite media tour and numerous on-site interviews, created an unbranded patient awareness website for NET patients, coordinated a patient focused survey with the Neuroendocrine Cancer Awareness Network, and conducted a media tour with Dr. Eric Liu of The Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers and The Healing NET Foundation advocacy group.
“From day one, Centron operated as a unified team, synergizing expertise from every discipline to deliver a seamless, impactful launch,” Samuels says. “We are proud that the communication platform created with the brand team resonated with the community, and helped establish Ipsen as a credible force in oncology.”
Centron used the same integrated model to launch IBSchek, the first blood test for irritable bowel syndrome, pulling together a multidisciplinary team to introduce this novel diagnostic to the PCP and GI markets. The advertising unit delivered an impactful, award-winning “diag(know)sis™” launch campaign, the medical education group created core messaging that showcased the scientific rationale for the diagnostic test, and the public relations group launched IBSchek during Digestive Disease Week, with a press release and satellite media tour that garnered more than 70 original placements for more than 306 million impressions, which included the US News & World Report and the Daily Mail.
Liletta, Allergan’s IUD, was another large focus for Centron in 2015. Centron Advertising and Market Access worked closely with the brand team to launch Liletta and showcase a first-class access program that helped break barriers to IUDs. Says Madeleine Gold, Strategic Planning, “Allergan created a premium program to help women overcome cost and access obstacles to IUD use. Centron was proud to work with the brand team to define the program and to create messaging and sales tools highlighting this unique offering.”
Centron celebrated significant organic and new business growth in 2015, executives say. Expanding its relationship with Ipsen, Centron acquired the Dysport agency-of-record business. Centron will launch new indications for the treatment of select spasticity disorders.
“Ipsen has engaged us to bring our multifaceted approach to Dysport, an important treatment for people living with spasticity disorders,” White says. “As we did for Somatuline, we will fully engage with the brand team to maximize the potential of the brand.”
Existing client Bayer awarded Centron Medical Education the global marketing and medical affairs agency-of-record assignment for Xofigo. Centron also made several new additions to its roster. “We went into Bristol-Myers Squibb with a fully integrated offering for Nulojix, a treatment for transplant patients,” Smith says. “The Advertising and Medical Education teams worked together to amplify brand messaging, and presented recommendations for multichannel dissemination. The approach resonated with the Nulojix brand team, and we won the agency-of-record assignment.”
Centron also gained DBV Technologies as a new client, winning the advertising and public relations agency-of-record assignment for Viaskin Peanut, a novel immunotherapy for peanut allergies. In addition, Ariad, Celgene, and Daiichi Sankyo were added to the agency’s roster of clients.
Structure and services offered
According to executives, Centron is a full-service, wholly integrated communications partner offering clients a specialized hub of healthcare advertising, medical communications, public relations, market access/reimbursement expertise, and strategic planning. Centron’s fully integrated communications approach ensures that agency teams have visionary insight that addresses client needs at every stage of a brand’s life cycle.
“We offer clients – particularly fast-moving and younger companies – a full complement of services and expertise necessary in today’s increasingly complex pharmaceutical marketing environment,” McLaughlin says. “We partner on every level with cross-functional client teams.”
Under the fully integrated model, Centron offers clients five core disciplines. Centron Advertising, a full-service agency specializing in healthcare promotion and communications, delivers scientific and marketing leadership at every phase of a brand’s journey to approval. Executives say the agency offers a stringent discovery and insight-generation process that unearths a brand’s essence – the attributes and promise that drive brand differentiation and success.
Centron Medical Education is a team of M.D.s, Pharm.D.s, Ph.D.s, and medical education professionals who executives say are transforming science into a story to simplify clinical decision-making.
Centron Public Relations is a full-service agency specializing in healthcare, with expertise in cutting-edge, strategic communications that can educate, inform, and influence stakeholders to action, agency leaders say.
Centron Market Access is a full-service agency that combines strategy and expertise with cutting-edge tactical execution, and Centigration is brand-centric strategic account planning that works to bring together synergistic disciplines to help build a cohesive and optimally effective brand strategy, executives say.
“Centron’s integrated, channel-agnostic approach offers clients the ability to work with Centron on multiple fronts: from scientific platform development and MSL training, to branding and launch planning and public relations – all the way to reimbursement strategies and patient access programs and hubs,” executives say.
“We are excited that so many of our clients have responded to our integrated model,” McLaughline says. “It has allowed Centron to work with brand teams on every level to deliver the strategic vision needed to differentiate a drug and drive success and growth across key brand milestones.”
Future plans
Integrated solutions have been at the core of Centron’s operating philosophy since the beginning, according to agency executives.
“We remain committed to this model that allows us to approach every brand with the multidisciplinary expertise that drives a brand to its greatest success,” McLaughlin says.
Agency executives are mindful that the definition of “integrated” is constantly in flux, and are committed to reassessing and realigning resources, structure, and vision to continue a tradition of meaningful, relevant solutions for clients. “We have always recognized the importance of agency talent to our mission, and we have put in place a cadre of leaders that position the agency for maximal future success,” McLaughlin says. “Our management team is charged with anticipating trends, assessing their impact to our clients, and using their expertise to visualize actionable solutions. Whether it’s on the scientific front, in emerging digital or social media platforms, market access, or changing dynamics with healthcare providers, we have the expertise to proactively provide strategic counsel.”
Additionally, Centron continues to expand its global offering, which currently offers clients 41 in-country agencies in 26 countries throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific, executives say.
Philanthropy/Citizenship
Centron is proud, agency leaders say, to continue its partnership with The Jed Foundation, the recognized leader in promoting emotional health and preventing suicide among college and university students. The Jed Foundation is known for collaborating with thought leaders in higher education, mental health, and research to deliver relevant and meaningful solutions to students and their families.
“We are always excited to offer The Jed Foundation strategic and tactical support as they move forward with their important mission,” Samuels says. “Their commitment to innovative on-the-ground initiatives across multiple channels inspires us to expand our thinking and creativity. We’ve had many years of working together and look forward to many more.”
Centron also joined with the Ipsen team to participate in Cycle for Survival, a national event to raise funds to beat rare cancers. Additionally, Centron continued its tradition of making a charitable donation with its holiday greeting. This year, Centron was happy to support The Children’s Aid Society in its efforts to help needy children grow and thrive.
