Closerlook: 2017
closerlook inc.
212 W. Superior St., Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60654
Telephone: 312-640-3700
Website: closerlook.com
Services Mix
Digital 75%
Strategy 15%
Video 10%
Gone are the days when molecules were the only thing under the microscope in the pharmaceutical industry,” declare executives at closerlook. “Pressure from legislators, media and the public has pharmaceutical companies looking to cut costs, and marketing resources are often taking the brunt of cutbacks.
“At the same time, expectations for marketers have never been higher. A crowded marketplace puts more pressure on every launch, campaign and retention strategy. Marketers are being forced to do more with less. It’s time for marketers to invest in optimizing campaign results by using data and experience to determine digital strategy, and by honing execution using advanced reporting and analytics. It’s time for smarter marketing.”
According to agency leaders, closerlook is a digital marketing agency that helps pharmaceutical marketers build better relationships with their best customers. “Our proprietary suite of analytics-driven digital marketing solutions help pharma brands effectively target and connect with healthcare professionals and patients,” executives say. “We turn data into actionable insights that inform creative and strategic solutions to support everything from full campaigns to single tactics. We measure the results of decisions across all channels and help clients make changes to campaigns while those changes can still make a difference.”
The Year’s Accomplishments
“With clients increasingly having less resources to coordinate an agency ecosystem, closerlook has evolved to be the kind of leader our clients need – a digital pharma marketing expert that directs brand, digital and media partners to ensure strategic messages work together across channels,” executives say. “We help our clients coordinate campaigns with partners and work with each partner to make sure it can do what it does best. Our recent account wins confirmed the value of this type of leadership.”
With Smith & Nephew, the agency began by building a relationship marketing platform for one wound care brand, which evolved into a lead digital agency role, and in 2016 closerlook was named brand agency of record. Last year, the agency also was awarded an AOR assignment for another wound care brand. “We are pleased to be expanding this great partnership in new ways,” executives say.
Last year, closerlook began a new partnership when the agency was awarded the role of digital AOR for a new brand in the hematology space. “We are working with brand, media and other digital agencies to execute strategy and messaging to HCP and patient audiences across channels,” management says.
The agency’s 2016 portfolio reflects achievements across all stages of the brand life cycle, completing projects for pre-launch, launch and mature brands in both primary and specialty care markets including diabetes, mental health, rheumatology, gastroenterology, cardiovascular health, sleep disorders, wound care, urology, hematology and oncology.
According to executives, in an unbranded non-personal multichannel marketing campaign, closerlook raised awareness of an unmet need in the disease state and built momentum leading up to a product rebranding in a crowded market. The campaign surpassed two times the industry benchmarks in key awareness metrics including e-mail open and click-to-open rates, and five times higher script writing achieved by newly opted-in writers versus existing writers of the brand.
In a branded non-personal multichannel marketing campaign, closerlook engaged HCP and patient audiences with a unified message of product differentiators through product launch and into brand maturity. The campaign resulted in total engagement 134 percent higher than forecast, generated 107 percent more pages per visit than goal on brand-owned properties, and achieved 189 percent more third-party engagements than forecast through paid media.
Structure & Services
As closerlook continued to evolve in 2016 to meet client needs, agency executives say “We further defined our leadership team with an eye towards helping our clients navigate strategic decisions in this ever-changing landscape.”
Allison Davis was promoted to chief client officer. According to executives, “Allison’s leadership of our client services teams ensures that our clients’ needs and expectations are always fulfilled while increasing efficiency and maximizing their resources.”
Tony Malik was promoted to director of account management. Malik guides account teams in providing crucial counsel to clients taking products from a label to positioning and identity development to multichannel marketing campaigns, executives say.
Greg Silich was named chief financial officer. “Greg brings a wealth of financial experience, acumen and leadership that will benefit our ability to invest in opportunities that will boost current and future product offerings,” agency leaders note.
“As pharma shifts, we’ve found that clients desire the convenience of working closely with one partner that can do the digital heavy lifting while effectively coordinating with all specialty partners and vendors – as opposed to an agency that sacrifices quality across the board by trying to do it all,” executives say. “With 30 years of experience navigating agency ecosystems, closerlook uniquely fits this bill, and our range of technology-enabled offerings gives our clients the added value that comes with being a digital leader.”
The agency’s offerings include the Backstage Relationship Marketing Technology Suite, which helps clients manage their RM efforts through data management and integration, responsive HCP website management and customer insight distribution to sales representatives; and the HCP Digital Playbook, which gives credible insights on target HCP audiences and their digital tendencies and are unified and organized to help clients maximize their digital spending with best practice-based executions of proven strategies.
Services include multichannel marketing campaigns and reporting and media buying and planning. Executives say the campaigns are developed to find customers and deliver them increasingly relevant content by aggregating reporting across all channels to reveal actionable insights that drive effective engagement. In media planning and buying, insights from multiple sources are used to formulate media plans and buy strategies that reach target HCPs with relevant messaging across a wide range of channels.
Future Plans
Smarter thinking means never being content, according to agency leadership. “closerlook is continuing to invest in acquiring top-tier talent and developing forward-thinking offerings to support our clients’ marketing efforts at every level,” executives say.
In 2017, the agency plans to launch a new, long-awaited addition to the Backstage RM technology suite, Backstage Duet. “This advanced analytics and customer-level insight discovery application will help pharmaceutical organizations gain a deeper understanding of their audience to enable smart campaign optimization,” executives say.
Philanthropy/Citizenship
closerlook during 2016 supported the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, MATTER, and Built In Chicago through corporate sponsorships. “Our staff frequently shows their commitment to the community through CCC (closerlookers Contributing to the Community) charitable and service endeavors,” management says.
