closerlook: 2021

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closerlook inc.

212 W. Superior St, Suite 300

Chicago, IL 60654

Telephone 

312-640-3700

Website 

closerlook.com

 

QUICK FACTS

Accounts

Account wins 3

Active business clients 12

 

SERVICES MIX

Consumer, digital/webmobile 40%

Professional, digital/web/mobile 35%

Market research/data/analytics 15%

Martech/adtech 10%

 

By most standards, 2020 was a year that brand marketers want to forget, according to the leaders of closerlook. “It was a year of uncertainty and turbulent change. But for closerlook, 2020 was a year of strong growth with a double-digit rise in total revenues, significant new brand assignments, a more than 40 percent increase in staff, and multiple industry award wins. The digital-native agency has been a passionate voice for the digital transformation of healthcare marketing, and 2020 saw that message embraced by biopharma marketers.” 

Agency executives say while the pandemic may have been the ultimate catalyst for biopharma leadership to embrace digital as a strategic mandate, closerlook has been preparing for this moment for several years. “In 2019, the firm’s leadership doubled down on its investments in data science, strategy, and Agile workflow. It turned out that the agency’s analytics-driven, digital-native solutions were exactly what biopharma needed when COVID-19 hit.”

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

When the pandemic shook the world, digital transformation took a quantum leap forward, agency leaders say. “New clients, such as Akebia Therapeutics, relied on closerlook to design, build, and activate their digital strategy, enabling the company to quickly switch gears and support their nephrology products. Prior clients like TerSera Therapeutics returned when the pandemic grounded their sales force and is now relying on closerlook to build and deploy a comprehensive strategy for their product franchise. closerlook’s website localization strategy and technology for Novo Nordisk’s Tresiba won awards for data/analytics.”

By year’s end, the agency reported a 25 percent growth in total revenues from new and existing clients. Brands in the specialty, oncology, and rare disease space accounted for 65 percent of revenue, with the balance coming from therapeutic areas such as autoimmune, endocrinology, rheumatology, and renal, management says.

According to agency leaders, the pandemic also pushed many biopharma brands to rethink their approach to product launch and commercialization. “For a company like argenx, it offered a unique opportunity to rewrite the paradigm of launching a rare disease therapy. To build strong pre-launch momentum, closerlook designed and executed a patient omnichannel strategy that included a customized blend of online channels, social engagement, immersive video experiences, and emotional storytelling to build a powerful connection between argenx and its patients.”

With more clients willing to explore marketing innovation, closerlook executives say they were not surprised that these would lead to creative wins, and boast that in 2020, the agency amassed awards in categories such as analytics, creative, strategy, virtual events, and relationship marketing.

Dave Ormesher, CEO

When asked about the agency’s secret to success, CEO David Ormesher emphasizes the role of analytics to inform strategy and creative. “It’s a new way to power the two fundamentals that drive marketing success — finding the right prospects and converting them into customers. 

“The ‘secret sauce’ lies in the way our talented team of strategists, engineers, data scientists, and creative storytellers work together. Audience engagement can’t be faked – relevance dictates the price of attention. Our team has built a set of proprietary AI algorithms to find the most appropriate set of clinicians, patients, and caregivers for each brand. Our creative and digital media teams then serve up personalized communications to engage them.”

STRUCTURE AND SERVICES

According to management, the “digital-native agency has planted data science at the center of four interlocking service offerings that work seamlessly together: Omnichannel strategy, conceptual creative and content, digital tactics and media management, and marketing intelligence.” 

Agency executives say proprietary AI algorithms are embedded in a suite of software products built on closerlook’s own technology platform, Backstage Intelligence. “Each product is uniquely designed to help clients micro-target, track impact, and predict behavior. For example, TargetClarity analyzes HCPs by decile along their adoption path to predict a brand’s addressable market by segment, informing budget and engagement strategy. Backstage Relate uses personality detection to shape the content that individual HCPs are more likely to find relevant. emailBoost leverages machine learning to identify characteristics of successful email subject lines. TrueLift measures incremental prescriptions written by target HCPs through digital tactics. By integrating analytical software tools into its offerings, closerlook offers a powerful set of marketing solutions. Every one of its clients utilize Backstage Intelligence and its suite of products.”

To support its growth, closerlook took steps to “level up” its capabilities and scale its capacity, management says. In 2020, nearly every department added new talent, growing the headcount by more than 40 percent. Julie Spoleti, a Saatchi veteran, was hired as a managing director. Patrick Flavin, a seasoned healthcare tech executive, joined the business development team to lead the agency’s partnership growth model. Gregg Geider, most recently president of CDM New York, was hired as VP and managing director. 

Jon Sawyer, president

“With the ability to work from anywhere, the doors were opened to find the best talent irrespective of geography,” says Jon Sawyer, closerlook’s president. “Over the past year, we have hired employees from 14 different states. The future will likely involve a hybrid staffing model, with a core team in Chicago and staff working from wherever they will be most productive.” 

FUTURE PLANS

Many of the changes accelerated by the pandemic are here to stay, agency leaders believe. “With an industry now invested in digital innovation, closerlook sees 2021 as another year of double-digit growth. Already the agency is experiencing a higher pitch-win rate compared with this time last year. Innovation in data science to support digital strategy and the customer experience will continue to be a hallmark of closerlook’s work, grounded in a set of core values and a commitment to working ‘at the heart of what matters.’” 

“Everything we do is focused on two overarching goals: better health outcomes for patients and greater business impact for the brands that serve them,” Ormesher says. 

PHILANTHROPY/CITIZENSHIP

When it comes to philanthropy, closerlook took a crowdsourcing approach in 2020, according to agency leaders. “Knowing that there are many communities needing help during these challenging times, the leadership team decided to let the staff lead the way. With a dollar-for-dollar contribution match, the staff chose to support local charities hurt by the pandemic, including neighborhood food pantries and cultural institutions. In support of Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ+ community, closerlook took steps to not just donate, but to also raise their voices in support through various social channels.”

As a part of the agency’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, closerlook became a corporate sponsor of One Club for Creativity to help support ONE School, an exciting new initiative to increase the number of Black creatives in advertising and marketing communications.