ConcentricLife: 2024

ConcentricLife

World Trade Center, 68th Floor, New York, NY 10007

212-633-9700 • concentric.life

 

Quick facts

Accounts

• Account wins: 5
• Active business clients: 14
  

Brands by 2023 sales

• Brand-product accounts held: 39
• $25 million or less: 1
• $25 million-$50 million: 1
• $50 million-$100 million: 1
• $100 million-$500 million: 3
• $500 million-$1 billion: 3
• $1 billion or more: 6
• Products not yet approved/launched: 4

Services mix

• HCP: 40%
• DTC: 30%
• DTP: 30%

Winner

• Industry Person of the Year

Finalist

• DE&I Champion

Agency leaders at ConcentricLife put it this way: “None of us are as great as all of us.”   

According to the leadership team, the agency has lived this mantra throughout the course of its 21-year history, as it assembles teams composed of the right people, with the right expertise, to build the right solutions for clients, “in service of transforming the healthcare experience.”

Managers say the agency enshrined this belief as the pinnacle of it “10 Rules to Greatness,” and in 2023, it was “a guiding light” to how ConcentricLife approached its business and the healthcare industry, “shattering all expectations and making bold moves towards greatness.”

Recent accomplishments

The agency’s year kicked off in a big way with the formation of ConcentricLife, composed of specialist health and rare disease teams with a more than 20-year legacy in healthcare marketing, and built on the successes of Concentric Health Experience, including nine Agency of the Year nods in its history. 

According to managers, what motivated the agency to push ahead into the future with a shared vision was the guidance of strong leadership – in particular from founders CEO Ken Begasse Jr. and Creative Lead Michael Sanzen. “Combining these organizations was no small feat, but Ken and Michael’s history of entrepreneurship provided know-how when it came to creating clarity amid what would otherwise be disorder,” executives say. “Their leadership was recognized by the industry this year in big ways: Ken and Michael were named to PM360’s Elite 100 as groundbreaking entrepreneurs. And Ken was named the Advertising Agency CEO of the Year at PM360’s Trailblazer Awards.”

“ConcentricLife came together because we saw a bigger opportunity to help our clients transform and future-proof their organizations and brands,” Begasse says. 

Sanzen adds, “It occurred to us that teams of specialists were more valuable to our clients who have increasingly unique and challenging customer needs. The magic is in how you connect those specialists. That was the idea behind the ConcentricLife concept.”

These leaders say they found a talent base that was energized by the possibility of what they could accomplish, and a strong culture emerged that rallied around shared values. “That was clearly evident in the first off-site all-agency retreat, organized for all 270-plus employees in Fort Lauderdale, an important moment to forge new relationships and brainstorm new ideas in one setting.”

Employees were “clearly inspired” by agency leadership, voting ConcentricLife as one of MM+M’s 2023 Best Places to Work. “In a year of major transition, this was a huge coup,” executives say. “Employees shouted out a dedication to career development, mentorship, allyship, and a ‘people-first environment.’

“That camaraderie ensured a united front to deliver greatness to clients and 2023 saw teams cultivate, rekindle, and grow powerful brand relationships.”

Leaders point out that since 2017, the agency has rapidly grown its relationship with Novo Nordisk – notably led by bringing Wegovy to the marketplace. This year, that relationship was recognized through awards nods ranging from Marketing Team of the Year (PM2360 Trailblazer Awards – Silver) to HCP Campaign (Creative Floor Awards). The agency’s work leading the Wegovy brand led to continued trust from Novo Nordisk, which has awarded new accounts to continue that success for the upcoming launches of IcoSema and CagriSema, managers say. 

“It’s been a privilege to partner with Novo Nordisk over the past seven years” says Kristin McAteer, managing director, client solutions. “Working as one team, we have been able to drive real change in this marketplace. It’s been a really special experience for all of those involved.”

In 2023 ConcentricLife also added new clients to its roster, including CeQur and Ardelyx; expanded relationships with existing clients Merck and Alnylam; and won recognition from the industry on work for partners like Jazz Pharmaceuticals.

The campaign “Elephant in the Room” for client Jazz was recognized at the Manny Awards as a finalist for Best Rare Disease Campaign, at the Fierce Pharma Awards as a finalist for Professional Marketing, and at the Pharmaceutical Executive Apex Awards as a finalist in Branded work. It is currently a finalist for PM Society’s Product Brand Campaign recognition.

2023 also saw the launch of Tzield, meaning that for the first time, HCPs can delay the onset of insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes, and prescribe “More Time” – which executives say is the message infused into the brand’s “life-filled and energetic” launch campaign work.

Managers add that the company’s focus on brand relationships and delivering excellent work to partners led to headcount growth of 10 percent, “proof positive of the ethos of ‘greater together.’”

Structure and services

According to the leadership team, the depth of employees’ subject matter expertise, paired with breadth of marketing capabilities in-house, “begged for a new way of thinking on how the agency structured itself and how teams would deliver to clients.

“Years of experience in launching game-changing brands like Lipitor, Viagra, Rexulti, Zulresso, Wegovy, and more had taught leaders that successful marketers must be customer experience experts, able to connect insight to real solutions that make a difference in people’s lives.”

Executives state that recognition of the importance of the customer experience led to a new way of thinking when it came to how teams were organized and briefed on new work. The agency added an experience design discipline to sit at the center of work, surrounded by marketing centers of excellence – medical communications, commercial strategy, engagement, production, and social – acting as “connective tissue” across the whole organization, infusing shared learnings from each project. KC Dickerson was brought in as executive VP, head of engagement, to spearhead and grow the engagement discipline; and the agency elevated Brittany Fryman to senior VP over an expanding social team.

“Each team is then enveloped by a team of subject matter experts across account, strategy, and creative, steeped in therapeutic area knowledge in rare disease, health, and wellness,” executives say.

“What excited me about joining the ConcentricLife team is the opportunity to create real and authentic brand experiences in health care and the fact that the entire team is bought into this vision,” says Ankit Vahia, the agency’s new chief strategy officer. “It is an opportunity to serve as brand partner to our clients in a manner that is truly needed in this new era of health care where patients and HCPs are more connected than ever before. This means a whole new way of briefing in teams and incorporating a whole new meaning of brand purpose and how we can ensure that all brands put the customer experience front and center.”

Leaders maintain that the agency’s ability to connect to the global marketplace makes it “magnitudes more powerful.” They point to Phil Bartlett and Olly Caporn, who were brought in to oversee an already established global team, expanding capabilities and reach even further. “For clients delivering on a global scale, this means the added depth of global expertise and the delivery of a truly connected global team with the ability to handpick expert talent from anywhere in the world, across dozens of time zones,” executives state.

“From the first conversation with Ken and Michael, both Olly and I felt that the model we can now offer would be the disruption our industry has been waiting for – delivering for the modern marketer, and delivering for customers in a uniquely connected way,” Bartlett says.

Future plans

A bigger and more disciplined team was craving the kind of work that connected them to broader product and portfolio ambitions, according to leaders. “We were busting at the seams, capable of so much more together and ready to take the bull by the horns and deliver even more to our clients,” Begasse says.

ConcentricLife found a partner in Accenture, who shared a vision to extend the agency’s scale and vision farther than previously possible. “Accenture has built one of the consulting industry’s strongest machines delivering strategy to preeminent life sciences brands across the globe and the world’s largest digital agency in Accenture Song,” managers say. “ConcentricLife was the perfect center to connect upstream strategy to downstream scaled production.” The agency’s acquisition was formalized at the beginning of November 2023.

“Collectively, these entities are experts in the field of change – navigating change at a global level, creating brands that thrive at the very center of ever-
evolving human health experience – with big end-to-end capabilities available to client partners,” executives state.

“The best part about the Accenture marriage is that the potential is obvious to everyone,” Sanzen says. “It doesn’t require a lot of explanation. The broader world has already seen the concept with Droga5. Now we can bring that same electric combination to health care.”

Begasse maintains that he has a strong vision. “We believe together we can unlock the ability for health care to run at the speed of life by solving the industry’s most complex challenges. This is an agency of makers, for clients with high demands, whether that is the emerging biotech or the large established players looking for transformation. No matter what, we can deliver on any ask.”

Leaders say this vision is backed by capabilities in commercial strategy, omnichannel communications, patient experience definition and activation, data strategy and analytics-driven optimization, transformation enablement, and scaled content services. There are plans for expanded capabilities to support this next phase of growth.

Philanthropy/citizenship

We have been incredibly inspired by our employee’s visions for how we can build a stronger health community,” says Ana Sastre, senior VP, DEI customer engagement. “At the end of 2023, we revitalized our Health Fix program, dedicated to enhancing the health experiences of individuals lacking adequate support or access to health care. This initiative has evolved into a platform empowering our teams to identify health disparities they are passionate about and mobilize individuals to collaboratively employ their talents in creatively addressing these issues, thereby fostering a more equitable healthcare landscape.”

The agency’s first initiative was a partnership with Harvey Mudd College’s Clinic Program to address the challenge of disrupted and limited access to desperately needed physical therapy due to a shortage of physical therapists in the healthcare workforce, a situation worsened by the pandemic.

Executives say over the last two years, the culture team has continued to grow its Speaker Series, which has seen over 35 industry leaders speak to the agency, with each speaker carefully curated to shed light on subjects related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Chidiebere Ibe shared insights on the critical importance of representation in medical illustration; and Marti G. Cummings, an LGBTQ political activist, celebrated the LGBTQ+ community and the vibrant world of drag, contributing to the creation of a work environment where everyone feels free to express their true selves. These events are open to the public to bring this knowledge to the industry as a whole.

As a culmination to the Speaker Series, ConcentricLife annually allocates $1,000 per speaker to a fund supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds in healthcare and advertising education. “This financial backing actively contributes to cultivating diverse talent within the larger healthcare industry,” executives say.

Throughout the year, ConcentricLife honored its partnerships with clients, with industry peers, and with its own talent in the form of philanthropic donations to causes employees care about collectively: to NORD, the Promise Project, the American Heart Association, Waukegan to College, the Short Bowel Syndrome, Cancer Couch Foundation, the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, PAR 4 THE CURE, and Saint Jude’s.