Heartbeat: 2022

Heartbeat 

375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
212-812-2233 • [email protected] • weareheartbeat.com

 

QUICK FACTS

Accounts
Account wins 9
Active business clients 20

Brands by 2021 sales
Brand-product accounts held 38

 

Services Mix

Integrated marketing 80%
Digital 20%

 

Client Roster

Abbott Diabetes Care
Agile Therapeutics
Antares Pharma
Applied Therapeutics
Bristol Myers Squibb
Edwards Lifesciences
Genentech
Gilead
Janssen
Marinus Pharmaceuticals
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Palette Life Sciences
Pfizer
Scynexis
Sunovion

 

At the core of Heartbeat’s Challenger Brand focus is courage, and the agency used 2021 to bravely push the boundaries of the “new normal” even further, the leadership team says. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to create uncertainty about the future of work, Heartbeat embraced employee flexibility and autonomy by instating their “Work from Wherever” initiative that definitively allows Heartbeaters to work anywhere in the United States. This approach, as evidenced by their strong 2021 showing, has only enhanced Heartbeat’s talent pool, and thus the agency’s work and client partnerships.

“The way our Heartbeat community came together to support each other, and to deliver day after day amid the hardships so many faced was inspirational,” says President and Executive Creative Director James Talerico. “That the business thrived in 2021 is all due to the team we’ve built. So damn proud.”

Recent Accomplishments

Another key factor in a year of tremendous growth, was Heartbeat’s continued commitment to seeking out Challenger Brand clients and demonstrating the value of their “100% Integration” model, which brings together vast capabilities — strategy, creative, media, technology, med comms, point of care, and population health — and delivers them in a way that eliminates the coordination burden, reduces the overall team size needed to execute the work, and strives not for mere alignment but powerful orchestration that enables Challenger Brands to achieve outsized results.

This commitment led to an exciting new partnership with Marinus Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company that has a leading drug candidate currently being studied for 5 different rare epilepsy and CNS indications. The relationship is one that leverages Heartbeat’s Challenger Brand experience as well as an integrated HCP and Patient AOR engagement model.

Heartbeat’s strong, existing client relationships have also expanded over the past year. Managers say due to the agency’s stellar work on Agile Therapeutics’ Twirla launch, Heartbeat was name the agency partner for all of the brand’s HCP and patient marketing, as well as media responsibilities. In addition, Heartbeat’s footprint at Antares Pharmaceuticals has grown beyond established work on the company’s low testosterone treatment, Xyosted. The agency took on AOR responsibilities for the company’s Nocdurna and Tlando brands.

“Our new partnerships are extremely exciting, but we’re also proud to have a list of years-long clients who continue to value our insights and treat us like an extension of their team – including seven-plus years with Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Roche/Genentech and Sunovion. These enduring relationships are especially gratifying,” says President and Executive Planning Director Nadine Leonard.

As Heartbeat grows, so does the agency’s dedication to its strong culture and employee experience, the leadership team says. The latest accolade: an Ad Age 2022 Best Place to Work selection (No. 3 overall in the large agency category). “It’s Heartbeat’s sixth straight year with a workplace award from a major industry publication,” management says. In addition to previous Best Places to Work selections from Ad Age (2017, 2021), Heartbeat was a three-time selection to the MM+M Best Places to Work List (2018, 2019, 2021).

According to the leadership team, a large part of Heartbeat’s success is due to the strong D&I efforts led by Michelle Edwards, VP of Operations & Human Resources. In August 2020, Heartbeat formally issued a commitment letter, outlining goals to create an agency as diverse as the city many Heartbeaters call home: New York. The same year, Heartbeat was recognized for its efforts with the first-ever Diversity & Inclusion Champion at the 2020 Manny Awards.

In addition, Heartbeat’s thriving business resource groups (BRGs) instill a welcoming environment that encourages diverse Heartbeaters to bring their whole selves to work, agency executives say. BRGs like Asiancy, Latidores, Meet All the Black People, and Queerbeat are dedicated to sharing their community’s history and traditions, particularly during affinity months.

Structure and Services

As much of Heartbeat’s success comes from relationships with Challenger Brands whose ambitions are often bigger than their resources, the agency continues to explore and expand approaches that deliver the inimitable ‘more with less,’” management says, adding that some of the agency’s recent achievements include technology development and team training, all with the aim of supporting patients in their healthcare journey.”

For example, Heartbeat’s Connected Patient Service platform connects to EHRs used daily by HCPs. “By sending patient reported outcomes (PRO) and real-world data (RWD) directly to the doctor’s EHR, the Connected Patient Service extends the Point-of-Care to (quite literally) everywhere,” agency executives say. “Excitingly, the platform will be rolling out globally in 2022, thanks to a top five pharma company leveraging the technology to reshape the ways patients and doctors communicate.”

In addition to Heartbeat’s diversity of staff, the agency is dedicating itself to reaching diverse groups externally through an increased focus on accessibility. “Heartbeat employees went through rigorous accessibility training and, going forward, all Heartbeat projects will meet the WCAG standard of AA so that people of diverse abilities can access the work and information that Heartbeat creates,” agency executives say. “To ensure the achievement of this goal, Heartbeat has designated subject matter experts for each department to guide and shape implementation, along with their internal Map of Accessibility (mAXc) tool to streamline accessibility standards across the agency.”

Future Plans

As the United States moves towards treating the coronavirus as part of daily living, the leadership team says Heartbeat plans to ease back into live work environments, while continuing to support a “Work from Wherever” approach. “Clients are beginning to welcome team members to their offices and are visiting Heartbeat’s HQ for working sessions,” management says.

The Heartbeat monthly company meeting had its first live component in more than two years, and the agency’s ever-famous “Heartbeat’s Got Talent” was a hybrid event in early 2022, featuring a range of staff talent including a seven-piece band; rock, soul and jazz singers; tap and house dancers, and more.

“The agency anticipates this hybrid work environment to grow further as the year progresses, while flexing as pandemic inflections occur,” agency leaders say. “Heartbeaters have been thrilled to hug one another and clink cocktail glasses, reveling in the normalcy of it all.”