Intouch Solutions: 2019
Intouch Solutions
7045 College Blvd., Suite 300
Overland Park, KS 66211
Telephone
913-317-9700
E-mail
[email protected]
Website
intouchsol.com
Quick Facts
Accounts
Account wins 35
Active business clients 41
Brands by 2018 sales
Brand-product accounts held 178
$25 million or less 3
$25 million-$50 million 15
$50 million-$100 million 5
$100 million-$500 million 8
$500 million-$1 billion 6
$1 billion or more 5
Products not yet approved/launched 7
Services mix
AOR/DAOR 55%
Project-based 45%
HCP 60%
Consumer 40%
Client roster
Alexion Pharmaceuticals
Bayer Animal Health
Bayer HealthCare Consumer Care
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals
Galderma Laboratories
Genentech
Gilead Sciences
Novartis
Otsuka
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Sanofi
Sanofi Foundation
Shire
Tesaro
Teva Canada Limited (formerly Novopharm)
Teva Latin America
Teva Pharmacueitcal Industries
WINNER
Best consumer campaign – print
Diversity & inclusion champion
FINALIST
Agency of the year, category I
Best consumer campaign – TV/radio
Best consumer campaign – web
2018 was a transformational year for Intouch. “It was the year the firm expanded from a single agency into a network,” management says. “It was the year revenue grew 27 percent, thanks to both organic growth and new business. It was the year of an addition of yet another office location, this time in Boston. And it was the year the agency prepared for a major milestone anniversary, occurring in January 2019, punctuating 20 years of the agency charting its own course to the top.”
Recent accomplishments
According to agency leadership, 2018 brought extraordinary change to Intouch. “In a nutshell, it transformed into its own network,” management says. While remaining independent, Intouch formed a parent company, Intouch Group, which serves as the umbrella organization for Intouch Solutions and five affiliates: Intouch Proto (a full-service agency), Intouch International (a global joint venture with Healthware International), Intouch B2D (a technology and production services hub), Intouch Media (a full-service media buying and planning firm), and Intouch Analytics (a data and analytics agency).
“Clients loved all that Intouch Solutions had to offer, but they told us they needed it at a network level,” says Intouch CEO Faruk Capan. “Intouch Group offers the advantages of a network’s size and scale, with the creative, innovative spirit of an independent. Intouch Group was conceived not for us, but for our clients.” In parallel, the agency underwent a brand refresh to reflect this evolution.
According to the leadership team, Intouch revitalized explosive growth in 2018, reaching a new milestone of $140 million in revenue. The firm led the launch of nine pharma products and transitioned or acquired twelve full-service accounts as lead agency, including Intouch’s origin story: COPAXONE. On the new-business front, Intouch scored eight new clients and 35 major account wins representing a mix of specialties, audiences, and brands – including Genentech and Otsuka. As of January 2019, the agency served a total of 178 brands across 41 active business clients.
Intouch added 190 new employees in 2018, extending its base to nearly 850 by year’s end. A new office in Boston and expansions in Kansas City, Chicago and New York helped ensure office space kept pace with the increase in business and employees.
Intouch racked up more than 60 awards for its creativity and innovation in 2018. Accolades went to Shire’s Mydayis, Galderma’s Restylane, and 15 awards for Intouch’s work on Regeneron’s EYLEA, among others. Client retention remained strong, with the average tenure of Intouch’s top five clients at thirteen years.
STRUCTURE AND SERVICES
Intouch offers the full-service multichannel services clients expect from a leading agency, served with a digital edge, management says. With six offices in New York, Chicago, Boston, Kansas City, London, and Mumbai, Intouch today handles accounts spanning the pharma spectrum.
“We have an impressive menu of service offerings to rival any major agency, but when our offerings integrate together to solve a complex business challenge – that’s where the magic happens,” Capan says.
According to Capan, another area of Intouch “magic” included the agency’s work on Regeneron’s DTC campaign for Eylea. Together, the two partnered with a world-class animation studio in Milan to create “A Beautiful Pair.” The spot follows a pair of lovable eyes as they traverse the ups and downs of life, even when faced with the adversity of retinal disease. The pair’s charming journey extends across TV, print, high-impact digital media, and more.
Recognizing the growing importance of the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare and marketing, Intouch partnered with the Digital Health Coalition to literally write the book on AI, titled “Modern Marketing: Pharma’s Data-Powered AI Revolution.” The book explains what AI is, how it works, and why it matters in pharma marketing.
In fact, agency leaders say 2018 brought an influx of projects where Intouch deployed real AI solutions to help clients better connect with physicians and consumers, as well as create internal efficiencies. Cognitive Core – an artificial intelligence and predictive analytics engine developed specifically for the life sciences – remains the only one of its kind in the industry.
FUTURE PLANS
With a “solid and stable” leadership team in place, Capan reports that he feels confident for the firm’s future. Intouch plans to continue to evolve its service offerings as well as add at least one more office location in 2019.
Culture, too, is an ongoing area of focus for the agency. “Growth is certainly a positive thing for the business, but we are ever-mindful of evolving our culture in healthy ways, as well,” Capan says. Intouch’s Diversity and Inclusion initiative, launched in late 2018, aims to identify, confront, and minimize the negative effects of implicit bias in the workplace.
Additionally, Intouch faces the daunting task of attracting the best and brightest talent to continue to fuel its growth, with 130 open job positions at the time of this writing, management says.
PHILANTHROPY/CITIZENSHIP
Intouch’s commitment to philanthropy and citizenship spans social, environmental, and community causes. When one of Intouch’s own lost her husband to a hate crime, the agency rallied around her, and ultimately, took up her cause: to tell immigrants that they’re welcome in the United States – and at Intouch. In January 2018, Intouch launched Forever Welcome, designed to encourage empathy for people who immigrate to the U.S. As the nation continues to hold heated conversations around immigration, Forever Welcome inspires empathy by sharing immigrants’ stories through social media storytelling. Capan, himself a naturalized citizen, noted, “There was such an outpouring of support and outrage that we wanted to do something big.” In 2018, the Forever Welcome message reached more than 3 million people, featured by BuzzFeed News, NPR, Huffington Post, NBC, Fox, and in several documentaries. Three-dozen Intouch employees volunteered time and talent to keep the message alive throughout the year.
In the fall, Intouch participated in Time to Vote, a nonpartisan initiative supported by more than 400 U.S. companies, ensuring every employee would have the time to vote during the 2018 primary election. In support of this effort, Capan says, “Voting is a right, a privilege and a responsibility we should never take for granted. I encourage every Intoucher to take advantage of this opportunity to let their voice be heard, no matter who they choose to vote for.”
Throughout the year, Intouch employees in all four U.S. offices logged more than 500 hours to a variety of causes near and dear to its communities. Programs included the Anti-Cruelty Society’s fundraiser, Pints for Pets, Gilda’s Club, The Ronald McDonald House, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Children’s Mercy Hospital. And who can forget Intouch’s collective love of dogs? In 2018, the agency applied employees’ fur-friend fervor to raise money for local shelters during its annual Bring Your Dog to Work Day.
After a year of building out its green initiatives, Intouch’s Kansas City office was officially recognized as a Certified R5 Green Partner in April 2018. The program is a voluntary community program that promotes recycling, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.
Strategies Intouch implemented include supplying compostable paper goods and utensils; installing composting and recycling bins; and providing recycling services for batteries, wine bottle corks, jewelry, and holiday lights.
