Maricich Healthcare Communications: 2016
Maricich Healthcare Communications
18201 McDurtmott W.
Irvine, CA 92614
Telephone: 949-223-6455
Website: maricich.com
Accounts
Account wins 2
Accounts resigned 1
Active business clients 9
Services Mix
Advertising 40%
Brand development 35%
Digital 15%
Content strategy and other 10%
Client Roster
Aramark Uniform Services
DermOne Dermatology Centers
Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare
L.A. Care Health Plan
MemorialCare Innovation Fund
Pain Psychology Center
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
UCSF Medical Center
Executives at Maricich Healthcare Communications say 2015 was a year of continued growth, with momentum garnered from several multiyear campaigns and increased industry recognition. They characterize they year as an emergence from a chrysalis of sorts for the agency that was once one of the best-kept secrets in healthcare advertising. “We’ve always kept the focus on the work and the success of our clients,” says agency CEO Mark Maricich. “That’s why we’ve had so many multiyear campaigns and long-term client engagements, sometimes stretching into the decades. Now, we’re even more successful and getting our unique story out there, which is creating many new opportunities for the agency.”
The year’s accomplishments
For the past 15 years, the agency focused solely on healthcare since brothers Mark and David Maricich, chief operating officer, took over the family business in the early 2000s. In 2013, the agency hired Debbie Karnowsky as executive creative director. Executives say Karnowsky, known in healthcare marketing circles as the author of Kaiser Permanente’s “Thrive” while at Campbell-Ewald L.A., has helped to transform the agency from a solid “go-to” local healthcare advertising firm to a rapidly growing agency that’s being recognized on a national level.
This past year, Maricich was recognized for their second consecutive Best of Show win at the Healthcare Advertising Awards for their “Healthy Driven” campaign featuring Danica Patrick for Chicago’s Edward-Elmhurst Health. “The work we’re doing is disruptive in a healthy way,” Karnowsky says. “It’s truly been satisfying to see Maricich clients doing so well by leveraging such groundbreaking strategies and creative approaches.”
Structure and services offered
“We’re one of the few independent agencies in the country that truly understands and has hands-on experience with major brands across the various industries within the healthcare ecosystem,” David Maricich says. “Often you’ll find the smaller agencies, niched in a subspecialty, which can be both a pro and con. It can be a challenge when there’s change in the marketplace and brands need a fresh perspective from outside the goldfish bowl. We had many opportunities in 2015, because we understand value-based care and what this means to companies and organizations when targeting consumers, physicians or other stakeholders.”
Maricich has worked with a wide range of hospitals, medical groups, payers, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and even other healthcare technology and services firms selling into hospitals, such as longtime client Aramark Uniform Services. Maricich elevated the value proposition for Aramark from simply uniforms and supplies to a broader platform highlighting the value and impact of infection control on patient populations and associated cost savings for hospitals.
Executives say the agency offers a complete range of brand development and marketing communications services for health and medical clients, from brand strategy to creative development and tactical execution. Maricich offers in-house capabilities for media, public relations, digital development, content development and social media.
The agency has expanded its capacity in recent years by recruiting brand veterans from inside and outside of healthcare to create a vibrant mix of experience complemented by up-and-coming talent. “Our team tells us they love it here, which is a prerequisite to success,” Mark Maricich says. “And that says a lot, since our creative veterans have a big-agency pedigree that’s quite impressive.”
Future plans
“2016 will be an exciting year for the agency,” Mark Maricich says. “Not only are we about to embark on a major rebranding campaign for a health system on the West Coast, but we are unveiling a new agency promotional campaign that will help prospects better understand who we are as an agency. We’re also mixing things up a bit with a name refresh, which will be announced midyear. It’s all to help clients and prospects understand the true value of our agency.”
Philanthropy/citizenship
Maricich has been an active supporter of the American Cancer Association and a nonprofit that helps the poor in Chimbote, Peru, get medical care and other basic support to rise out of poverty. According to Mark Maricich, “We give back a percentage of our profits every year to help the less fortunate. It’s just the right thing to do.”
