Neon: 2024

Neon, an IPG Health company

1400 Broadway, New York, NY 10018

212-727-5600 • neon-nyc.com

 

Quick facts

Accounts

• Account wins: 10
• Active business clients: 21
  

Brands by 2023 sales

• Brand-product accounts held: 32
• $25 million or less: 5
• $25 million-$50 million: 3
• $50 million-$100 million: 3
• $100 million-$500 million: 8
• $500 million-$1 billion: 6
• $1 billion or more: 2
• Products not yet approved/launched: 5

Services mix

• Professional advertising: 70%
• Direct-to-patient/consumer advertising: 30%

Client roster

• Abbvie
• Biohaven
• Blueprint Medicines
• Exact Sciences
• F2G/Olorofim
• GBT
• Genentech
• Grifols
• Incyte
• Janssen
• Novartis
• Novavax
• Pfizer
• Regeneron/Sanofi
• Rhythm Pharmaceuticals
• Sanofi 
• Shionogi
• Taiho
• United Therapeutics
• Vectura
• Xeris

Winner

• Best Patient Engagement Campaign

Finalist

• Best Point of Care Campaign

“Unprecedented – the only word to describe Neon in 2023,” boasts the executive team.

Recent accomplishments

“We exceeded all expectations this past year with 10 new, significant client engagements and double-digit revenue growth on an already lofty base,” leaders say. 

“We were honored to be named an MM+M Best Places to Work 2023 and Ad Age Best Places to Work 2024 (January), demonstrating our commitment to building a culture where our people feel valued and supported.”

Neon had a “phenomenal” year of strong growth (14 percent) with “new business wins from non-traditional ways, reinforcing the importance of strong client partnerships as a growth driver,” says President Mardene Miller.

In 2023, Neon brought home 10 Creative Floor medals, three medals at the Manny Awards, and a gold medal from MM+M. The agency also placed in finals at  The Anthem Awards, The New York Festivals Health, and The One Show, executives say.

Neon also clocked in eight launches in 2023, executives say. To meet these demands, the agency added 101 new hires across departments, including creative, integrated production, and account management.

Structure and services

Neon is a full-service healthcare agency, co-led by Miller and Managing Director/Creative Lead Jesse Kates. The agency is headquartered in New York City and comprises what leaders call “top-tier talent” from around the globe. 

According to leadership, for most organizations, the content supply chain – the process of producing and delivering content that fuels effective customer experiences – is a web of disconnected workflows, teams, and systems. “At the same time, content demands are multiplying. Last year, IPG Health invested significantly in further building out its content supply chain offering, and the benefits for our agency and our clients have been momentous for creating customizable and efficient communications.”

Neon welcomed Jessica Specker, executive director of global content, to the network in late 2023, “and in her role, she’s bringing together the necessary solutions to effectively plan, create, and deliver content quickly and efficiently, collaborating with teams across the network on all aspects of the content lifecycle.”

Despite all the new business wins and revenue growth, executives say Neon’s culture is what makes the agency so special. “We are proud to have stayed true to our core and be an advocate for our employees.  To that end, Neon has committed to EDI [equity, diversity, and inclusion], reflecting these values in our work. We have not only fostered an inclusive environment that is free from biases, but we have prided ourselves on hiring diverse talent across many sources. Our internships have resulted in a staggering 67 percent of diverse talent being retained from summer programs.”

Executives say Neon puts into practice larger IPG Health initiatives, such as inQ (Inclusion Intelligence Quotient), part of the network’s larger EDI+You strategy. “This proprietary integrated strategic framework has been designed to ensure our work is not only culturally relevant and inclusive, but focuses on understanding how multiple factors and influences impact exclusion or inclusion of people so that no populations are left behind.”

Leaders say Neon has also continued to treat its employees with the respect and recognition they deserve. “Not only have we doubled down on our successful flexible working policy – unlike other agencies and networks, we trust our employees and teams to decide what works best for them, their clients, and their families – but we are proud to have promoted 72 hardworking individuals across a range of disciplines. On top of that, we have continued our ‘Lumineer’ employee recognition program, which allows employees to nominate their coworkers for the Lumineer Award each month. A Lumineer brings leadership, excellence, an agency focus, passion projects, and teamwork to everything they do.”

Future plans

According to leaders, what was once the “little agency that could” has blossomed into a force to be reckoned with, evidenced by the fact that Neon is now recognized as a “large agency” for award shows. “Our future is bright, as we have an even larger community of Neonites to service an even larger roster of clients. And while we’ve witnessed unprecedented growth in 2023, we’ve never changed the things that make us special; our great culture, the ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach that allows us to create inspiring work, and our inclusive and welcoming environment.” 

Philanthropy/citizenship

In 2023, Neon expanded Code Red, a covert, grass-roots initiative designed to help women who are experiencing domestic violence.

“To do this, we placed help directly into women’s hands, shielded from the gaze of abusers, through menstrual products,” executives say. “No other menstrual product has carried messaging within the packaging to provide a lifeline to those in need, and we are proud to say that over 6,000 women have been reached through Code Red.”

“Love Me Not” was another pro-bono campaign that Neon amplified in 2023, with a third national billboard campaign aimed at victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner. “We illuminated thousands of large-scale billboards nationally – where abusers could not police their partner’s access,” executives say. “Based on a powerful insight, ‘Hidden Horrors’ is a striking portrait of the abuse that so often hides in plain sight. These billboards were attention grabbing and paired with a memorable URL that linked users to the crafted microsite and identified resources specific to their situation. In essence, mass media leading to a private, safe space.”

The Love Me Not billboard series has drawn 638 million impressions and counting, according to agency leaders, and ultimately, the campaign has successfully acted as a bridge to safety and healing for approximately 15,000 users and counting since launch.