Patients & Purpose: 2022

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Patients & Purpose

200 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014
212-798-4400 • [email protected]patientsandpurpose.com

 

Partnering with No More Secrets, Mind, Body, Spirit, Inc. (NMS), Patients & Purpose created a campaign to ensure period poverty was no longer a secret in the United States.

QUICK FACTS

Accounts
Account wins 9
Active business clients 19

Brands by 2021 sales
Brand-product accounts held 36

 

Services Mix

DTC/DTP 40%
Consumer interactive/RM 40%
HCP interactive/RM 20%

 

Patients & Purpose is Omnicom Health Group’s full-service, award-winning agency dedicated to patients and marketing health brands. The leadership team says the agency has always had patient centricity at its core and been focused on making patients better – better communicators with their doctors, better managers of their treatments, and better advocates for their health.

“In the last two years, patient care has been at the forefront of conversations,” says CEO Deb Deaver. “Patients & Purpose has always been dedicated to patients – working to understand needs and improve communications to optimize patient engagement and outcomes…You could say, patients have always been our purpose.”

Recent Accomplishments

According to management, no one knows patients better than Patients & Purpose, and no one manages change better. “Throughout the pandemic, the agency has remained strong and efficient,” P&P executives say. “In fact, Patients & Purpose was among the first to deploy collaborative software, remote shoots, and hybrid work once it was deemed safe. They remain focused on flexibility and on the safety of those who work at Patients & Purpose, while continuing to be the best patient marketing partner to clients.”

In 2021, Patients & Purpose continued to diversify its business using data, and P&P’s strategic use continues to augment insights, strategy, and deployment. Management says using the proprietary OmniHealth marketing and insights platform allows the agency to overlay competitive insights, social and consumer consumption, as well as cultural signals to fully understand patients as people. “Patients & Purpose views patient support as another uniquely critical part of the patient experience,” according to the agency’s leaders. They say in many categories, almost half of all prescriptions are never filled. And even when the prescription is filled, almost 50 percent of patients abandon treatment.

According to P&P President Eliot Tyler, “We believe that patient services can be a difference-maker for our brands. That’s why we launched Patient Services Experience (PSX). Our team provides deep expertise to craft custom-fit, end-to-end experiences and builds best-in-class programs to help patients get on, and stay on, therapy.” In 2021, the PSX team had already worked with several blue-chip clients, and their roster keeps growing.

In 2021, the agency experienced continued successes with its Equal Health Group and Healthy Communications, their unique approach to health literacy. The agency continues to co-create with patients using its Lexicon-versation platform to develop connective content and new language paradigms for many conditions, including rare disease. “We continue to push to make our work the most creative it can be, but also the most resonant and reachable for all,” says Chief Creative Officer Dina Peck.

P&P leaders say the agency’s already-in-place co-creation structure has proved to be critical during the pandemic, utilizing digitally live collaborative solutions. “Working with patients is not only rewarding, but it helps us create work that is amplified to transform individual patient experiences. It allows different perspectives to be heard and actioned on, so the work is deeper and more impactful,” Peck says, adding that the agency is proud of its unique health equity approach that focuses on appropriate iteration, evolution, and new campaigns that resonate with underserved audiences.

Structure and Services

In addition to Deaver, Tyler and Peck, the Patients & Purpose leadership team comprises Associate Partner and Group Creative Director Tom Galati and seven Executive VPs: John Deely, Dana LaPiana, Connie Maloy, Stephanie Markell, Simon Mason, Michele Monteforte, and Karin Waldman.

As a full-service agency, Patients & Purpose offers a broad range of capabilities – from brand building and channel strategy to creative and DTC. The agency also has many unique offerings, including its Equal Health Group, with a specialized focus on underserved populations. “The agency works well with clients from nimble, small biotech to large pharma, and has deep experience in oncology and rare diseases,” P&P managers say.

Patients & Purpose continues to be at the forefront of digital with the agency’s Emerging Digital Group, known as EDG (pronounced “Edge”). Recently, the agency has been focused on immersive tech (VR, AR, and Web-based immersion), audio advertising, and conversational interfaces.

“Immersive technology provides a great vehicle for virtual engagement, connection, and rich storytelling,” says Deely, Director of Digital Experience. “The audio marketing space has finally matured, and opportunities including rich interactive video and conversational interfaces allow us to deliver super personal, one-to-one, hyper-relevant messages in a quicker and streamlined way.”

Social media remains a core part of almost every brand at the agency, management says. P&P’s full-service Social Center of Excellence has been tapping into new social platforms and formats, evolving constantly with social trends and behaviors. In 2021, the agency built out its influencer marketing capabilities and now regularly identifies, engages, and co-creates with influencers – big and small – on behalf of brands.

Future Plans

P &P is continuing to evolve its use of OmniHealth and data fluency and analytics across the entire agency to help drive clients’ business strategies. “We are continually extending the features and functionality of our data platforms to develop custom solutions for our clients,” Tyler says. “By doing so, we can offer clients an incredible competitive advantage today, while future-proofing business for tomorrow.”

Agency managers say in 2022, Patients & Purpose has its eye on leveraging its patient-focused philosophy to the greater HCP space with a new agency, Science & Purpose. The new company will focus on bringing deeper meaning to science while remaining true to its genetic roots in purpose.

“Science without purpose can limit a brand’s potential,” Deaver says. “That’s where Science & Purpose comes in.” The agency will focus on both patient and HCP marketing.

Philanthropy/Citizenship

Patients & Purpose takes its mission and philanthropy so seriously that every employee gets a paid service day off each year, appropriately called a “Purpose Day,” according to agency leaders. “While 2021 had people apart, the agency still got together for many Purpose Day efforts,” P&P executives say. “In 2021, the agency also launched their incredibly successful Power a Period awareness and fundraising campaign with Philadelphia nonprofit No More Secrets. Their effort and partnership ensured that period poverty would no longer be a secret.”

(left to right) Eliot Tyler, president; Deb Deaver, CEO; Dina Peck, chief creative officer; Tom Galati, associate partner, group creative director