Purohit Navigation: 2018
Purohit Navigation Inc.
233 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 6220
Chicago, IL 60606
Telephone: 312-341-8100
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: purohitnavigation.com
Accounts
Account wins 11
Active business clients 31
Brands by 2017 sales
Brand-product accounts held 18
Services Mix
Advertising – print 50%
Advertising – digital 20%
Education 15%
Market research 10%
Advertising – DTC 2.5%
Advertising – DTP 2.5%
Expansion and growth distinguished 2017 for Purohit Navigation, both literally and figuratively, as the agency expanded into a new office and focused on growing its strategy business, as well as strengthening existing client relationships.
One of the most noteworthy achievements of the year for Purohit Navigation was the relocation of its corporate office to the 62nd floor of Willis Tower. Moving to this prestigious location has granted the agency an opportunity to create a more efficient environment that will better serve its clients, leaders say.
According to CEO Ahnal Purohit, “This move has challenged us to make our surroundings reflect the spirit of innovation that has always been a part of our company. New capabilities help us better serve both our clients’ needs and our own.”
At Purohit Navigation, serving clients starts with strategy, executives say, and solid strategic thinking is the hallmark of the agency, driven by Ahnal Purohit, with her extensive experience in market research and her Ph.D. in psychometrics. According to agency leaders, complementing the growing strategy practice is Fact Flow Research, a wholly owned market research division that provides global qualitative and quantitative research capabilities.
“We pride ourselves on executing strategy that’s grounded in a true understanding of what can cause behavioral change,” says Anshal Purohit, president. Strategy clients such as TrueNorth, Bioverativ, and Biopelle benefited from these unique insights during the year.
“The patient journey work we did for TrueNorth helped identify key challenges and opportunities for intervention along the continuum for cold agglutinin disease (CAD), a rare disease,” says Ahnal Purohit. “To support this work, we conducted a series of patient interviews within and outside of the U.S. and aggregated them into a visual patient journey, along with a comprehensive readout with insights along the way.”
The agency also completed similar strategy projects with Athenex, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on novel oncology and dermatology therapies, in two different disease categories.
Strategic expertise additionally helped Purohit Navigation add new accounts like Roche Sequencing Solutions and resulted in the agency being chosen to launch three novel products – the Avenio Millisect System for Roche, the informatics platform BD Synapsys for Becton Dickinson, and Aktipak for Cutanea.
Building on an initial launch of the BD MAX instrument, work for BD has expanded into a variety of other BD brands. Executives say the agency delivered brand refreshes for the BD MAXT System, BD Kiestra, and BD BACTEC.
The agency also further cemented its relationship with Gilead, broadening its covered categories beyond hepatitis C to also include HIV.
“In the year ahead, we expect to be doing more strategy-based work to help our clients tackle problems that affect pre-market as well as on-market products,” says Brad Sherrill, VP of account services. “By doing research and offering insightful analysis and recommended courses of action, we are filling some strategic gaps that typical agencies can’t.”
According to agency leaders, this solid strategic thinking blends with innovative creative, resulting in award-winning work. Having won nearly 200 prestigious awards for everything from logo design to integrated campaigns, the agency has demonstrated the ability to consistently produce breakthrough creative. In 2017, the agency brought home four Rx Club of Excellence Awards and one PM360 Silver Award.
“The award-winning work we did for the launch of Aktipak illustrates how we were able to enter an extremely crowded category – acne treatment – and come up with an engaging, relevant approach,” says Chief Creative Officer Monica Noce Kanarek. “The ‘Mixes Fresh’ campaign quickly communicated the unique characteristic of the product, using teens on the go as a visual connection with the target audience.”
The agency is dedicated to going above and beyond for clients, according to executives. “Our size allows us to be more responsive than the average agency, so we do all we can to provide that higher level of service,” says Anshal Purohit. “We understand the heavy challenges our pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostic clients are facing. We’re happy to deliver deep experience across a range of services to help them meet these challenges.”
According to agency leaders, Purohit Navigation offers clients a full range of marketing services – strategy, print, digital, and medical education. Experts in each of these areas bring the experience and devotion needed to take each brand to its highest possible level.
“As a minority- and women-owned agency, we are proud to remain independent,” says Ahnal Purohit. “Because of this and our relatively flat management structure, we can be nimble. We look to our clients and their specific needs to drive decisions, which agencies owned by large holding companies can’t always do.”
For 2018, leaders say they plan to build and promote the agency’s strategy practice. “Sound strategy drives every campaign, which is why there’s so much demand for these capabilities,” says Anshal Purohit. “Our expertise in this field is a big part of what sets us apart.”
To better serve the life science clusters in California and the Pacific Northwest and enhance relationships with companies in the area, the agency continues to staff up on the West Coast. A key component of this plan was the addition of Sherrill, one of several new account/support hires in the area.
Additionally, Purohit Navigation executives say the agency intends to diligently pursue opportunities to expand its digital and social media capabilities.
Purohit Navigation has a long-standing dedication to altruism, executives say. In addition to supporting the American Cancer Society and a broad range of women’s organizations in developing countries, the agency has joined forces with Women in Bio (WIB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to women in the life sciences. The team at
Purohit Navigation is providing pro-bono strategy and creative support for the latest initiative from WIB, Executive Women In Bio (EWIB). The agency also provided support for Young Women in Bio (YWIB), an outreach program designed to involve girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Purohit Navigation additionally partnered with Embarc, a Chicago-based organization that provides experienced-based learning opportunities to low-income high school students to prepare them for success.
Agency managers say with sound strategic vision, incomparable passion for clients, and a talented group of Navigators, Purohit Navigation is poised for continued growth. “Its clients can look forward to relief from heavy brand responsibilities for many more years to come,” executives say.