The BlocPartners: 2021
The BlocPartners
32 Old Slip, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10005
Telephone
917-305-5581
Website
theblocpartners.com
2020 was a year of growth for The BlocPartners network as it grew in number of partner agencies, drove more network business to its agencies, and expanded network teams. “The circumstances were difficult, but the pandemic proved a point we have known since the very beginning 17 years ago; talent is not limited to geography, and through a nimble and adaptive business model, we can offer local solutions to global challenges,” management says.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In the last year, The BlocPartners welcomed agencies from Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Greece, reinforcing its local footprint in these strategically important areas. The network is now present in 34 markets with more than 1,300 employees across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, according to the leadership team.
“We continued to build upon our business model BlocSource: an innovative approach that insources talent and thinking from our world-class professionals to deliver health creative solutions,” network executives say. “Thanks to our model, we drove strategic and creative innovation that created top-line growth for our clients, while also focusing on operational innovation that stretches budgets and shortens timelines.”
According to the leadership team, the network experienced continued success and organic growth for one of its key clients, MSD, achieving cost-efficiency through operational innovation. “In our ongoing Pan-European project, we are creating modular unbranded content in three EU-based hubs,” management says. “We achieve agile workflows by producing regional assets per therapeutic area and localizing through country groups.”
The network is also in the process of launching a U.S. company and its cardiovascular product in the EU, with Germany as the first-launch market, the leadership team says. “Soon to follow are 15 subsequent local launches, which will give us the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the key differentiator we have as a network: our profound local insights on regulatory and cultural aspects. All while delivering on our promise of excellence in strategy while stretching the client’s budget.”
Management believes that the network’s momentum in EU is also upheld by the work being done in launching a new product for an Italian-based multinational company, with the possibility of expansion for a number of markets in the region.
“We are honored to have two executive jurors at this year’s Clio Health Awards: Bernardo Romero, CCO at The BlocPartners US (The Bloc), and Xavier Sánchez, CEO at The BlocPartners Spain (Umbilical) and CCO at The BlocPartners. Romero is one of the jury chairs and Sánchez is on the Digital/Mobile, Direct, Experience/Activation, Public Relations, Social Media & Creative Use of Data Jury,” according to executives at The BlocPartners.
“I’m very interested in new methods and big ideas in the advertising and communications worlds, so I’m excited for this opportunity to assess the most ambitious and groundbreaking health creative campaigns of last year,” Sánchez says.
In 2020, The BlocPartners’ member agencies were honored as finalists in 15 industry awards and won 65 prizes, including in the MM&M, Mannys, PM 360 Trail blazers, PM 360 Elite, Clio, D&AD, and Rx Club. U.S. partner, The Bloc, had what management calls an “outstanding” award year being named both the Mannys 2020 Category II Agency of the Year and MM&M’s Mid-Size Agency of the Year.
(left to right) Şermin Kartal, VP of European markets; Rico Viray, global chairman; Praful Akali, VP of extended markets
STRUCTURE AND SERVICES
The BlocPartners is incorporated as an LLC, with 21 top-ranking health creative and medical communication agencies covering 34 key major and emerging markets. Key capabilities include brand communication (creative services, public relations, insights, and strategic planning); medical communication (scientific services, medical affairs consultancy, and meeting and events); and value, insight, and evidence (scientific and analytical services, patient-centered outcome research, and study management).
The BlocPartners utilizes a board of directors model of governance that is responsible for the continuous excellence and growth of the network’s capabilities.
The elected board members are Global Chairman Rico Viray; Global Chief Financial Officer Susan Miller Viray; Sánchez as Global CCO; Global Chief Scientific Officer André Darmon; Global Chief Innovation Officer Markus Lüthi; VP of European Markets Şermin Kartal; and VP of Extended Markets Praful Akali.
The global management team includes Global Business Manager Nina Gabrielsen, and the EU Management Team, in addition to VP of European markets, includes EU Commercial Directors Paolo Zanaria and Hans Lindh; EU Sales Director Theis Husfeldt; and EU Marketing Director Gian Marco Guarini Matteucci.
The network’s agencies are located in the Americas (United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil); EMEA (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, and UK); and Asia and Oceania (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam).
FUTURE PLANS
We plan to embrace the solid foundation that 2020 gave to us as a network, and will continue to look for sustainable growth for both existing and new clients ,” network leaders declare. “Our focus is to keep on delivering strategic and operational excellence to our clients as we stay nimble, adaptive, and responsive. Above all, we will continuously strive to be the preferred partner for all of our clients.”
PHILANTHROPY/CITIZENSHIP
Network executives say The BlocPartners agencies have a long-standing tradition of supporting charities through financial donations, creative work, consultative services, and fundraising events, including Doctors Without Borders, American Heart Association, and Food Bank NYC. Some of the organizations the network began to support in 2020 include The CDC Foundation, ActBlue, The Equal Justice Initiative, The Innocence Project, The ACLU, and The George Floyd Memorial Fund.
