The CementBloc 2015
The CementBloc
641 6th Avenue, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10011
Telephone: 212-524-6200
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: thecementbloc.com
QUICK FACTS
Accounts
Account wins 12
Active business clients 17
Brands by 2014 sales
Brand-product accounts held 97
Services Mix
HCP 59%
DTC and DTP 25%
Managed markets 16%
Client Roster
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
BioDelivery Sciences International
Boston Heart Diagnostics
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer
Celgene
GlaxoSmithKline Oncology
Guerbet
Merck
Novartis Oncology
Novartis Vaccines
Pfizer Animal Health
ProCure Treatment Centers
Regeneron
Salix Pharmaceuticals
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum
UCB Pharma
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
According to its leaders, The CementBloc is the “most creatively awarded healthwellness communications company for a second straight year: Our dedication to creative excellence continued!”
Executives say the agency won 75 creative awards across domestic and global forums, “36 more awards than our next closest competitor. We were also recognized by Advertising Health at the inaugural Lions Health Festival as the No. 3 agency worldwide, and additionally produced no less than three of the 10 most-awarded campaigns of the year – Giazo “Mr Butt,” Girls Right of Way, and Happy Fuel – more than any other agency worldwide.
“We were also delighted to see so many of our people recognized at the inaugural Creative Floor Healthcare Awards, a testament to our ongoing talent development and training initiatives. We took home the Best Creative, Best Suit, and Best Young Talent Awards, as well as the Bravest Client Award for our work over the last several years with Celgene.”
The year’s accomplishments
In 2014, the agency officially branded and launched its payer service offering (which The CementBloc been developing and growing since 2009) as The Bloc Value Builders. “We believe that much more goes into building a value proposition than a brand’s clinical and health economic value,” executives say. “We believe in thinking like Copernicus – as the sun does not revolve around the earth, so today’s engagements do not revolve around the brand.”
According to agency leaders, the brand’s clinical and health economic properties are only a part of the picture. Each payer customer – MCOs, IDNs, ACOs, GPOs, VA/DoD, and others –requires the development of a specific value proposition that includes above-brand services and ensures that each customer understands why their brand should be covered.
“The Value Builders’ Copernican view has led to nearly 400 percent growth over the last three years, the fastest-growing group within The Bloc, and it is proof that our philosophy and approach to payer marketing is resonating with clients,” executives note. “Expect great success from The Bloc Value Builders in 2015.”
With the launch of EngineBloc Business Solutions, agency leaders say, “We believe it’s time for digital health engagement to go beyond communications and be powered by intelligent solutions that deliver value-added assets at the customer’s time of need. The launch of our EngineBloc service offering marks a shift in how we will address the needs of pharma and healthcare organizations as they evolve to customer-centric engagement models.”
According to executives, the EngineBloc service offering has integrated content and platform solutions that address common needs for organizations looking to deliver just-in-time learning to sales teams; engage with patients, providers, caregivers, and payers to support decisions and change behavior; and leverage two-way health intelligence sharing to improve outcomes. “Expect great traction from EngineBloc in 2015,” executives say.
Management also points to the expansion of the agency’s transformative business model. In 2014, with a full year of business results to validate success, the agency took BlocSky, the business model developed in 2013, to greater heights by expanding the offering to new clients. According to agency leaders, BlocSky, which uniquely couples brand driving capabilities with operational efficiencies that improve bottom line results for clients, “is proving to be a significant competitive advantage and an offering that our clients value.”
Agency executives say organic and new business growth was strong in 2014. “In all, we had 12 new wins with existing and new client partners,” they say. “Our most significant win of the year was being named, along with our Indigenus global network, to the global BMS agency roster for pre-launch and launch brands. This was the culmination of a year-long pitch process that consolidated professional assignments around the world.”
In addition, the agency has continued to see tremendous growth in its emerging service areas. The CementBloc Value Builders team expanded at Celgene and AstraZeneca and experienced more than 60 percent growth in just 12 months. On the digital front, the agency picked up assignments from ProCure Treatment Centers and with Merck. The agency also secured a significant patient and disease education assignment, with a foundation in CRM, at Regeneron. And its core HCP business expanded with assignments from AstraZeneca (the HCP launch of Xigduo XR), Novartis Vaccines (the HCP and patient launch for Bexsero), Alcon (Jetrea), and Boston Heart Diagnostics.
Other key accomplishments included The CementBloc’s thought leadership platform HealthWellNext launching a new social media initiative called HealthAwareNext, which focuses attention on a different disease condition or therapeutic area every month to create a “Year of Disease Awareness.” Frequent posts include infographic posters, contributed articles, videos, retweets, and hashtags. Posts also link to topical educational materials at public health sites, private health centers, and nonprofit organizations. With a focus on what users could do next, the Year of Disease Awareness aims ultimately to inspire healthy actions in daily life
Additionally, The CementBloc sponsored and presented at a number of industry events, including EXL Digital Pharma East and West, the CBI Summit on Managed Care Marketing Strategies, and the AJMC Educational WebEx Series (co-chaired).
The Indigenus network celebrated its 10-year anniversary at a weeklong meeting in New York in May 2014. The network also expanded its footprint by welcoming two new companies: Mission-Systole in Belgium (serving Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) and HealthWay in Poland (serving as a hub for Central and Eastern Europe).
Also, creative leaders served as jurors for the most prestigious awards, including the inaugural Lions Health Awards, The Global Awards and the CLIO Healthcare Awards
Structure and services offered
The CementBloc is one of the largest full-service independent healthwellness communications companies in the United States. The CementBloc is also the founding partner of Indigenus, an international network of award-winning, independent healthcare agencies, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in May 2014.
Executives say the agency’s mission is to build belief in customers’ brands. “As the healthcare industry becomes more complex – more customers, more channels, more costs, more generics, more reasons to stick with the status quo – it is simply not enough to drive casual interest or reduce barriers to a product or service,” they say. “Customers must actively believe – particularly in new brands – for them to be successful. Doctors must believe in a brand to overcome early access limitations, patients must believe in a brand when an additional copay is required, and insurers must believe in a brand to provide formulary access when other options are available. We develop insight-based experiences that drive customers to take action – to consider, to try, to write, to provide access, to go on therapy, to stick with it. We call this BELIEF IN ACTION. It is tangible, it is measurable, and it has a remarkable impact on business results.”
The CementBloc offers a full suite of services including planning, branding, multichannel, CRM, medical, payer, analytics, and global.
Future plans
According to agency executives, The CementBloc will continue to evolve as the “healthwellness communications company of the future.”
“What does this mean? We’ll continue to combine our deep strategic and creative heritage with technology solutions that deliver compelling experiences across every conceivable platform.
“Our thought leaders will stay ahead of the curve and continue to set industry trends that others will follow. We will maintain our creative edge, attracting top talent across disciplines and clients. We will enhance our capabilities to foster organic growth and diversify our portfolio. We will continue to expand our BlocSky model to new clients. We will pilot new technologies and processes to improve workflow and enhance output. We will deliver BELIEF IN ACTION to our clients.
“In 2015, we will also be celebrating our 15th anniversary, which coincides with a move to downtown New York City. After eight years of maintaining two different office locations, we will be united in a glittering new space overseeing the New York harbor in the heart of the emerging creative, media, and technology hub,” managers remark.
Philanthropy/citizenship
In 2014, executives say the agency exceeded its 2013 charitable total and generated donations of $61,000 to charities that staff believe in and support, such as Doctors Without Borders, the Livestrong Foundation, the National MS Society, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, and the March of Dimes, among others. The CementBloc also continued its pro bono work in support of the Coore Foundation and the Autoinflammatory Alliance. For the Arthritis Foundation, the agency had a team of 10 cycling from San Francisco to Los Angeles in eight days for the California Coast Classic Bike Tour. The agency raised more than $30,000 and Founding Partner Rico Viray was recognized as the Volunteer of the Year.
For the second year in a row, The CementBloc hosted its wildly popular “Silent Night, Auction Night” charitable initiative, which raised more than $13,000 for the 2014 featured charity, Doctors Without Borders. The 71 items auctioned included music lessons, sports tickets, custom artwork, dinner dates, and even a personalized astrological birth chart reading. “It was truly one of the most special events of the year, and we look forward to continuing the tradition in 2015,” executives say.
