JUICE Pharma Worldwide experienced a 6% growth rate in 2012, and while that doesn’t approach the 25% in revenue gains the agency saw in 2010 and 2011, president/CEO Lois Moran and managing partner, chief creative-strategic officer Lynn Macrone are happy with the growth and pleased to report the agency is successfully diversifying its client base and expanding from its roots in professional work to include exciting new business wins on the consumer front.
“Clients are leveraging our deep experience in digital, biopharma and rare diseases, and we’re helping them shift from a mass-market approach to a specialty or community-based approach,” Moran says.
“Our clients are transforming,” adds Macrone. “We have to be right there transforming as well, continuing to look for ways to solve their challenges and answer their unmet needs.”
The agency retained all accounts last year, and staff held steady at 189. Dori Stowe joined as SVP, digital strategy, consumer.
There were a lot of gains on the new business front from both existing clients and new clients, including Novartis Oncology, which awarded global AOR status for professional, patient and digital work on iron chelation therapy Exjade.
New consumer AOR relationships began with Acorda, for MS treatment Ampyra, and with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, for cystic fibrosis treatment Kalydeco. Consumer facing project work was won from the National Cancer Institute and the National Hemophilia Institute.
Existing client LEO Pharmaceuticals awarded consumer AOR status on top of professional AOR status for Picato (actinic keratosis). Through the Independent Network, which JUICE leads and founded in 2011, engagement with Merck expanded to include professional AOR status on Parkinson’s disease treatment Preladenant.
“The industry continues to trend increasingly towards the power of the consumer, including mass market and rare diseases,” Macrone says. “Rare diseases are community driven—it’s a whole different way of connecting and gathering insight.
“Through our consumer work, our focus is on managing and engineering the right conversation—creating that perfect point of contact between a consumer and professional, to result in the best possible outcome,” Macrone continues. “More than 50% of our business provides that holistic consumer and professional structure.”
The Center of Excellence in Emerging Technology and Media was formally established last year to drive innovative thinking and client program development. An in-house broadcast studio was also created.
“We’re building out the Center of Excellence in Emerging Technology through our digital team, some of whom are founding members of the Digital Health Coalition,” explains Macrone. “The center is all about being on the front edge of what’s happening in technology. One thing we’re focused on is how to best build community around a brand through social media and other digital channels.”
The agency continues to advance global reach through its JUICE Global Network, which is rooted in its membership in Worldwide Partners, Inc. (WPI). Pharma agencies in Mexico City and Barcelona joined the group last year.
JUICE marks its 10th anniversary this year, and Macrone notes that the agency is celebrating “the power and strength of entrepreneurship and the start-up spirit.”
Expanding consumer business is an ongoing priority. This year is off to a good start with new business opportunities brewing.
“Pharma companies are up against the most challenging of times, and we’re finding as an independent agency JUICE is uniquely suited to provide the entrepreneurial approach they need now more than ever,” Moran says.
From the July 01, 2013 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
