Euro RSCG Life’s oldest shop, LM&P, has been undergoing a brand rethink, and when you think of them, they want you to think big.
“We have gone through an extensive look at what makes us unique, what makes our people shine and come to work every day, and we feel that what differentiates us is that we’re all about big, game-changing ideas and epic results,” says co-managing director Cris Morton. “We are fundamentally focused on our clients’ ability to perform financially and show metrics that help build their market share and revenue.”
LM&P’s not having any trouble building revenue. The shop’s revenues are up around 15% in 2012. Headcount has increased proportionately over the past year, to around 180. Around ten of those employees are based in the agency’s Chicago office, while the rest work out of New York City.
New clients include Roche’s Genentech, Amgen and Vertex. The shop also won some new business from Takeda and from Sanofi. Morton and co-managing director Christine D’Appolonia can’t talk brands but say most are on pre-market accounts in oncology, immunology, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s and colitis and diabetes.
New campaigns included a pair of efforts for Pfizer’s Lyrica—the “Burners” spot for the drug’s diabetic peripheral neuropathy indication and another for fibromyalgia, which was dubbed “Hug”—as well as the “Accidents Waiting to Happen” ads for Pfizer’s OAB drug Toviaz.
For Amgen, the shop was awarded the agency of record assignment to retool promotional materials for the iPad.
“We won all of the iPad conversions for all of their brands,” says D’Appolonia, “so we’re taking all of the assets of those individual brands and converting them to iPad detailing. We’re trying to expand our business in ways that aren’t the traditional agency of record approach.”
To a large extent, that means opportunities in emerging technologies, so LM&P has bolstered its digital capabilities. In December, the shop absorbed Cell Division, the digital and life sciences shop formed from a merger of CCG Metamedia and Quicksilver Science and subsequently acquired by Havas. Cell Division brought to LM&P clients including GE Healthcare, Bausch & Lomb, Serono, Merck and Amgen.
“They were on the leading edge of digital,” said Cris Morton at the time, “but they also have strong med ed and market development capabilities, which is a nice augmentation to what we provide.”
“We’ve gone beyond the idea of talking about digital for the sake of digital, understanding that’s a very important channel, but really just making sure we have expertise across channels and more importantly in recommending the appropriate channel mix to clients,” says Morton, “given the fact that it’s changing all the time and that they want more than anything to understand that they’re going to get a return on investment.”
The shop is also looking for opportunities beyond the traditional pharma space—in mobile health, in diagnostics, devices, OTC and health and wellness. Pfizer’s Meridian unit is one of their clients, for a brand called Cyanokit—a cyanide poisoning treatment.
“The number one target is first responders, emergency workers,” says Morton, “and the customers are government agencies, the army. It’s a really interesting category to work in, very different.”
From the July 01, 2012 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
