Linda Bennett started as EVP, managing director of Hill Holliday Health last September, replacing previous agency leader Scott Rabschnuk. But she says it wasn’t until November that the degree to which the company was growing fully hit home.
“One day, we started bringing in folding chairs for people — we were growing that fast,” she explains. “It was getting harder to find spaces and places for people to work.”
With the furniture problem happily resolved, Bennett says Hill Holliday Health can turn its attention to everything else that comes with growth. “This has been our first full year as a healthcare entity, and it’s been a great year of recognition,” she adds.
While the agency is still very much a part of the larger Hill Holliday/IPG organization, the decision to spin out the health business separately was a very strategic one. “We put a flag in the sand as a healthcare agency to show that we’re committed to the industry beyond the consumer work that we’ve been doing,” Bennett notes. “We want to be seen and known as a fully integrated agency.”
By way of example, she points to, well, herself. Bennett says her decision to depart Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness for the new gig at Hill Holliday “reaffirms that commitment. There’s a sense of, ‘This is who we are and this is where we’re playing.’ And our leadership should reflect that.”
Hill Holliday Health counts Bayer’s IUD portfolio and Caplyta, an antipsychotic from Intra-Cellular Therapies, among its headline 2019 wins. It also added assignments from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Novartis. The agency ended its work on Odactra, a dust-mite allergy medication, when ALK stopped promoting it.
The new business helped jump Hill Holliday Health’s revenue to an MM&M-estimated $53.1 million in 2019, up 26% from an estimated $42 million in 2018. Bennett says the New York office has mushroomed to about 80 people, making the two-office agency “less Boston-centric.” Head count sat at 177 at the end of 2019, up from 140 at the end of 2018.
While Bennett doesn’t play favorites with clients, she says she’s especially honored to work on Caplyta. “Mental health is so underserved, and this is one of the first products specifically for that schizophrenia patient population,” she explains. “They are so often marginalized, misunderstood and misrepresented. We want to have a voice in speaking to those patients compassionately.”
In the months ahead, Bennett expects Hill Holliday Health to pursue growth in women’s health and neurology. “Alzheimer’s research is very exciting and frustrating all at the same time. We’d like to be a part of that,” she adds.
As for what comes next, Bennett believes there will be opportunity in the wake of the miseries inflicted by the COVID-19 crisis. “Right now, we focus primarily on consumers and our HCP practice is in development. With the increase in telemedicine and alternative means of getting care, we may see a redefined role of the sales representative,” she explains.
The best marketing we saw in 2019…
I love the Lofi Beats Suicide prevention idea from McCann London. Simple and pure, it’s so nothing — but so fantastic. They took a great insight, tiptoed into a channel and did something disruptive and impactful in a single moment. — David Leonardi
From the June 01, 2020 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
