Not surprisingly, the primary focus of Scout Health over the last two years has been the health of its employees and clients. However, amid the COVID-19 disruption the agency has managed to maintain its standing as one of the agency world’s few remaining rare disease specialists.
Revenue nudged upward by 2% during 2021, from $24.5 million in 2020 to $25.1 million. Staff size declined slightly, from 110 people at the start of the year to 102 people at the end of it.
Still, given the importance of the rare disease space and the fact that “these conditions didn’t take a break” during the pandemic, as agency partner and president Raffi Siyahian puts it, Scout kept its clients as a top priority.
“We work in an industry where things can change at any moment, especially with the types of clients that we’re working with,” he says. “We’ve been fortunate enough to see things continue to go well for our organization and our clients.”
According to Siyahian, clients continue to ask for more immersive and data-centric digital offerings, which prompted Scout to flex its muscles in the digital realm.
On the personnel front, it entered the year hoping to deepen its digital bench and did so by adding two
leaders: director of data and analytics Steve DeLabio, who joined from IQVIA, and director of digital strategy and
innovation Art Stiefel, who was previously at Fingerpaint.
The agency enjoyed its share of creative successes as well, with Siyahian pointing to its work on behalf of longtime client Jazz Pharmaceuticals as a prime example. Scout has been a major contributor to the marketing of Xywav, Jazz’s low-sodium narcolepsy drug, which Siyahian characterizes as one of the few truly innovative products for narcolepsy patients.
“We sit in ad boards with patients who had the opportunity to use Xywav and hear them say that their lives have completely changed,” he says. “If we had some role in helping that patient understand the benefits and safety aspects of that particular product, that’s a huge success for us.”
Siyahian notes the obvious — that pandemic-related disruptions are likely to continue — and says that Scout and pretty much everyone else will have to navigate the balance of remote and in-office work. The agency has hired people who work well outside of geographic proximity to its four offices, which suggests the hybrid work lifestyle may have staying power.
Finding and retaining the best people represent the agency’s other big challenges, along with ensuring that diversity and inclusion are upheld as key tenets of the business. Siyahian says Scout’s human resources team has long been focused on ensuring that diversity is a key aspect of the talent recruitment process — and honored as part of the agency’s core mission.
“What drives people at Scout is helping people. I’m proud of that as an organization, and I’m proud of that as a leader,” he adds.
. . .
Work from outside pharma you admire…
We are impressed with the mind shift Hyundai has been able to orchestrate. The company has completely changed the perception of its brand, from a discount offering to a quality, competitive mainstream brand — so much so that Hyundai has added the Genesis premium brand to its portfolio. That’s the spirit of the mindshift we attempt to create in healthcare. — Siyahian
From the June 01, 2022 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
