Hybrid Healthcare Communications is something of a, well, hybrid. It doesn’t seek out AOR gigs (though it happily accepts them) or expansive medcomms assignments (ditto), and generates much of its revenue from engagements around medical congresses and technology.
In the congress/convention space, Hybrid handles everything from strategy and sponsorships to booth activities and outreach. The firm’s efforts in and around the technology space is similarly all-encompassing, according to Hybrid partner and president Jay Romano.
“We prioritized technology six or seven years ago and built a full in-house development team to up our capabilities,” he says. “It plays a part in pretty much everything that we do across the board.”
Indeed, Romano believes that this development team distinguishes Hybrid from agencies of comparable size.
“How that really translates into differentiation for us is in terms of speed, quality and agility,” he continues. “Having those resources in-house allows us to deliver on projects faster and to be able to flex and change as a project develops over time — which, in this industry, does happen quite a bit.”
Hybrid partner and EVP Patrick Baffuto agrees, adding, “The goal is to help our clients interact with their customers in the best way possible in all of those spaces. We’re set up to be adaptable, and to help them bring more power to what they’re doing and get out their content in engaging ways.”
That mix connected with clients during 2022, with revenue spiking 76% (to $13.9 million, from $7.9 million in 2021). Hybrid brought in new work from Moderna, which joined mainstays such as Sunovion, Acadia Pharmaceuticals and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma on the agency roster.
While Hybrid increased its head count during 2022 — it started the year with 32 people under its roofs and ended it with 43 — the agency still counts recruitment and retention among its greatest challenges. Many of the new hires were mid-level account staffers and developers, but Hybrid also rewarded Baffuto and VP of development operations Justin Schlemm with promotions to partner.
Looking ahead, Hybrid’s leaders remain bullish on the company’s investments in technology, particularly in the realms of virtual and augmented reality. It’s likely that the agency will push to integrate such technologies within its conference/convention work.
Hybrid is also keen to continue its regular interactions with what the company has dubbed “digital opinion leaders.” “They are ever more important to brands across the board because of their influence in healthcare, social media and beyond,” Romano notes.
Finally, Romano expects Hybrid to delve even deeper into the use of analytics. “We’re working on presenting a clearer and more detailed analytics output just to be transparent with the work that we’re doing. It will help our clients evolve in what they’re looking to do.”
This story has been updated.
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Our marketing role model…
We consider Richard Branson a role model for our organization because of a philosophy that values creativity, risk-taking and customer-centric marketing. His marketing strategies focus on creating a unique and memorable customer experience, and he is not afraid to take risks or try new things. Branson’s marketing approach is centered around building relationships with customers, and he has been successful in creating a loyal following of customers who are passionate about his brands. — Baffuto
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From the June 01, 2023 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
