The Top 60: Euro RSCG Life LM&P

Euro RSCG Life LM&P has picked up eight new accounts over the past year and put out its shingle in Chicago as it looks west for biotech and device business. “It’s a different footprint,” says LM&P president David Paragamian. “The core skillset is very much about devices, diagnostics and biotech. That’s enabled us to create a nimbler, more western-looking footprint there under the umbrella of LM&P.”

LM&P Chicago had been a part of the Euro RSCG Life family but came under the Euro flagship in June 2007. The shop has already helped LM&P land the Stryker orthopedic hip business and Boston Scientific’s stent franchise, both of which it handles in tandem with the New York headquarters. In addition, Chicago handles business with Evanston Northwestern Hospital and Meridian Medical Technologies, a division of King Pharmaceuticals, along with several emerging biotechs. 

Other recent LM&P wins include DTC and direct-to-patient on Pfizer’s Selzentry and project work on a couple of premarket Pfizer products, Wyeth’s Prevnar 13 and an ImaRx Therapeutics product. Other key accounts include: Pfizer’s Chantix, Xalatan, Lyrica and endocrine care franchise; Wyeth vaccines; and Talecris, a mid-sized North Carolina biotech. The shop has maintained a perfect 8-0 pitching record for the past year. 

Paragamian is particularly proud of the Pfizer and Wyeth wins. “When companies that we have long relationships with ask us to do more, that’s particularly rewarding, because it says we take care of business not only on pitch day but the other 364 days as well,” says Paragamian. “The proof positive is Pfizer and Wyeth saying: ‘Here, do more.’”

The agency added staff to handle the new assignments, with more than 30 hires in New York and a few in Chicago, bringing overall headcount to around 175. 

Paragamian says LM&P’s collaborations with sibling Euro RSCG Life x2 and Catapult have helped drive some of that growth. “That really created the opportunity for us to offer creative business solutions,” says Paragamian, “whereby we reach across disciplines to come back to the client with something that’s not just the core advertising solution but a much more integrated, diverse pallet.”

Integration, says Paragamian, is the key to breakout promotion. “The landscape is definitely changing beyond the time-tested vehicles delivered through the sales force. It’s not only about bringing in journal ads and sales aids so you can fill out my POA twice a year. Their marketplace is different. They’re in crowded therapeutic categories with brands looking to stand out, so it’s not about, ‘I need another ad in JAMA or another sales aid.’ It’s ‘Bring me a creative business solution that will grow my brand and help me differentiate it from the competition in a way that’s not strictly dependent on stuff that folds into a sales rep’s bag.’ Our organizational model allows us to do that in a way that’s unique.”

LM&P launched Pfizer’s Selzentry earlier this year and last year launched Boston Scientific’s Stent Plus patient compliance program for Taxus. “They took a very leadership-oriented approach,” says Paragamian of Boston Scientific. “It wasn’t just about selling stents, but about getting patient compliance in the long term for the best outcomes across multiple platforms. The client said ‘This is a big turning point for us. This is how we restore health and vitality to our stent program—not by saying my stent is slightly better than the rest, but by saying we have a comprehensive program, so that was fun.”