Perhaps the most striking thing about Toronto-based Klick Health is its intrinsic uniqueness.
Extensive and sophisticated application of data and analytics internally and externally is integral to Klick and its mojo. President and CEO Leerom Segal, chairman and CFO Peter Cordy and COO Aaron Goldstein cofounded the agency because they wanted to create an environment that optimizes talent development and strategic output. In pursuit of these goals, they nixed internal use of email, which they see as an inefficient and unintelligent tool, and devised an original internal communication and workflow management platform, “Genome,” that organizes, manages and measures every aspect of the agency. The continuously evolving platform is designed to deliver efficiency and personalized training.
And the agency’s approach has paid off, providing many reasons to celebrate as it marked its 15th anniversary in 2012. The agency serves as digital AOR for most of its 34 clients, and revenue was up 34% in 2012`, primarily driven by organic growth. The roster includes nine new clients—a record for new business wins. Nearly 100 new employees joined, and annual voluntary turnover rate held at 3%.
“The challenge in healthcare marketing today is getting all the moving parts to work together,” Segal says. “Clients need master orchestrators, and orchestration is, at its core, about data.”
Highlights of 2012 work include the re-launch of Acorda Therapeutics’ Ampyra.com (which won an MM&M Award) and launching Reckitt Benckiser’s opioid-dependence educational website TurnToHelp.com.
The agency also continued to innovate on the product front, rolling out its largest offering to date—a suite of eight customizable IVA, CRM and training iPad apps called iCONNECT.
Segal says, “Clients went from one or two engagements to using iCONNECT for 10 brands all over the world. That’s unbelievably rapid incubation of these relationships.”
In celebration of its anniversary, the agency published Future 15, a coffee-table tome that freely displays strategic insight, trends and predictions.
“We asked clients what they would want from us,” Segal says of the genesis of Future 15. “Across the board they wanted to see best-in-class digital strategy, but they didn’t think we’d want to give away the secret sauce. We thought about it, and really no one can execute the work we do without our talent, so why not just put it out there?”
He adds, “We’ve set aggressive targets for 2013 for improving efficiency, speed, agility in every discipline and in how those disciplines intersect.”
There were some impressive contenders for Agency of the Year, like indie stalwart AbelsonTaylor, which showed consistent growth including seven new accounts and a 5% spike in headcount in first-half 2012 alone, and Publicis shop Digitas Health, whose full-year new-brand tally hit 24 across 11 client companies. MM&M editors also had their eye on The CementBloc, which reported a 24% jump in 2011 revenues.
From the January 01, 2013 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
