Decamping from over-cramped offices last year, the suburban Philadelphia agency DiD is now able to stretch both its legs—and its roster. In 2013 the agency, newly housed in the old Ambler Boiler House, experienced a revenue increase of 25% due to growth among existing relationships and the addition of several new clients in the prescription, consumer, OTC and device/diagnostic categories.
“In 2013 we expanded our business with our clients at Bausch + Lomb, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, and Similasan,” says DiD managing director Patty Henhoeffer. “Accounts gained include BTG, Carma Labs, Global Access Medical, Valeant and Viactiv. We have no account losses to report.”
According to Henhoeffer, DiD’s success was more than just a function of the extra space; it came as the outcome of a strong leadership team that was fully functioning in 2013 after a recent expansion from three to six, with Henhoeffer and partners Peter Kenney and Rick Sannem joined by VP, strategy and strategic services Elyse Cole; director, client services Bill Fay; and director, creative services Abby Galardi, all promoted in 2012. “That team provided the leadership in people development and strategic direction that propelled DiD’s business model and client success,” she says. “Their focus on delivering clients a deeper strategic relationship, an integrated approach to HCP and patient/consumer marketing and more digitally leverageable assets helped deepen existing DiD relationships and presented new business opportunities in a range of health categories.”
With bigger offices, a bigger leadership team, and a bigger roster, it’s no surprise that the headcount at DiD is getting bigger too. Three years ago the agency had 35 full-timers on staff; today that number has reached 64. All this growth and new blood, too, is right in line with DiD’s philosophy of evolution to meet the needs of clients—whatever the size.
“As clients look for a better mix of media and more effective and efficient use of resources, DiD continues to explore different business models and approaches to client work that provides the right level of service to clients big and small,” Henhoeffer says. “Rather than maintaining a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, we continue to evolve our model to meet the differing needs of our clients.”
So the agency is continually tailoring its model, offerings, and approaches with a goal of exceeding client relationship expectations. This “open mind” to its own business model, Henhoeffer believes, also allows DiD to think differently about each client’s business and the journey their customers take to purchase. “That, in turn, is leading to new marketing and communications that we believe are driving better business results,” she says.
DiD’s leadership team plans to take advantage of the lessons that have been learnied in the course of all this expansion, and use them to help it grow at a similar rate in 2015. The agency is seeking to expand its efforts in the skin care field and explore new opportunities in animal health and within the health technology category. “While wearable technology and devices are ‘hot,’ we see significant opportunity to improve adoption and compliance and believe we are well-suited to leverage our skills within that area of healthcare in 2014 and 2015,” Henhoeffer says.
From the July 01, 2014 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
