Biolumina Group: 2020

Biolumina Group LLC

75 Varick Street

New York, NY 10013

Telephone 

646-364-1500

E-mail 

[email protected]

Website 

biolumina.com

QUICK FACTS

Accounts

Account wins 3

Active business clients 9

Brands by 2019 sales

Brand-product accounts held 14

$25 million or less 1

$25 million-$50 million 2

$100 million-$500 million 2

$500 million-$1 billion 5

$1 billion or more 1

Products not yet approved/launched 3

SERVICES MIX

Professional advertising 60%

Digital 35%

Relationship marketing 5%

 

CLIENT ROSTER

Agios

Arcus Biosciences

AstraZeneca

Exelixis

FerGene

Janssen Oncology

Legend Biotech

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer

Pierre Fabre

FINALIST

Agency of the Year, Category II

 

Curiosity is the catalyst that sparked a year of record growth for Biolumina, according to the agency. Following a period of prolific launch activity, 2019 was punctuated with organic growth and new business wins, increased talent acquisition, and expanded offerings. 

“Since 2016, ‘Curiosity builds’ has been our agency mantra and last year our curiosity built remarkable success for our agency, our clients, and our team. Our collective drive to do better, to question, and challenge each other through ‘happy conflict’ was the force behind our ability to develop strong and compelling brand stories and experiences,” says Kirsten A. Kantak, president and CEO of Biolumina. 

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Biolumina continued a growth trajectory that first began when Kantak relaunched the agency. In 2019, Biolumina was awarded multiple new business wins without pitches and experienced record-breaking organic growth while achieving 100 percent client retention, agency executives say. New business growth included a global agency of record assignment from Agios, corporate branding and pipeline work from Arcus Biosciences, a substantial assignment from AstraZeneca spanning multiple indications, and a first-in-class urologic oncology brand from FerGene. Beyond new business growth, the agency executed launches for high-profile oncology brands for Novartis and AstraZeneca. 

“Creative with purpose” continues to be the agency’s rallying cry for work that has a role in helping bring therapeutic advances and change to those who need it most. “We are inspired by the purpose of our work and strive for ideas that are original and crafted for maximum impact,” says Diane Iler-Smith, senior VP, executive creative director. A great example, Biolumina executives say, is the agency’s anti-gun violence campaign, The American Plague, that won Best Digital from Outfront’s Outframe competition.

Biolumina was chosen by MM&M as one the Best Places to Work as an agency with “amazing” spirit and “a great place to learn, grow, and stay curious.” Employees praised management for taking the time to mentor, with sessions held frequently to provide career guidance in a private environment. 

Leadership talent doubled in 2019 with the additions of David Cherry as senior VP, director of customer experience and Mark Dean as senior VP, experience planner and the return of Danielle Cranwell, senior VP, director of client services; Kyle Grazia, senior VP, group creative director of art; Kyle Wormser, senior VP, creative director of copy; and Anne Brown, senior VP, creative director of copy. In total, nine “boomerangers” returned to Biolumina, which executives say is a true testament to the allure of the agency’s strong culture and proven track record of success. 

The agency continued its strong history of growing talent from within – at all levels and across all departments – with 36 promotions. In fact, 20 percent of all employees were promoted in 2019, including Can Pham to senior VP, medical director; Christina Cenzia to senior VP, management supervisor; Kate Dziedzic Gaind to senior VP, creative director of copy; and Sarah Martin to senior VP, associate creative director of copy. 

STRUCTURE AND SERVICES

Biolumina expanded its customer experience offering by hiring the industry veteran Cherry. With his leadership, executives say Biolumina has built out a comprehensive suite of customer experience offerings, from an experience planning team delivering actionable segmentation, messaging, and channel strategies, through a UX and development team ensuring frictionless, impactful, and useful tactics, to an analytics team determining success metrics and measuring every tactic against them.

To support the continued and future growth of the agency, Biolumina restructured into business squads with account, copy, and art leads supported by operations, strategy/medical, and customer experience expertise. The goal was to provide focused leadership while maintaining a small-agency feel, despite the record growth, management says. 

The agency launched a remote working policy based on employee requests, and results have been a “resounding success.” In addition, remote full-time work is now an option for select positions, and as a result team members include residents of California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. “The staff also includes several lovable canines thanks to a dog-friendly policy that was embraced by all,” Biolumina executives say.

Beyond its structure and services, one of the things that makes Biolumina special, according to managers, is its environment of inclusivity where everyone is encouraged and expected to have a voice and to ask questions. In fact, the agency loves stupid questions. “Those are the questions that can be a gateway to making us smarter,” says Brenda Aske, senior VP, managing director of strategy. “Oncology is an intense specialty with constant new developments—even experts feel challenged. The key is to ask questions, break it down to basics, and maintain a learning mindset.” Ultimately, it’s the translation of the exciting and ever-changing information in oncology to a simple and meaningful story that leads Biolumina to create more relevant, more extraordinary, and more impactful ideas.

FUTURE PLANS

Due to its focus and strong reputation in oncology, management says the agency has been able to attract people who share a passion for this therapeutic category. To ignite this passion in others, Biolumina is intent on spreading the word that oncology marketing today is vastly different than it was 10 years ago. 

“It’s not boring, solemn, and clinical. It’s exciting, inspiring, and creative!” agency executives say. “Oncology is the area of healthcare with the most innovation and advances – leading to longer survival and even cures. You can see the rapid pace of change by the fact that cancer deaths declined by 30 percent from 1991 to 2017. Biolumina is proud to partner with our clients whose breakthrough therapies have led to this impressive drop. Just imagine a world where cancer isn’t a death sentence. Where there are choices, clearly understandable, that lead to outcomes never expected before in this disease. That’s the world that’s emerging thanks to new innovations, and that’s the world Biolumina is supporting.”

“Biolumina aims to make real change – to ‘be the delta’ – within the oncology experience, and will continue to actively recruit anyone who wants to share our purpose,” Kantak says. 

PHILANTHROPY/CITIZENSHIP

Driven by the agency’s mission to create positive change in the universe, Biolumina has partnered with AFFIRM (The American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction in Medicine) and is lending its award-winning The American Plague campaign to raise money for AFFIRM’s gun violence research and promote local events on gun violence solutions.  

Biolumina supported the Melanoma Research Foundation, was a proud contributor to and participant in the Light the Night Leukemia and Lymphoma Society event in NYC, and supported several cancer month awareness activities. 

The agency is, was, and will continue to be an active participant in Omnicom OPEN Pride, a network-wide initiative dedicated to fostering an inclusive and opportunity-rich environment for Omnicom’s LGBTQ+ community.