Med Ad News Recognizes Healthcare Communications Excellence At The 33rd Annual Manny Awards, Honors Industry Person Of The Year Jay Carter

LIVINGSTON, N.J., April 22, 2022 – Leading pharmaceutical business and marketing publication Med Ad News reveals the winners of the 2022 Manny Awards, celebrating the best in the healthcare communications industry. The 33rd anniversary of the black-tie gala event was held at The Lighthouse at Pier 61 in New York City. Manny Awards were presented throughout the evening to healthcare agencies and networks achieving excellence across 29 categories.

The Med Ad News Industry Person of the Year award was presented to Jay Carter, Executive VP, Director of Business Development, AbelsonTaylor.

Carter has been a visionary leader in the pharmaceutical advertising industry for almost 38 years, most notably as the growth catalyst for AbelsonTaylor’s evolution from a 28-person shop in 1988 to one of the largest and most creative independent healthcare agencies in the world today, with 276 people.

Carter has also devoted his considerable talents to benefiting the pharma marketing industry at large, through leadership roles in various professional organizations, thought leadership contributions to professional publications, and a commitment to mentoring new generations of industry leaders.

"This is the second 'life achievement award' I’ve received over the last few years – both are incredibly meaningful to me and I’m incredibly grateful for both. But the truth is, when you get an award like this, people inevitably begin to ask you when you’re going to retire," Carter says. "I’m going to put it this way … you know how the fourth quarter of a game is always when the exciting stuff happens? I’m looking forward to the really exciting stuff … I’m not done yet."

FCB Health New York, an IPG Health company, is the 2022 recipient for Agency of the Year Category I, for agencies that generate annual revenue exceeding $50 million. The agency achieved 2021 revenue of more than $100 million, with what management says was 25 percent growth on an already industry-leading base. FCB Health New York achieved 27 major wins with 21 new brand assignments. Organic growth from existing clients represented 50.2 percent of the agency's growth, with the remainder coming from new clients. Additionally, FCB Health New York hired 521 new employees. "Our recipe for success isn’t complicated – being passionately committed to doing what’s right for our clients, their brands, and our people – and the growth, best-in-class work, and wins continually follow," the agency's leadership team says. "The continuity of our success across all key areas – culture, creativity, and revenue growth – sets us apart and keeps us driving forward.”

FCB Health New York additionally captured the 2022 Manny Awards for Best Consumer Print Campaign for Cequa “Battle Back” and Best Social Media Campaign for "Ms. Information," in which FCB Health NY partnered with GMHC to tackle vaccine hesitancy in the LGBTQ+ community due to social media misinformation. The agency was additionally a finalist for Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign, Best Digital Physician Campaign, and Best Social Media Campaign.

Concentric Health Experience (CHX) is the winner of Agency of the Year Category II, for healthcare communications agencies that produce yearly revenue between $25 million and $50 million. “In 2021, Concentric built vivid health experiences again and again with a wide range of clients – highlighted by the Launch of the Year in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, a game-changing weight management brand primed to change how the world approaches obesity," CHX executives say. The agency added nine new accounts across a range of emerging categories such as medical technology, rare disease, stem cell therapies, and cannabis. Wegovy won the Best Launch Campaign Manny Award for 2022, "as the fastest, most successful, and most robust launch that Novo Nordisk has ever seen, as the product hit 120 percent of its original product supply forecast just three months after launch," CHX management says.

Brick City Greenhouse is the 2022 Agency of the Year winner for Category III, representing healthcare communications agencies that generate under $25 million in annual revenue. Despite the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, agency leaders say 2021 was another banner year for Brick City Greenhouse. In 2021 the agency’s client roster grew by five clients and nine new brand assignments. This included four concurrent launches, relaunching three completely redesigned corporate websites, and broadening the client portfolio in the areas of women’s health, immunology, oncology, gastroenterology, and rheumatology, for both HCP and DTP. This resulted in a 138 percent year-over-year growth, closing out 2021 with just over $19 million in annual revenue. Brick City Greenhouse also substantially increased its headcount, adding 35 new full-time employees.

AREA 23 was once again the most heavily decorated agency at the Manny Awards, winning eight categories. AREA 23 was the recipient of the following 2022 Manny Awards: Most Admired Agency (seventh consecutive win in this category), Most Creative Agency, Best Experiential Campaign, Best Digital Patient Campaign, Best Managed Markets Campaign, Best Medical Device Campaign, Best Patient Engagement Campaign, and Best Philanthropic Campaign. The agency also received finalist nominations for Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign, Best Consumer Web Campaign, Best Digital Patient Campaign, Best Philanthropic Campaign, and Best Professional Print Campaign.

The Med Ad News staff annually presents the Heart Award, which is designed to recognize agencies’ social responsibility and agency cultures that embody a high commitment to philanthropic and social causes. The winner and finalists of this award each receive a check to donate to a charity of their choosing. The 2022 Heart Award recipient is Klick Health, and the finalists in the category are The Bloc and Intouch Group. Klick Health also won for Best Agency Campaign and was a finalist for Agency of the Year Category I, Most Admired Agency, Best Experiential Campaign, and Best Patient Engagement Campaign. The Bloc was additionally a finalist for Best Managed Markets Campaign. Intouch Group was the winner for Best Rare Disease Campaign and also a finalist for Most Creative Agency, Best Consumer Print Campaign (for two separate campaigns), Best Experiential Campaign, Best Patient Engagement Campaign, and Best Philanthropic Campaign.

The Network of the Year Manny Award was presented to IPG Health, which was formed in the middle of 2021 by combining FCB Health and McCann Health. Management says the network is "the biggest disruptor in our industry." According to Dana Maiman, CEO of IPG Health, “It’s the fluidity of how people work with each other that demonstrates the strong bond that has been built, and the culture of connectivity across our network. By enabling collaboration and breaking down silos, we’ve collectively realized that we’re much smarter and stronger together. We believe that one person’s success is all of our success – it’s this commitment to a common goal that cannot be faked or emulated.”

In addition to all of the accolades for AREA 23 and FCB Health New York, IPG Health's FCB Health Europe won the 2022 Manny Award for Best Nonbranded Campaign. Among other IPG Health companies, McCann Health New Jersey was the winner in the Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign and Best Consumer Web Campaign categories for "House Rules" and was a finalist for Best Professional Web Campaign, Best Rare Disease Campaign, Best Nonbranded Campaign, and Best Launch Campaign. McCann Health Managed Markets was a finalist for Agency of the Year Category II and Best Managed Markets Campaign. McCann Health New York was a finalist for Best Medical Device Campaign. Neon was a finalist for Agency on the Rise. FCBCURE received a finalist nomination for Best Agency Campaign.

The Vision Award winner was CMI Media Group and Compas for PROACT Rep, the first and only healthcare media orchestration and automation platform to get from data to insights to action immediately. The platform allows users to make real-time media investment decisions for their customers through an intuitive user interface that provides actionable intelligence and a host of media sequencing options. CMI Media Group and Compas also received a finalist nomination as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion.

The recipient of the 2022 Agency on the Rise Manny Award is PRECISIONeffect. "We entered 2021 with hope for a return to normal,” says PRECISIONeffect President Carolyn Morgan. “As vaccines rolled out, we were excited about the possibility of being together again – with our colleagues, with our clients, and especially with our loved ones. And we quickly learned that 2021 was about flexibility. We continued to shapeshift and lean into the only constant – change.”

The 2022 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion as recognized by Med Ad News is 1798, a Fingerpaint company. 1798 was founded on the principles of creating a diverse and inclusive company. Agency leadership takes great pride in 1798’s employees reflecting the diverse patient populations the company aims to help. As 1798 continues to grow, the team looks forward to cultivating that reflection to show even more diversity across expanded services. The DE&I Champion finalists were CDM New York and CMI Media Group and Compas.

CDM New York was the winner of the Best Professional Print Campaign category and also a finalist for Most Admired Agency, Best Consumer Web Campaign, Best Digital Physician Campaign, Best Medical Device Campaign, Best Professional Web Campaign, Best Rare Disease Campaign, and Best Social Media Campaign.

In addition to Carter's Industry Person of the Year recognition, AbelsonTaylor captured the Best Professional Web Campaign category.

GSW, powered by Syneos Health, was the winning recipient for Best Digital Physician Campaign for "The Story in their Bones," which also garnered a finalist nomination in the Best Professional Print Campaign category.

The Med Ad News 2022 Marketer on the Rise is Allison Garrity, Senior Director, Farxiga Marketing, PCP and Endocrinology, AstraZeneca. According to Triple Threat Communications, which nominated Garrity for the award, "When Allison joined the Farxiga team, the established AstraZeneca brand already had a strong legacy in type 2 diabetes (T2D), but momentum had stalled, teams needed to be rebuilt, and – the biggest challenge of all – Farxiga had to revolutionize care again, this time with indications in heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Developing and executing against an ambitious new brand strategy, rebuilding a brand team, and reinvigorating more than 2,000 sales representatives is challenging enough; however, due to the pandemic, all this had to be accomplished in a fully virtual/remote environment. Spoiler alert: the new-indications launch was a huge success, with Farxiga outperforming all target goals and achieving impressive milestones in 2021."

The Med Ad News “MedAdvocate” jury gathered on March 17 for a roundtable discussion of finalist campaigns previously determined via online voting, which included selections from hundreds of eligible voters across the industry's healthcare communication agencies and networks. In order to take a deeper dive into the finalist campaigns, a panel of experts dubbed “MedAdvocates” were each assigned specific campaigns and tasked to initiate meaningful dialog amongst the jurors. MedAdvocates were selected based on their creative expertise and widely recognized performance within the industry. Ultimately, the team scored each finalist campaign using a point system that, combined with the popular vote conducted online, arrived at the eventual winners who were crowned on April 21. 

Med Ad News thanks Platinum sponsors Calcium, CDM, Centron, GSW, and TBWA\WorldHealth; and Gold sponsors: Biolumina, The Bloc, Concentric Health Experience, Fingerpaint, Intouch Group, and JUICE Pharma Worldwide.

2022 Manny Award Winners

Industry Person of the Year

Jay Carter, Executive VP, Director of Business Development, AbelsonTaylor

Agency of the Year – Category I

FCB Health New York, and IPG Health company

Agency of the Year – Category II

Concentric Health Experience

Agency of the Year – Category III

Brick City Greenhouse

Network of the Year

IPG Health

Agency on the Rise

PRECISIONeffect

Heart Award

Klick Health

Most Creative Agency

AREA 23, an IPG Health company

Most Admired Agency

AREA 23, an IPG Health company

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion

1798, a Fingerpaint company

Marketer on the Rise

Allison Garrity, Senior Director, Farxiga Marketing, PCP and Endocrinology, AstraZeneca (nominated by Triple Threat Communications)

Vision Award

CMI Media Group and Compas

Best Agency Campaign

Klick Health: #SpreadJoy

Best Consumer Print Campaign

FCB Health New York, an IPG Health company: Cequa "Battle Back"

Best Consumer TV/Radio Campaign

McCann Health New Jersey, an IPG Health company: "House Rules"

Best Consumer Web Campaign

McCann Health New Jersey, an IPG Health company: "House Rules"

Best Digital Patient Campaign

AREA 23, an IPG Health company: "Social Bullets"

Best Digital Physician Campaign

GSW, Powered by Syneos Health: "The Story in their Bones"

Best Experiential Campaign

AREA 23, an IPG Health company: "Social Bullets"

Best Launch Campaign

Concentric Health Experience: Wegovy

Best Managed Markets Campaign

AREA 23, an IPG Health company: "Best Practices"

Best Medical Device Campaign

AREA 23, an IPG Health company: "Sick Beats"

Best Nonbranded Campaign

FCB Health Europe, an IPG Health company: "Is Your Pain Relief Triggering Your Migraine?

Best Patient Engagement Campaign

AREA 23, an IPG Health company: "Sick Beats"

Best Philanthropic Patient Campaign

AREA 23, an IPG Health company: "Social Bullets"

Best Professional Print Campaign

CDM New York: "Easy to Find"

Best Professional Web Campaign

AbelsonTaylor: "C. diff, The Return"

Best Rare Disease Campaign

Intouch Group, an EVERSANA company: "Kindness Over MD"

Best Social Media Campaign

FCB Health New York, an IPG Health company: "Ms. Information"

About the Manny Awards
For 33 years, the Med Ad News Manny Awards have paid tribute to the creative work of agencies serving the healthcare market, their people, and their contributions to the industry. Each year at this gala awards ceremony, Med Ad News and agency professionals come together to celebrate creative excellence in pharmaceutical and medical device advertising and to acknowledge those making significant contributions to healthcare communications. On this special evening, hundreds of industry peers join Med Ad News in honoring winners in a range of award categories.

About Med Ad News
The pharmaceutical industry’s publication of record since 1982, Med Ad News provides broad coverage and incisive analysis of the issues, events, trends, and strategies shaping pharmaceutical business, marketing, and sales. More than 30,000 readers – comprising corporate executives, marketing, sales, and product managers – receive Med Ad News, which is a publication of Outcomes LLC. For more info, visit http://www.medadnews.com.

About Outcomes LLC
A marketing and media company built to quench the evolving consumption habits of B to B audiences, Outcomes supports the healthcare communications industry via industry leading brands Med Ad News, PharmaLive, leading events including the Manny Awards and content marketing services. For more info, visit www.outcomes-marketing.com.