Our 3rd straight year has us #2 overall on the exclusive Ad Age listing.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3931">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been named to the 2023 Ad Age Best Places to Work list, ranking 2 overall in the large agency category. 2023 marks the 3rd consecutive year, and 4th overall, that Heartbeat has been recognized as part of the prestigious Ad Age listing.The Ad Age Best Places to Work program is an annual ranking of companies that lead the pack in factors ranging from pay and benefits to corporate culture and leadership. The 50 winners include companies across advertising, marketing, and media that have excelled as the industry met with challenges of a weakening economy, changing media market, and a continued tight talent pool.Over the past decade, Heartbeat has taken root as one of the premier organizations for culture and employee experience. This latest honor marks the company’s 7th straight year with a workplace award from a major industry publication. In addition to previous Best Places to Work selections from Ad Age (2017, 2021, and 2022), Heartbeat is also a 3-time selectee to the MM+M Best Places to Work list (2018, 2019, and 2021).Diversity and inclusion (D&amp;I) are also key priorities that continue to be demonstrated and celebrated at Heartbeat. With a clear dedication to providing the richest and most rewarding work environment possible, Heartbeat prides itself on ensuring each employee feels a strong sense of belonging within the company. The agency’s commitment to innovative D&amp;I initiatives has also resulted in a Diversity &amp; Inclusion Champion award from Med Ad News in 2020, and most recently, a selection to the Best Companies Group 2022–2023 Inclusive Workplace list.“With so much change in our world, Heartbeat has placed steadfast focus on the things we most value: courage, compassion and diversity,” noted James Talerico, Heartbeat’s President and Executive Creative Director. “We are diligent about welcoming new folks into our community, cultivating relationships, and helping everyone feel connected to one another. I think people feel that and want to lean into it, no matter who they are or where they’re from.”The selection process for the Ad Age Best Place to Work list involves data collection from both employers and employees within the company. Employers are asked to submit a detailed report on their demographics, policies, practices, philosophies, and core values, while employees participate in a confidential survey that measures how their employer performs in the key areas they care most about. The Ad Age scoring system factors in employee responses on seven official satisfaction areas, including pay, benefits, culture, environment, perks, employee development, and employee engagement.While it remains rare for healthcare-focused agencies to be included on the Ad Age list, Heartbeat is no stranger to standing out. In 2022, the agency was 1 of only 6 in the 50-company grouping, and this year, Heartbeat stands as 1 of 4 in the 2023 class, joining fellow Publicis Health agencies Digitas Health and Razorfish Health as elite workplace organizations.More information about Heartbeat’s selection for the Ad Age Best Places to Work program and the full 2023 list can be found at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://adage.com/2023-best-places-to-work">https://adage.com/2023-best-places-to-work</a>.</article></div></div></section>

#2 on Ad Age's Best Places to Work

Dedication to DE&I has always been key here. Find out why.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3925">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been recognized as an “Inclusive Workplace” by Best Companies Group, a workplace culture and employee engagement expert, and COLOR Magazine, a leader in corporate inclusivity. Heartbeat is the only healthcare-focused advertising agency to be named to the distinguished company listing.Selection for the Inclusive Workplace listing is based on employee feedback gathered from a thorough and independent survey that gauges employee perceptions on workplace inclusion and belonging. Companies are evaluated based on their survey results, and only those that score high enough are eligible for the prestigious honor.“This recognition is solely based on Heartbeat employees’ direct and honest feedback. And their employees have spoken: Heartbeat is truly committed and excelling at creating a workplace environment that makes people feel included, like they belong, and as a truly important part of their organization,” said Jaime Raul Zepeda, Executive Vice President at Best Companies Group. “Heartbeat is ahead of its peers by putting people first. We are proud to celebrate their excellence!”The Inclusive Workplace recognition is the latest workplace award for Heartbeat, which continues to establish itself as one of the premier organizations for culture and employee experience. The company now boasts multiple selections to the Ad Age and MM+M Best Places to Work lists, as well as a Diversity &amp; Inclusion Champion award from Med Ad News.“Creating a place where people feel heard, seen, and like they belong—where they can be their true selves—is one of the most important things we can do as an organization,” said Michelle Edwards, Heartbeat’s Vice President of Human Resources &amp; Operations. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are woven into the very fabric of Heartbeat. It’s a part of our everyday decision-making, how we interact and collaborate with each other, and who we are as both individuals and a larger community.”The full Best Companies Group Inclusive Workplace list can be found at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bestcompaniesgroup.com/programs/inclusive-workplace-program/recognition-list/">https://bestcompaniesgroup.com/programs/inclusive-workplace-program/recognition-list/</a>.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game — they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a "me-too" product into "yes-please."The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients' market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs its organization around a "100% Integration" model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. It prices work based on outcomes, not outputs. Its innovative model delivers not only alignment but also powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That's the philosophy, here's the creds: nearly 300 employees between NYC &amp; LA; multiple agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the MANNYs, MM+M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity &amp; inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&amp;I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as follows, "We celebrate people who stand up and say, 'You know what? This is dumb.'" Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please email <a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a>.</article></div></div></section>

Inclusive Workplace List 2023

Heartbeat places #3 overall in our 2nd straight year on the exclusive Ad Age listing.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3707">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been named to the Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022 List, ranking third overall in the large agency category. It’s the second consecutive year, and third overall, that Heartbeat has been named to the prestigious Ad Age listing.Heartbeat has firmly established itself over the past decade as one of the premier organizations for culture and employee experience, as this latest honor marks the company’s sixth straight year with a workplace award from a major industry publication. In addition to previous Best Places to Work selections from Ad Age (2017, 2021), Heartbeat is also a three-time selection to the MM+M Best Places to Work List (2018, 2019, 2021), and was named a Diversity &amp; Inclusion Champion by Med Ad News in 2020.Ad Age‘s Best Places to Work awards program is an annual ranking of companies that lead the pack in factors ranging from pay and benefits to corporate culture and leadership. The winners are 50 stand-out companies in advertising, marketing, and media that have excelled over the past year as the ad business rebounded, the talent pool tightened, and the specter of COVID-19 remained omnipresent at work and at home.As part of the selection process, employers are asked to submit a detailed report on their demographics, policies, practices, philosophies, and core values, while employees participate in a confidential survey that measures how their employer performs in the key areas they care most about. Ad Age‘s scoring system factors in employee responses on seven official satisfaction areas, including pay, benefits, culture, environment, perks, employee development, and employee engagement.With Ad Age‘s list in its 13th year, it remains rare for healthcare-focused agencies to be included—a feat that Heartbeat has now accomplished multiple times, including in 2021 when it was one of only four healthcare marketing agencies to be named, and now in 2022 when it was one of six in the 50-company class.Widely known for its passionate devotion to company culture, Heartbeat has maintained its dedication to cultivating a uniquely rewarding workplace experience and has committed to establishing itself as the model for diversity, equality, and inclusion in advertising. The agency continues to boast some of the highest diversity, employee satisfaction, and retention rates in the industry—all factors contributing to its continued success in annual Best Place to Work competitions.“Every moment matters. It’s a simple mantra that informs all our cultural decisions and community programs. And when you talk to any Heartbeater, you’ll find it’s also contagious,” noted James Talerico, Heartbeat’s President and Executive Creative Director. “In every interaction, from first interview to fifth anniversary, we take care to recognize and celebrate the unique perspective and potential of each person in our community, and to ensure that professional and personal growth is at the core of the Heartbeat experience.”More information about Heartbeat’s selection to the Ad Age Best Places to Work program and the full 2022 list can be found at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://adage.com/article/best-places-work/2022-best-places-work-heartbeat/2392581">https://adage.com/article/best-places-work/2022-best-places-work-heartbeat/2392581</a>.</article></div></div></section>

Ad Age Best Place to Work 2022

For the 5th year in a row, we nab a sweet Best Place to Work honor.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3660">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been named to the 2021 MM+M Best Places to Work list. The exclusive MM+M listing honors agencies with exceptional cultures and communities that stand as models for the entire healthcare sector. Remarkably, this honor marks Heartbeat’s third MM+M list inclusion in four years since the program’s inception in 2018 and the agency’s fifth consecutive year with a Best Place to Work honor, including past selections to Ad Age Best Places to Work lists in 2017 and 2021.MM+M‘s annual competition was open to all US agencies, vendors, consultancies, and life science support firms focused on the healthcare space. The competition was based on an in-depth employee survey that must be completed by a portion of each company’s staff. A panel of judges and experts in healthcare marketing talent recruitment were convened to work with MM+M on selecting the final winners. A total of nine agencies were selected—highlighting the best small-, mid-, and large-size agencies in the industry.After previous selections in the mid-size category, this year Heartbeat was selected in the large agency category—a testament to the firm’s significant growth over the past few years, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Widely known for its passionate devotion to company culture, Heartbeat has maintained its dedication to cultivating a uniquely rewarding workplace experience and has committed to establishing itself as the model for diversity, equality, and inclusion in advertising. The agency continues to boast some of the highest diversity, employee satisfaction, and retention rates in the industry, all factors contributing to its continued success in annual Best Place to Work competitions.“Employees feel respected and appreciated at a company that recently doubled its health-and-wellness benefit for staffers and offers unlimited vacation days and a ‘Work From Wherever, Forever’ policy,” according to MM+M officials. “The company also wins big for advancement opportunities, investment in employee development and training and interest in employee well-being.”“No matter how much time a person spends in our community—two years or ten—we want that time to be invaluable and enjoyable. A time of career growth and relationship-building amongst a fellowship of people who truly see and hear one another, and who lift each other up to be better than they were when they started,” said Nadine Leonard, Heartbeat President and Executive Planning Director. “That’s why we’re dedicated to cultivating a rich, vibrant, respectful community with a focus on intentional, yet bespoke, career planning that sparks not only better work, but healthier, happier people.”More information about Heartbeat’s selection, as well as the full MM+M Best Places to Work 2021 list, can be found on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mmm-online.com/best-places-to-work/best-places-to-work-2021/">mmm-online</a>.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game — they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a "me-too" product into "yes-please."The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients' market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs its organization around a "100% Integration" model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. It prices work based on outcomes, not outputs. Its innovative model delivers not only alignment but also powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That's the philosophy, here's the creds: nearly 300 employees between NYC &amp; LA; multiple agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the MANNYs, MM+M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity &amp; inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&amp;I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as follows, "We celebrate people who stand up and say, 'You know what? This is dumb.'" Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please email <a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a>.</article></div></div></section>

MM+M Best Place to Work 2021

That's right, folks. Ad Age is celebrating little ol' us (and the hundreds of HB'ers behind our culture).

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3110">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been named to the 2021 Ad Age Best Places to Work list. 2021 marks the fourth consecutive year of being named a Best Place to Work by a premier industry publication.Ad Age‘s sought-after honor recognizes 50 companies in advertising, marketing and media that are quantifiably ahead of their peers in employee job satisfaction and other workplace-improving factors, such as benefits, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and career development programs.To be considered for inclusion on the list, employers took a survey reporting workplace demographics, characteristics, and values, while employees took a confidential survey that measured how their employer performed in the key areas they care most about. Ad Age‘s scoring system aggregated a collective workforce rating with a company’s scores in 6 key areas—benefits, company culture, company environment, perks, career development and engagement—to arrive at an overall score.Of Heartbeat’s selection, Ad Age noted, “The companies on this year’s list span agencies, ad tech, media and marketing. But no matter the company or its size, at the end of the day, you’re in the talent business. Inclusion on our list means Heartbeat is one of the best in the business at recruiting, retaining and cultivating talent. It’s a huge accomplishment.”It’s rare for healthcare-focused agencies to be included in Ad Age‘s Best Place to Work list. Well-known both within healthcare advertising and the larger ad world for its ongoing devotion to company culture, Heartbeat has maintained their commitment to cultivating a uniquely rewarding workplace experience, even as the agency moved to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Internal programs like affinity groups, the “Beat Basics” agency education program, a robust Employee Appreciation Week, well-defined career advancement tracks, professional development stipends, and generous anniversary rewards are a few of the many reasons the company boasts some of the highest employee satisfaction and retention rates in the industry—all factors that weighed into Heartbeat’s Best Places to Work list inclusion.Heartbeat’s industry-leading commitment to diversity and inclusion also helped secure their place on the list; while the agency had long led the pack in workforce diversity initiatives, they ramped up programming in 2020 to accelerate progress and better reflect their core values. The company released a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/2020/08/11/dismantling-racism-our-commitment/">commitment letter</a> outlining a long-term, measurable plan for a more inclusive workplace; held workshops addressing bias and trauma; hosted regular peer-led Brave Space meetings; reevaluated their hiring and promotion practices to ensure equity; and formed a diversity-focused, employee-led action committee devoted to keeping up collective momentum on D&amp;I learning and programs, among other projects. Heartbeat reported <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pharmalive.com/heartbeat-presses-onward-in-diversity-quest/">record-breaking diversity stats</a> in 2020, and many Heartbeaters say that they’ve <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBvidY6AcmN/">never worked anywhere as committed to inclusion</a> as Heartbeat. Correspondingly, the agency took home the Med Ad News Diversity and Inclusion Champion award in 2020.“When you’re leading an organization, this is the highest honor you can possibly receive—especially after a tumultuous year like 2020,” said Heartbeat President Nadine Leonard. “Heartbeat is a great agency because Heartbeaters are great people. Purposefully, diligently working to nurture an outstanding workplace culture has been critical for our ongoing growth and success.”Michelle Edwards, Heartbeat’s VP, Human Resources, and force behind the company’s employee programs and D&amp;I initiatives, said of the Ad Age honor: “Heartbeaters work incredibly hard, and, in turn, the HR and Operations team at Heartbeat works hard for them. We center love in everything we do, and we genuinely feel that every Heartbeater is a valued member of our community. Our people strategy celebrates each Heartbeater’s unique contributions and empowers every person to bring their most authentic self to work. Our work is rewarding in itself, but getting this kind of validation—which tells us, unequivocally, that what we’re doing is working well—is the icing on the cake. I hope we can inspire more of our peers to take a truly people-first approach, because we promise: they’ll reap the rewards. Oh, and by the way, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/heartbeat-ideas/jobs/">we’re hiring</a>!”More information about the Advertising Age Best Places to Work program and the full 2021 list can be found <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://adage.com/bestplaces2021">here</a>.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs their organization around a 100% integration model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. They price work based on outcomes, not outputs. Their innovative model delivers not only alignment, but powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: 250+ employees between NYC &amp; LA; 6 agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the Mannys, MM&amp;M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity and inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&amp;I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as follows, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.'” Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please email <a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a>.</article></div></div></section>

Ad Age Best Place to Work 2021

Our proudest moment ever: we've been recognized as the first-ever D&I Champion.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-2854">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been named by Med Ad News as the 2020 Diversity &amp; Inclusion Champion at this year’s prestigious MANNY Awards healthcare advertising competition. Building on its tradition of activism for industry-leading equality, Heartbeat has also released a commitment letter to reaffirm their dedication to an inclusive, anti-racist workplace.Sponsored by pharmaceutical business and marketing publication Med Ad News, the MANNY Awards recognizes the best in the healthcare communications industry. Winners were announced at a virtual ceremony on June 18th, 2020. The Diversity &amp; Inclusion Champion category looks for missions, strategies, and practices that support diverse work environments, and recognized Heartbeat as an agency that embraces diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business.“Heartbeat leaders have worked tirelessly on a years-long internal campaign to revolutionize the company culture and upend old-fashioned notions of how to promote diversity and inclusion within their community,” writes Med Ad News. “The result is a nurturing, supportive, and inspiring work environment that is truly inclusive of all races, gender identities, ages, religions, and sexual orientations. This dedication to culture and community has led to three straight ‘Best Place to Work’ honors for Heartbeat, employee satisfaction numbers that are difficult to comprehend, and diversity statistics that are shattering the ad industry’s D&amp;I benchmarks.”Affirming their commitment to this “truly inclusive” work environment, Heartbeat has also released a detailed commitment letter, publicly taking a stand against racism in the workplace. The letter reveals current diversity statistics, cites future racial justice goals, and outlines plans for continuing to make their organization more racially equitable.“We’re immensely proud of the work we’ve done, but we know we have further to go when it comes to creating a safe, diverse and just workplace for all Heartbeaters,” says Michelle Edwards, Heartbeat’s VP, Human Resources. “Our agency has always staked its reputation on challenging outdated norms, so strengthening our commitment to anti-racist practices is a natural and necessary extension of our core beliefs. We’re listening, learning, and becoming better allies in this fight, and we hope the wider advertising industry will join us.”Heartbeat’s diversity dedication is the subject of a recent <a style="color:#c8333a;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pharmalive.com/a-qa-about-diversity-with-heartbeat/">interview with Med Ad News</a>.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs their organization around a 100% integration model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. They price work based on outcomes, not outputs. Their innovative model delivers not only alignment, but powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: 250+ employees between NYC &amp; LA; 6 agency leaders decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the Mannys, MM&amp;M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity &amp; inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&amp;I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as follows, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.'” Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please email <a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a>.</article></div></div></section>

MedAdNews Diversity & Inclusion Champs

It's a repeat! We follow up last year's BPTW win with another one. Keep 'em coming.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-2474">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been named to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mmm-online.com/best-places-to-work/best-places-to-work-2019/">2019 MM&amp;M Magazine Best Places to Work list</a>. The prestigious MM&amp;M listing honors agencies whose exceptional cultures and communities stand as models for the entire healthcare sector. It is Heartbeat’s second consecutive year on the MM&amp;M list and the third consecutive year overall with a workplace award—the agency was honored in 2017 with inclusion in Ad Age‘s Best Places to Work list and again in MM&amp;M‘s inaugural Best Places to Work 2018 list.Eligibility for the MM&amp;M program was open to all U.S. agencies, vendors, and consultancies focused on the healthcare space. The competition included an initial eligibility questionnaire, followed by a survey to be completed by a portion of the company’s staff. A panel of external judges and experts in healthcare marketing talent recruitment were convened to work with MM&amp;M staff on selecting the final winners. A total of twelve companies were selected—four winners in each of three size-based categories: small, medium, and large agency/vendor.Heartbeat was once again a selection in the mid-size agency category and was the subject of a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mmm-online.com/best-places-to-work/a-day-in-the-life-of-2019-best-places-to-work-winner-heartbeat/">feature story in the MM&amp;M December Issue</a>. Widely known for a passionate devotion to company culture, Heartbeat has maintained a steadfast commitment to cultivating a unique employee experience. Also dedicated to leading the charge for diversity and gender equality in advertising, the agency boasts some of the highest diversity, employee satisfaction and retention rates in the industry—all factors that have weighed into the company’s now three straight Best Places to Work list inclusions.According to MM&amp;M officials, “Companies that made the cut for the Best Places to Work list scored high on fostering collaboration, inspiring creativity, having offices that are flexible and spacious, and providing access to the best technology.” MM&amp;M Senior Editor Larry Dobrow also noted, “Given the intense degree of competition for A-list talent, agencies need to continue to invest in all aspects of their culture. The ones honored in our Best Places to Work program are the ones who have taken the extra step to bolster the professional and personal lives of their employees — and are enjoying the benefits in terms of recruitment and retention.”“Good things happen when we invest in one another. Whether that investment is in mentorship programs, in consistent creative critique, or in the celebration of our diverse community… it shows that we believe in each person’s potential,” said James Talerico, Heartbeat President &amp; Executive Creative Director, of the company’s newest Best Place to Work honor. “We’re proud of the culture we’ve grown at Heartbeat, and we’re grateful to MM&amp;M for recognizing it. But we’re far more proud of the people who make our culture what it is, and who’ve realized their potential because of it.”The full MM&amp;M Best Places to Work 2019 list can be found on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mmm-online.com/best-places-to-work/best-places-to-work-2019/">mmm-online</a>.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring a client’s market position is uniquely owned. They house strategy, creative, media, and technology under a single roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. And Heartbeat looks to understand and extract maximum value from every dollar spent, constantly—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: 200+ employees between NYC &amp; LA; 6 agency leaders with a decade+ of Heartbeat tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the Mannys, MM&amp;M, OMMA, and Clio, not to mention an Agency of the Year nom to boot; and a President who dared to be quoted as follows, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.'” Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please contact Jared Watson at <a href="mailto:jared.watson@weareheartbeat.com">jared.watson@weareheartbeat.com</a> or (646) 701-6240.</article></div></div></section>

MM+M Best Place to Work 2019

We've brought our BPTW parade over to MM+M, scoring a spot on their premiere roster.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-1931">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has been named to the first-ever MM&amp;M Magazine Best Places to Work list. The new MM&amp;M listing honors agencies and biopharma companies whose exceptional cultures and communities stand as models for the entire healthcare sector.Eligibility was open to all U.S. agencies and vendors focused on the healthcare space, as well as drug and medical device manufacturers with U.S. offices. The competition included an initial eligibility questionnaire, followed by a survey to be completed by a portion of the company’s staff. MM&amp;M then tallied scores to develop a shortlist before convening a panel of MM&amp;M staff and external judges—experts in talent recruitment within the healthcare marketing sector—to pick the final winners. Three to four Best Places to Work winners were selected in each of four categories: small, medium, &amp; large agency/vendor, plus the best client-side workplace.Heartbeat was a top-3 selection in the mid-size agency/vendor category and received a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="feature story in the MM&amp;M December Issue (opens in a new tab)" target="_blank"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mmm-online.com/best-places-to-work/2018/">feature story in the MM&amp;M December Issue</a></a>. Widely known for a passionate devotion to company culture, Heartbeat has maintained a steadfast commitment to cultivating a unique employee experience. It is one of the many reasons the company boasts some of the highest employee satisfaction and retention rates in the industry — factors that weighed into the company’s inclusion on the Best Places to Work list. This is Heartbeat’s second such honor, having also been selected to the Ad Age Best Places to Work list in 2017.On Heartbeat’s selection, MM&amp;M officials noted, “While a lot of organizations may say they appreciate their employees, it would seem Heartbeat has put its money where its mouth is. From fun in-office competitions with incredible prizes, to gifts for employee anniversaries, and even an annual employee appreciation week featuring massages, breakfasts, desserts, wine tastings, and cocktail making classes, it’s not hard to see why ‘morale is incredibly high’ and turnover rate incredibly low in this network-owned agency.”“In agency life, culture drives success. The alchemy of character &amp; quirk, iconoclasm &amp; eclecticism, is what brings creative minds together and breaks new ground” said James Talerico, Heartbeat Managing Director/Executive Creative Director. “We could not be prouder to receive this recognition from MM&amp;M, as we continue to balance long hours with short days, and hard work with easy laughter.”Michelle Edwards, Heartbeat’s Director of Operations &amp; Human Resources and the driving force behind the company’s numerous employee programs, said of the MM&amp;M honor, “We can point to the laundry list of employee programs, perks, and benefits, but the real reason Heartbeat is such an incredible place to work is the people. We’re so fortunate to have some of the most talented, hard-working, and passionate folks in the business, and a senior leadership team that supports and cares for every Heartbeater as if they were family.”The full MM&amp;M Best Places to Work list can be found on <a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="mmm-online (opens in a new tab)"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mmm-online.com/best-places-to-work/2018/">mmm-online</a></a>.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring a client’s market position is uniquely owned. They house strategy, creative, media, and technology under a single roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. And Heartbeat looks to understand and extract maximum value from every dollar spent, constantly—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That’s the philosophy, here are the creds: 200 employees between NYC &amp; LA; 6 agency leaders with a decade+ of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the Mannys, MM&amp;M, OMMA, and Clio, not to mention an Agency of the Year nom to boot; and led by a Managing Director who dared to be quoted as follows: “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.'” Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please contact Jared Watson at <a href="mailto:jared.watson@weareheartbeat.com">jared.watson@weareheartbeat.com</a> or (646) 701-6240.</article></div></div></section>

MM+M Best Place to Work 2018

Find out what makes our agency rock in MM+M's annual agency issue.

MM+M Agency 100 2023

Leadership talks the year that was and where our community is heading.

Med Ad News Agency Issue 2023

HR queen Michelle Edwards talks to MedAdNews about our commitment.

Interview: How Heartbeat Does DE&I

In Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month

A nonstop, jam-packed week of showing HB'ers that we love them.

Word on the street? We just celebrated LoveBeat week. This isn't just your typical employee appreciation week, it's a time-honored tradition. For five whole days, we shower HB'ers with love and rewards for their year round contributions.&nbsp;It's a time to celebrate and come together, and here at Heartbeat, we know how to party.For our 2024 theme, we leaned into our core values of:Ambition...with Love Prop shoutouts, a catered breakfast, and prize scratch offs!<img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/IMG_6885_Large_a6eb5e5737.jpeg" alt="IMG_6885 Large.jpeg" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_IMG_6885_Large_a6eb5e5737.jpeg 245w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_IMG_6885_Large_a6eb5e5737.jpeg 500w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_IMG_6885_Large_a6eb5e5737.jpeg 750w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_IMG_6885_Large_a6eb5e5737.jpeg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="1000px">Invention...with a series of classes including cocktail making with James, cookie decorating with Karly, Gift-wrapping with Michelle, and Cyanotypes with Emma<img class="image_resized" style="width:43.12%;" src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/IMG_6917_Large_de891a4cbb.jpeg" alt="IMG_6917 Large.jpeg" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_IMG_6917_Large_de891a4cbb.jpeg 102w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_IMG_6917_Large_de891a4cbb.jpeg 329w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_IMG_6917_Large_de891a4cbb.jpeg 493w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_IMG_6917_Large_de891a4cbb.jpeg 657w," sizes="100vw" width="657px">&nbsp;Insight...with a themed wellness Wednesday spa!<img class="image_resized" style="width:39.98%;" src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/IMG_6959_Large_4a8b0a2ee8.jpeg" alt="IMG_6959 Large.jpeg" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_IMG_6959_Large_4a8b0a2ee8.jpeg 88w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_IMG_6959_Large_4a8b0a2ee8.jpeg 281w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_IMG_6959_Large_4a8b0a2ee8.jpeg 422w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_IMG_6959_Large_4a8b0a2ee8.jpeg 563w," sizes="100vw" width="563px">Courage...with a companywide karaoke night and catered lunch<img class="image_resized" style="width:39.64%;" src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/IMG_7051_f84f79655c.jpg" alt="IMG_7051.jpg" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_IMG_7051_f84f79655c.jpg 88w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_IMG_7051_f84f79655c.jpg 281w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_IMG_7051_f84f79655c.jpg 422w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_IMG_7051_f84f79655c.jpg 563w," sizes="100vw" width="563px">+Impact...with more lunch, grab bags, and an early day off!<img class="image_resized" style="width:78.29%;" src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Image_6_b89928c878.jpeg" alt="Image (6).jpeg" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_Image_6_b89928c878.jpeg 208w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_Image_6_b89928c878.jpeg 500w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_Image_6_b89928c878.jpeg 750w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_Image_6_b89928c878.jpeg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="1000px"><o:p></o:p>Around here, appreciation means more than just a pizza party. And clearly, we know how to have a good time.<o:p></o:p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DBwVaqTp1dE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">See more highlights here!</a>

LoveBeat 2024

We're honoring two incredible Heartbeaters.

Of all time-honored Heartbeat traditions, our annual holiday party is still one of the most important. More than just festive fête (and we know how to party), it’s a moment for us to pause, gather, and honor our very own. The changemakers. The culture builders. The truly outstanding Challengers. This year, we’re proud to recognize Shawn Klein (Creative) and Alexa Ciccarelli (Resource Management) for their invaluable contributions and helping to make 2024 a major success.Shawn was chosen as our recipient for the Frank Episale Culture Catalyst Award thanks to his tireless and unwavering commitment to building culture. Much like the award’s namesake, Shawn embodies what it means to care deeply about community. Shawn was motivated to bring HB’ers closer together by turning our headquarters into an engaging and warm space to be in. We mean this quite literally. Shawn took previously white walls and blank spaces and brought them to life with the Heartbeat spirit through large-scale wall coverings, transforming our area on 375 Hudson, Fl. 2 into the brightest corner on the floor.Rolling up his sleeves, Shawn also jumped in as unofficial event planner, working on both LoveBeat and UpBeat (our employee culture initiatives), acting as second-in-command to our planning committee. Both programs were a smashing success thanks to his keen eye for creating a welcoming vibe. We salute you, Shawn!As Challenger of the Year, Alexa knows a thing or two about getting creative when the going gets tough. In fact, she has continuously embodied and demonstrated all five of our core values this year (Ambition, Invention, Insight, Courage, and +Impact). After a series of major client wins, we needed to grow quickly. Alexa dove right in to shape a new talent acquisition playbook and turned our hiring season into a triumph. With her unmatched ability to see the bigger picture, Alexa connects dots others miss, catches balls others drop, and ensures immediate business and talent needs are met while keeping her eye on the future. Her teammates can vouch: “Seriously, every single call Alexa’s on, I’ll see her brain churning and then she’ll say, ‘I just want to flag...’—and what follows is always something thought-provoking that makes everyone pause and consider.” &nbsp;That lift is felt in every corner of our agency as it ripples down into client success, team success, and strengthening of our agency overall. Now that’s what we call a real-life Superwoman. &nbsp;Congratulations again to both! You make us proud.&nbsp;

The Most Wonderful Time of Our Year

Soar the Content Marketing skies with luggage & travel company Away.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-4089">What do vacations and brand marketing have in common? Well, they both benefit from careful planning. But when either goes awry, you better be ready to get creative.For luggage brand <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.awaytravel.com/">Away</a>, you might think that content was always part of their marketing strategy. But it was actually quite the roundabout journey for founders Jen Rubio and Steph Korey.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.awaytravel.com/"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Away_Luggage2_91607c87a7.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a> Image Credit: AwayRubio and Korey wanted to create a direct-to-consumer business that delivered well-built, chic suitcases at an accessible price point. While their goal was to launch their luggage by the 2015 holiday season, unexpected production snags pushed back their deadline. But instead of losing momentum waiting for the luggage to be ready, these crafty co-founders decided to adapt to the situation by amending their marketing strategy.While production ramped up, Rubio and Korey interviewed 40 influencers about their favorite places in the world and published those interviews in an elegant book called “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/938GMSHfIo/?hl=en">The Places We Return To</a>.” And rather than cutting the participants a check, each influencer received a gift card to purchase an Away suitcase once available, securing future commentary on the brand. They also sold the completed book with a similar gift card, redeemable for a suitcase in February 2016, essentially generating preorders with a complementary book just in time for the holiday season. The results? The book went viral on Instagram, sold out, and established Away as a trusted source for travel tips. The company would go on to hit <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/201707/burt-helm/how-i-did-it-steph-korey-jen-rubio-away.html">$12 million</a> in revenue in its first year of business.<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" style="background-color:white;border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0px;width:calc(100% - 2px);" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/938GMSHfIo/embed/" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="750" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Despite the fact that manufacturing is no longer an issue, Away continues to lead with content marketing. Unlike traditional luggage brands, Away doesn’t just sell suitcases; it sells a lifestyle and a sense of adventure. The co-founders soon transitioned from the original book to their travel magazine called “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.heremagazine.com/">Here</a>,” which highlights must-see destinations and influencer-curated guides to live like a local in their city.<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" style="background-color:white;border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0px;width:calc(100% - 2px);" id="instagram-embed-1" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpUsjq_juZr/embed/" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="835" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Away’s savvy use of social media has been instrumental in building a passionate and engaged community of travel enthusiasts. Unlike many brands that primarily focus on branded content, Away places user-generated content (UGC) at the heart of its organic strategy. By encouraging their audience to share their travel experiences using the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/travelaway/?hl=en">#travelaway</a> hashtag, Away has fostered a sense of community and belonging among its customers, turning them into brand advocates. Their <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/away/?hl=en">Instagram feed</a> is a visual feast of carefully curated UGC, featuring their suitcases in exotic and alluring destinations around the world. Instead of overtly showcasing their products, Away emphasizes the aspirational context of travel, creating a recognizable aesthetic.<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" style="background-color:white;border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0px;width:calc(100% - 2px);" id="instagram-embed-2" src="https://www.instagram.com/away/embed/" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="565" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no"></iframe>In addition to their successful use of UGC, Away still leverages influencer partnerships to further enhance the brand’s reach and engagement. Collaborating with influencers, including mid-tier and micro-influencers, has allowed them to tap into not only travel, but other verticals including fashion and design. These influencers create content that resonates with their specific audiences while aligning with Away’s brand values and storytelling strategy.<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@away/video/7124016622997703979" data-video-id="7124016622997703979"><section><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@away?refer=embed" title="@away">@away</a> If @Monét X Change doesn’t win All Stars 7…. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/travelaway?refer=embed" title="travelaway">#travelaway</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foryou?refer=embed" title="foryou">#foryou</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp?refer=embed" title="fyp">#fyp</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Canyons-6681198633301314311?refer=embed" title="♬ Canyons - Official Sound Studio">♬ Canyons – Official Sound Studio</a></section></blockquote>&nbsp;<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@katshortsleevetravel/video/7276940183533030699" data-video-id="7276940183533030699"><section><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@katshortsleevetravel?refer=embed" title="@katshortsleevetravel">@katshortsleevetravel</a> Is it weird that i take the @away carry on on the plane and then check the other away carry on? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/away?refer=embed" title="away">#away</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/luggage?refer=embed" title="luggage">#luggage</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/carryon?refer=embed" title="carryon">#carryon</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Original-Sound-6534689368056009743?refer=embed" title="♬ Original Sound - Unknown">♬ Original Sound – Unknown</a></section></blockquote>During their first few years of business, Away suitcases were only available online. But after perfecting a way to mirror their online strategy in person, the company branched into brick and mortar locations as well. Instead of a sole focus of driving sales, the stores prioritize immersive brand experiences. These experiential spaces are meant to transport customers into the world of travel and evoke a sense of adventure.For instance, Away’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/taylorboozan/2018/07/26/away-opens-shoppable-airport-inspired-experience-terminal-a/?sh=525ec0415a2c">“Terminal A” pop-up in Lower Manhattan</a> recreated the airport experience, allowing visitors to engage with the brand by filling out an Away boarding pass, complete with a 25% Lyft discount for their next journey. And while the space offered the option to shop Away’s latest collection, the primary purpose was to create an unforgettable experience, strengthening brand loyalty and connecting more deeply with customers.<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" style="background-color:white;border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0px;width:calc(100% - 2px);" id="instagram-embed-3" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/BltfoSsFWGp/embed/" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="750" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no"></iframe>So, what can we learn from Away that we can leverage for our healthcare brands?<ol><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Experiential Brand Positioning: By focusing on the traveler’s experience, Away made luggage an integral part of the overall journey. Similarly, healthcare brands should aspire to connect with their target audience based on the patient experience, creating a strong brand connection beyond the product itself.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Content-Centric Approach: Away invests heavily in content marketing. This content-driven strategy engages their audience and establishes them as a trusted source of information — much of it brand-adjacent rather than brand-centric. It’s a stark differentiation from traditional luggage sellers. Healthcare brands can do the same by supporting patients and HCPs with an authentic approach to generating original and unique content.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Influencer and User-Generated Content: Away leverages the power of influencers like travel bloggers and Instagrammers to showcase their products in real travel scenarios. Similarly, pharma brands can partner with patient and HCP influencers who believe in the product and can authentically share their experience in a way that activates others to consideration and trial.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Creating Engaging Experiences: Away’s physical stores are not just sales outlets. They are experiential spaces hosting unique in-store experiences to increase foot traffic and create buzz around the brand, further strengthening their omnichannel approach. Similarly, healthcare brands can leverage out-of-home experiences or conferences to strengthen relationships, engage customers, and support patient needs.</li></ol>By focusing on the traveler’s experience, Away sells the excitement of an adventure, rather than just a plain old suitcase. And it’s because of this strategy that even when their product was non-existent, Away was still able to drum up an overwhelming amount of buzz for the brand. So, while their luggage might be light weight, their heavy-hitting marketing tactics provide valuable insights for marketers looking to establish a connection beyond the brand itself.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters’ homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

Travel-Sized Content Marketing

We know how viruses spread, but do viral ideas really spread the same way?

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-4045">We know how viruses spread. But is that truly the same way that ideas go “viral”?It’s a satisfying narrative to believe:<ul><li>Person A has a belief about a product, a band, a social movement ➡️</li><li>Person A exposes Persons B, C, and D to that idea ➡️</li><li>B, C, and D now possess that idea ➡️</li><li>B, C, and D each share the idea with Persons E through Z ➡️</li><li>Virality unlocked</li></ul>But — it’s not that simple. What we really have to think about are two things: the kinds of ideas that are being spread and the kinds of networks they’re spreading in.Sure, for some types of ideas — i.e. “simple contagions” — the virus analogy might work. Think of things like listening to a new song, sharing a meme, or maybe joining in on a new TikTok trend. Those are beliefs and actions that usually take relatively little effort, especially the ones that are already a little bit familiar to us. Take the “ice bucket” challenge for instance. With only a bucket of ice water and a willingness to get wet, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.als.org/IBC">over 17 million people</a> displayed their support of raising money and awareness for ALS.<div class="videoContainer" style="margin-bottom:50px;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lc5oYP6853o?start=3&amp;end=43" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" width="725" height="407" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>Damon Centola, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-snowball-effect/">says</a> that simple contagions such as this are “things that make sense to us intuitively. And so when we see a new one, it’s not a lot of work, emotionally or cognitively or any other way, to just adopt it and pass it on. It just seems normal.” The passing of the idea is like a firework — it happens once, quickly, but that’s enough to make it spread. A lot like transmitting a contagious virus.In the case of the “ice bucket” challenge, people of all ages, political parties, and celebrity statuses were quick to jump on board to support an indisputably good cause. The viral videos fired off like the grand finale of a 4th of July show. And while that’s all well and good, what happens when the idea is something more substantial, like social justice or changing beliefs about health behaviors?Centola describes these ideas as “complex contagions” — which spread more like a fishing net. When we are presented with an idea that is unfamiliar or might make us uncomfortable at first, seeing one person advocating for it isn’t enough to convince us that we should do it too.We require a fishing net of connection points, redundancies, and repetition. For a complex contagion, we need to be convinced.Centola cites a study of a Human Rights Campaign Facebook initiative from 2013 as a perfect example. The campaign involved changing your profile pic to a pink and red equals sign to show solidarity. And while it seemed like everyone was rushing to do it, researchers found that before someone joined in, they needed to see multiple different people from their network do it first, providing “social proof” that it was an acceptable behavior.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fordhamobserver.com/15232/recent/news/students-support-same-sex-marriage-on-social-networks/#"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/45_Human_Rights_Campaign_768x380_f060d6b47d.png" alt="45_HumanRightsCampaign-768x380.png" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_45_Human_Rights_Campaign_768x380_f060d6b47d.png 245w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_45_Human_Rights_Campaign_768x380_f060d6b47d.png 500w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_45_Human_Rights_Campaign_768x380_f060d6b47d.png 750w," sizes="100vw" width="750px">&nbsp;</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Human Rights Campaign’s Facebook page, including the red equals sign and a collage of its variations. (Human Rights Campaign/Facebook). Image Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fordhamobserver.com/15232/recent/news/students-support-same-sex-marriage-on-social-networks/#">The Observer</a>.A more recent example you might remember is <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulmonckton/2020/06/02/blackout-tuesday-instagram-black-squares-blackouttuesday-theshowmustbepaused/">#BlackoutTuesday</a>, where millions of Instagram users posted black squares in solidarity with the music industry blackout and overall support of an even bigger complex contagion—the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html">Black Lives Matter Movement</a>. The rise of support for BLM included several years’ worth of significant tipping points, social coordination, and a growing number of touch points among social networks.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/arts/music/what-blackout-tuesday.html"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/blackouttuesday_768x552_d8853e8a4e.png" alt="blackouttuesday-768x552.png" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_blackouttuesday_768x552_d8853e8a4e.png 217w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_blackouttuesday_768x552_d8853e8a4e.png 500w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_blackouttuesday_768x552_d8853e8a4e.png 750w," sizes="100vw" width="750px"></a> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Music stars posted black squares on their Instagram accounts as part of #blackouttuesday. Image Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/arts/music/what-blackout-tuesday.html">The New York Times</a>.To increase its reach and showcase the recurring patterns of injustice, activist groups created a fishing net by engaging directly with mainstream media, other social groups, and formerly unconcerned citizens. In building these bridges and strengthening ties, the media coverage and national conversation transformed into identifying police violence and citing repeated tragedies as the core message of the Black Lives Matter Movement.In solidifying his theory of simple and complex contagions, Centola performed his own <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://ndg.asc.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Centola-2011-Science.pdf">study</a> surrounding the adoption of health technology. He created two groups to spread the offer to sign up for an online health community: one was a “firework” group and one was a “fishing net” group. At the end of the study, he discovered that while information in the fishing net group spread much more slowly, it was considerably more effective in getting people signed up to participate in the program.So what do we do with this information? Since we’re in the business of driving behavior change, these concepts help us better understand what we’re asking our customers to do. The next time you need a customer to change their beliefs, or sign up for a program, or talk to a doctor differently, or advocate for a new treatment approach, ask yourself:<ol style="color:#d12736;"><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">What are the social costs of the idea that we are trying to spread? Is it a simple contagion that will feel relatively low risk, or is it a more complex contagion that someone needs to feel safe in order to engage with it?</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">If it’s a more complex idea, how can we give it social proof for our customers? How do we validate the idea and show that other people like them, with similar concerns, are also in support of this idea?</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">What kind of network do we need in order for our ideas to spread successfully? Will a firework of loose ties suffice, or does it need to be a fishing net with relatively strong and redundant social ties?</li></ol>Viral ideas are perhaps the ultimate way to move audiences toward a particular action. By understanding the unique elements of simple and complex contagions, we’re able to plan the perfect spark, provide the right touch points, and ultimately cultivate the ideal environment for our catchy concepts to thrive. That means even marketers focused on health and wellness shouldn’t be afraid to spread some contagion when the occasion calls for it.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters’ homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

Warning! Contagious Ideas Spreading

Cheers! to a brand that brewed its own success by embracing the unconventional.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3943">There’s no shortage of beer advertisements in this world.The Most Interesting Man in the World. The quest to find your beach. Mountain views with a can as cold as the Rockies. Clydesdales during the Super Bowl. The list is endless, and the ad spend is enormous. It seems the only way to watch TV without the interruption of big brands urging you to crack open a cold one is to avoid TV entirely.You could probably recall a multimillion-dollar campaign for every beer your local dive bar has on draft. Well, almost every beer. Because when was the last time you saw an ad for Pabst Blue Ribbon? Probably never. While most light beer brands are funneling cash to television networks in a fight to reach your screen, PBR doesn’t really pour their marketing dollars into that particular glass.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pabstblueribbon.com/"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/bg_pbr3_1ff1d705c7.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>Image Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pabstblueribbon.com/">Pabst Blue Ribbon Website</a>The brand — whose taste has been affectionately <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/447/1331/?ba=SeabN">described</a> as “soaking Wonder Bread in carbonated water” — has an unconventional trajectory. Founded in 1844, its sales peaked in 1977, only to slide sharply throughout the ’80s and ’90s. In our lifetimes, the company has been a hot potato; it was bought and sold and then bought and sold again. By 2001, PBR’s sales had <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/magazine/the-marketing-of-no-marketing.html">plummeted</a> 90% since the mid '70s. The brand was looking... umm, skunked.But then some PBR sales reps noticed that in the Pacific Northwest, a curious crowd of folks had cozied up to the brand: bike messengers.There are various theories for the cultural forces at work here, but this (stereotypically) pierced, tatted, and nonconforming audience seemed to have been drawn by the fact that PBR doesn’t do advertising. Sales reps tell stories of going into dive bars in Portland incognito — no Pabst polos, no company logos — and then getting swamped for PBR swag once word got out that they were there. PBR, like the bike messenger, was a “retro-chic” underdog. It lived on the fringes.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Bud light: we’ve signed post malone!&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pbr: we can afford this single banana <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t.co/uSkxF76N3U">pic.twitter.com/uSkxF76N3U</a>— Pabst Blue Ribbon (@PabstBlueRibbon) <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/PabstBlueRibbon/status/1440502658108825600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2021</a></blockquote>At this point, a more foolish brand might recognize the regional trend and then plaster their target geography with billboards. But not Pabst. After all, the lack of flashy promotion is how they carved out their niche group of consumers in the first place. They played it cool. They sat back and let the opportunities come to them, rather than the other way around.PBR sponsored events like the “bike polo” tournament in Portland, possibly without attendees even knowing. They were happy to contribute prize money without any formal recognition or glossy banners. Instead of concerning themselves with national ad campaigns, they embraced the local events happening within alternative communities. They showed up supporting skateboard movie screenings, scooter rallies, kickball and dodgeball tournaments, art galleries, and independent publishers. But at each of these events they kept their presence minimal and understated. Because trying too hard would defeat the purpose entirely and tarnish their laid-back nonconformist persona.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.imaginecircus.com/pbr-art-live-painting-triangle-tour/"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/PBR_Art2_2fcc32a22c.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a> Images from: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.imaginecircus.com/pbr-art-live-painting-triangle-tour/">PBR Art Live Painting Triangle Tour</a> by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.imaginecircus.com/">Imagine Circus</a>And so, their decidedly glass-half-empty sales trajectory got a refill. Their numbers turned around into positive territory after the early 2000s slump, and sales soared in certain markets. During the recession of the aughts, PBR’s sales <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://money.cnn.com/2009/12/10/news/companies/pbr_pabst_blue_ribbon.fortune/index.htm">increased</a> about 30X greater than the category average. By 2013, their sales had <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/lifestyle/food/2022/05/05/pabst-blue-ribbon-ranks-among-top-20-beers-us-sales-2021/7332638001/">increased</a> by 200% from a decade earlier. And today, PBR is still cruising as one of the top-selling beer brands in the country.Since their underground days, PBR's visibility has grown, but they’ve stayed true to their antimarketing marketing strategy. They continue to eschew traditional advertising in favor of PR-friendly activities that court their most fervent brand evangelists. They launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pbrinhomeadvertising.com/">PBRInHomeAdvertising.com</a>, through which they sent people free PBR-branded home goods and actually paid them for advertising "in home." In describing this unorthodox campaign, the company <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://outsider.com/lifestyle/pabst-blue-ribbon-wants-pay-you-have-beer-themed-home/">claimed</a> "Pabst Blue Ribbon's ads need a home and they'd rather pay you than a media fat cat." So, while some folks might sport their favorite beer on a t-shirt, PBR fans could rep Pabst anywhere from their toilet seat to their cutting boards (and even make some extra beer money while doing it).<iframe width="720" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GgplzLr0MLA?si=FCIpipZIeuoxbQ-0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>In 2019, they launched a 99-pack; 2 years later, they launched a 1,776-pack on the Fourth of July. This year, they expanded to an 1,844-pack to commemorate the company’s founding year. So, as you might have guessed, their targeting has broadened. PBR is now speaking to a wider audience than just bike messengers — but their dissenting antiestablishment, antiadvertising mentality has remained consistent.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">finally a pack for you and 1843 of your friends <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/1844Pack?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#1844Pack</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t.co/70B6oIvEMx">pic.twitter.com/70B6oIvEMx</a>— Pabst Blue Ribbon (@PabstBlueRibbon) <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/PabstBlueRibbon/status/1542508767350104068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2022</a></blockquote>There are a few reasons we find this Challenger story compelling:1. Beer. ‘Nuff said.2. PBR lets enthusiastic customers form the identity of the brand. Pabst was not looking for bike messengers in 2001, and certainly not actively courting them to be spokespersons. But the brand was smart enough to see the opportunity in front of them. PBR realized what was so special about this development: they didn’t need to spend millions on ads to convince people to drink PBR. They had brand evangelists who were willing to do the work for them. So PBR then met the audience on their terms and allowed that audience to be the true voice of the brand.3. PBR zigs when other beer brands zag. The beer industry likely spends over half a billion dollars per year in TV advertising. PBR’s share of that? Zero. In the last 20 years, Pabst has avoided the urge to jump on the TV (and other traditional forms of advertising) bandwagon.4. PBR has stayed focused in their marketing strategy. As zany as their promotions are, PBR is pretty disciplined. There’s a clear strategic throughline across all of their activities — one that prioritizes authenticity, is in on the joke, and realizes that marketing and advertising are not the same thing. It’s the reason why they’ve rejected several major deal offerings, including celebrity endorsements and major sporting-event sponsorships.5. PBR's marketing is just plain fun! While certainly trickier for healthcare brands, PBR's marketing plan affords it the opportunity to not take itself too seriously, and the more fun they had in their advertising, the more their fans wanted in on the joke with them.By taking a step back and discovering an important insight about a new customer base, PBR was emboldened to eschew the traditional forms of advertising and embrace the unconventional. Healthcare brands who are thirsty for a marketing buzz can take a healthy swig of this cheap beer Challenger recipe: Knowing and staying true to your brand’s identity while forging authentic relationships with your audience may do more for your bottom line than even the biggest marketing budgets.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters’ homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

The Cheap Beer Challenger Brand

Marketing parades seem to be one of our many familiar Thanksgiving traditions.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3910">Thanksgiving is filled with familiar traditions. Large family gatherings, the turkey with stuffing and all the delicious fixings, maybe even some football in the yard, but few things have made as indelible a mark on the holiday’s heritage as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For many, plopping down in front of the TV to watch the 3-hour march through NYC has become synonymous with Thanksgiving itself. And amazingly enough — as if the name didn’t make it obvious — the entire enterprise began as a massive marketing event!<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56504643@N02/5220579189/in/photolist-q58jar-qmyxtk-q59cUX-q511nA-qjhgF3-q59pNB-q59HMx-ppNMdz-ppzbQU-qmybFP-qjhkq7-qmvcr9-qmotee-qjhidb-ppz69y-q51uNL-q59fKg-qmvecJ-qmyjUT-qmuYtA-qmycAV-qmod6Z-ppzd3y-qmybU4-q59F1F-8XjQj2-q4ZXsY-qmo5F8-PzQBKn-q59sGc-qjhh4N-q51Eos-qjhpBU-qmodTR-q59poZ-ppz1CQ-2mM9chq-PyvaoZ-ppNszn-q516gJ-qmoinF-qmyCwr-2mMcifB-ppyZph-Njb7BW-q525hu-qmyzFg-qjh4vm-q581MF-q4ZSjG"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/43_Macys_Thanksgiving1_d84c793a75.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>&nbsp; “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56504643@N02/5220579189/in/photolist-q58jar-qmyxtk-q59cUX-q511nA-qjhgF3-q59pNB-q59HMx-ppNMdz-ppzbQU-qmybFP-qjhkq7-qmvcr9-qmotee-qjhidb-ppz69y-q51uNL-q59fKg-qmvecJ-qmyjUT-qmuYtA-qmycAV-qmod6Z-ppzd3y-qmybU4-q59F1F-8XjQj2-q4ZXsY-qmo5F8-PzQBKn-q59sGc-qjhh4N-q51Eos-qjhpBU-qmodTR-q59poZ-ppz1CQ-2mM9chq-PyvaoZ-ppNszn-q516gJ-qmoinF-qmyCwr-2mMcifB-ppyZph-Njb7BW-q525hu-qmyzFg-qjh4vm-q581MF-q4ZSjG">Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade 2010</a>“ by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56504643@N02/">John Prato</a> is licensed under CC BY 2.0Macy’s held the first parade on Thanksgiving Day in 1924 to mark the opening of its expanded New York City location at Herald Square. Fittingly dubbed “The World’s Largest Store,” the department store giant threw the parade simply to draw more holiday shoppers into the location’s 1 million square feet of retail space.And it worked! With an audience of over 250,000 people, the spectacle was such a massive hit that Macy’s declared it would become an annual occurrence, quickly installing itself as a hallmark event to announce the start of the holiday season.But what, you might ask, does this cavalcade of balloon characters (which happens to make Macy’s the second largest consumer of helium in the world!) have to do with healthcare marketing?Well, in addition to its 15 giant balloons, 28 floats, and more than 800 clowns on the parade’s docket, the annual procession contains 6 particularly tasty lessons we should all consider stuffing into our marketing plans as we get into the Turkey Day mood. Let’s dig in!<h2>Embrace repeatable formats</h2>In a world where we make hundreds of choices everyday about where to point our attention, a repetitive format can take a lot of strain off our brains. Especially when that format is beloved by your audience, dependably repeating it not only lets fans know exactly what to expect, but it can inspire feelings of familiarity, reliability, and anticipation to be associated with your brand.Macy’s has held their parade every year on Thanksgiving Day for nearly 100 years. While some aspects have changed, we all know exactly <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.macys.com/social/parade/">what to expect</a> — floats, marching bands, and our favorite fictional characters in balloon form (the 1924 version included characters from Mother Goose favorites, while this year’s will include Pikachu and Baby Yoda). And of course, as always, Santa will close out the parade directly in front of the 34th Street entrance. The parade has continued the same format since 1924, with the only exceptions being 1942-1944, when it was cancelled due to a shortage of helium and rubber because of the war.<h2>Borrow from past successes</h2>Macy’s wasn’t the first department store to host a Thanksgiving Day parade. Gimbel Brothers in Philadelphia hosted <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hiddencityphila.org/2014/11/we-havent-forgotten-gimbels-thanksgiving-parade/">a parade</a> on Thanksgiving Day 1920 (which actually tops Macy’s as the longest running Thanksgiving Day parade in America) that included Santa ushering in the Christmas season, and J.L. Hudson’s Department Store in Detroit hosted <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://harris23.msu.domains/event/1924-first-detroit-thanksgiving-parade/">a parade</a> in 1924 that has continued on as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theparade.org/">America’s Thanksgiving Parade</a>.Only one brand can say they were the first to use a billboard or advertise on social media. Discovering what new formats or mediums will work for your brand and determining how to best leverage them is half the battle.<h2>Test and learn</h2>Not all aspects from the parade’s early years were successful. The first parade featured animals from the Central Park Zoo, which was not well received by spectators — or the animals, which were replaced by cartoon balloon animals in 1927. Originally (and crazily), the balloons were actually just <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-nyt-macys-parade-20211121-vfxb2y7zw5dstgcikin6eljgby-story.html">released at the end of the parade</a>, and Macy’s offered a $100 reward for any that were returned. (This practice was halted after a couple of mishaps involving planes.)Even the best ideas aren’t perfect right out of the gate. A willingness to cut the poor-performing elements of any campaign and adapt your format accordingly can set you up better for success.<h2>Be agile</h2>The parade still happened amid the pandemic in 2020, but not in its usual form. It was significantly downsized and filmed over 3 days in a small footprint in NYC. There were also no spectators, and specialty vehicles were used to pull the floats instead of people. But by continuing the tradition, Macy’s showed a commitment to the community and further endeared itself to its audience by continuing to make the event work despite restrictions and drastic modifications.<h2>Amplify others with your platform</h2>While the first parade was all about Macy’s, it has now become a platform for a multitude of other brands to market their wares. First, there were sponsored balloons, such as a giant Ronald McDonald and Kraft Kool-Aid Man. Broadway shows are promoted via live performances. TV and movies — like Boss Baby and Paw Patrol — have gotten in on the action by not only sponsoring giant balloons, but also having hosts spend 30 seconds reading a script about the show or movie. While brands are surely paying for this opportunity, healthcare brands can incorporate this approach by leveraging their platforms to amplify advocacy efforts, for example.<h2>Evolve with the times</h2>As technology has evolved, so has Macy’s. The parade was first broadcast in 1932 on the radio (guess you had to use your imagination!). Television broadcasts of the parade began in the 1940s. Today, a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.macys.com/social/parade/lineup/">parade website</a> allows afficionados to dive deep into the line-up details on what new balloons they will see, which celebrities will participate, or what limited-edition merch is available for purchase. More recently, Macy’s even created an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.macys.paradeready&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US&amp;pli=1">app</a> for spectators to track their favorite marching bands and balloons along the route, plus the app offers exclusive digital content the day of the parade to enhance both the live and at-home experience. Macy’s has also taken to social media to support parade-lovers — in previous years, if you tweeted about your favorite parade activity, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/Macys">Macy’s official account</a> would send you a personalized reminder tweet 2 hours before start time.So, this Thanksgiving, as you tune into the parade in the hours before your family’s feast, remember that it all started with one great marketing idea. Macy’s is a shining example of how one brand’s marketing, if done right, can evolve into something much greater — maybe even an integral part of our quintessential holiday tradition.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters' homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB'er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we're sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.&nbsp;</article></div></div></section>

A Parade of Marketing Magic

Article created with bulk migration service: Bewitching Brand Marketing

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3897">We’ve all seen too many examples of the usual Halloween marketing recipe: take a brand, wrap it in some orange and black, slap a couple of ghosts and goblins on it, and call it a night.Well, we think that’s terrifyingly boring.What marketers should be thinking when All Hallows Eve comes creeping into our calendars is that it’s a golden opportunity to treat a uniquely interesting holiday as a legitimate touchpoint. If a brand can move beyond the uninspired ads and rote redesigns to provide some real value to customers and support the novel aspects of this singular customer experience, they might be onto something frightfully fun.How might that play out? We’re glad you asked. To get into the Halloween spirit, let’s consider some scary struggles folks face on this especially spooky night, and how some brands possessed with the ol’ Challenger spirit have stepped in to exorcise the demons.<h2>Heinz Ketchup</h2>If you’re recreating a costume from your favorite slasher flick, a key ingredient is bound to be fake blood. Unfortunately, dealing with it can be a real pain.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/heinz-tomato-blood-halloween-ketchup"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Heinz_combo2_c07443b094.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a> &nbsp;Image Credit: Heinz, via Food Network, October 12, 2021, "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/heinz-tomato-blood-halloween-ketchup">Your Ketchup Bottle Is Getting a Creepy Halloween Makeover</a>"Heinz knew that their ketchup product was often used as a substitute for blood in gorier Halloween costumes. So, the brand decided to embrace this alternative use by offering customers a limited-edition <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.foodandwine.com/news/heinz-tomato-blood-ketchup-costumes">Tomato Blood Costume Kit</a>. The kit not only contained a bottle of Halloween-themed ketchup, but also a makeup palette, brush set, sponge, dropper, rhinestone sheet, tattoo sheet, vampire teeth, and spooky eyelashes to make blood-soaked DIY costumes easier to craft. They also created a live experience in Los Angeles where guests could buy costume components and begin decorating them at interactive “drip stations” in the weeks leading up to Halloween.<h2>Urban Decay Cosmetics</h2>For anyone trying to dress up as a Moon Goddess this Halloween, they may find that their makeup game is a little lacking when creating that otherworldly glow. Luckily, Urban Decay has them covered.<iframe width="720" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GiB6tNfPGUs?si=8OzX8El0sWh00t3f" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Not only did they offer their own Halloween <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.urbandecay.com/halloween-makeup-looks.html">how-tos</a> (which, quite honestly, is table stakes for a cosmetics company), they tapped into the people their customers already look to for makeup advice and instruction: social influencers. Urban Decay partnered with the hottest makeup influencers around to create a series of YouTube videos featuring effective yet easy-to-replicate Halloween looks — using all Urban Decay products, of course. The influencers included links to all products used in the videos and gave customers the confidence that they could replicate the looks due to the ease of the designs, seriously bumping up sales.<h2>Reese’s</h2>When your kid’s trick-or-treating window is limited, it’ll be a horror scene unless you help them maximize their cavity-generating potential. That’s where Reese’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://blog.nextdoor.com/2022/10/06/2022-halloween-treat-map/">Treat Map</a> app can save your night, even if it negatively impacts your children’s teeth!<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nextdoor.com/press-releases/nextdoors-annual-treat-map-is-here-to-help-neighbors-celebrate-halloween/"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Treat_Map_hero_image_1032x688_37a59a7318.png" alt="Updated Image"></a> &nbsp;Image Credit: Nextdoor, October 1, 2021, “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nextdoor.com/press-releases/nextdoors-annual-treat-map-is-here-to-help-neighbors-celebrate-halloween/">Nextdoor’s annual Treat Map is here to help neighbors celebrate Halloween</a>“Already known for their novelty Halloween ads, Reese’s went further to ensure the ultimate trick-or-treater experience when they partnered with Nextdoor, a hyperlocal social networking service for neighborhoods. Instead of showing local services and items for sale, the Treat Map guides savvy trick-or-treaters to the best candy or the sweetest Halloween decorations around town.<h2>Crest</h2>And speaking of ruining teeth with an abundance of sweets, Crest fights the urge to be the oral hygiene killjoy with an idea that perfectly plays both sides — protecting your candy and your chompers.<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" style="background-color:white;border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0px;width:calc(100% - 2px);" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUsJK6NMsC9/embed/" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="750" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no"></iframe>The mouth care company took a close look at their customers’ Halloween journey and saw an opportunity to play a role in the frightful festivities. For parents who often have to stow their kids’ candy stash to prevent a month-long sugar craze in November, the brand created a competition where customers could win a limited edition <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211006005337/en/This-Halloween-Have-No-Fear-Because-Crest-BringOnTheCandy-Safes-are-Here%21">Candy Safe</a>. To enter, participants had to post @crest on Instagram and use a series of hashtags (#BringOnTheCandy, #Sweepstakes) that amplified the brand’s reach. It was a win-win for customers, Crest, and kids’ teeth everywhere.So, what devilishly clever lessons can we learn from these monster marketers?<ol><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Understand your customer’s journey end to end. Learn their frustrations and challenges. Pay attention to each little annoyance along the way and let them serve as inspiration. Then you’ll be in a position to find the hacks that your customers are using to navigate the issues they face. Those pain points will be the building blocks of your best work.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Make customers’ lives easier. Urban Decay not only appealed to their makeup-loving audience with beautiful designs, but they made sure they were accessible to the makeup novice. Heinz could have just created a Halloween-themed ketchup bottle, but they added in the tools and accessories to aid with application and fill out the horror ensemble. The Treat Map helps parents plan their route to maximize candy collection and minimize frustration of the evening. Once you find an issue, create a solution that reduces friction, solves a frustrating situation, or otherwise improves the process.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Employ influencers your customers already rely on to deliver your message. Building a following and credibility from scratch is hard. And while celebrity spokespeople create buzz, it’s microinfluencers who have become the trusted category experts that customers turn to at various points in their journey. In today’s connected world, this applies not only to patients but to HCPs as well — find the digital opinion leaders in your therapeutic area or disease state and find a way to partner with them to reach your audience more effectively.</li></ol>To further bring these points into the world of healthcare, consider a great example of innovation in the cystic fibrosis space. Sadly, kids with CF spend many tedious hours using vibrating vests to break up congestion in their chest. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.woojer.com/">Woojer</a>, a haptic technology company known best for gaming vests, realized that they could make this process suck less by incorporating music for the kids to listen to and crafting a vest that moved to the beat. Sick Beats, the world’s first music-powered Airway-clearance vest, was born.Don’t get spooked if figuring out the right move for your brand starts to feel like an unsolvable mystery. Knowing your customers’ journey like the back of your hand and, more importantly, where the opportunities might exist to smooth out the sticking points, is a great way to conjure up killer ideas and make your marketing efforts come aliiiiiiiive!<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters' homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB'er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

Bewitching Brand Marketing

12-year-old Maddie was playing video games with her friends when she noticed something strange.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3849">Most kids play video games these days. But in 2015, when a then 12-year-old Maddie Messer was playing with her friends, she noticed something strange. Almost all the characters she played — the ones that were supposed to represent her in the game — were dudes. While she was outrunning zombie monkeys or dodging lasers with a well-timed jetpack jump, she was forced to adopt a male avatar. Even though there’s nothing intrinsically more difficult about designing and coding a female protagonist, it was rare that she had the option to play as one.Her curiosity piqued, and sensing that something was inherently wrong in these virtual worlds, Maddie developed her own study. Her parents let her buy the top 50 game apps to see how widespread an issue this really was. Every day after school, Maddie would conduct her research, testing her theory game by game and recording her results, by hand, on a 5-page paper chart.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/03/04/im-a-12-year-old-girl-why-dont-the-characters-in-my-apps-look-like-me/"><img class="image_resized" style="width:100%;" src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge41_1_be078b21be.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>&nbsp; One page of notes, Maddie Messer, March 4, 2015. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/03/04/im-a-12-year-old-girl-why-dont-the-characters-in-my-apps-look-like-me/">Washingtonpost.com</a>, “I’m a 12-year-old girl. Why don’t the characters in my apps look like me?”Depressingly, she found that 37 of the games offered default or free male characters. A handful had characters whose gender was not identifiable (i.e., vegetables or animals). But how many offered free female characters? Five. Just five measly games out of 50. Some games with male default characters did give the option of playing as a female, but they made you pay extra for it. Which, let’s be honest, is kinda even more insulting. She calculated that the average cost to play as a girl among these 50 games was $7.53. One Disney game even charged a whopping $30 to play as a female character and, as Maddie adorably put it, “A dollar’s worth one donut to me. Am I spending 30 donuts to get this girl character?”We wholeheartedly agree — one donut, let alone 30 of them, is an outrageous surcharge simply to be able to run from relentless grizzly bears as a character with two X chromosomes.Once Maddie confirmed her suspicions, she declared that this disparity was simply not okay. At her parents’ urging, she decided to write up her findings and try to get them published in a local paper. And wouldn’t you know it? A scrappy little publication called The Washington Post ran the Op-Ed entitled “I’m a 12-year-old girl. Why don’t the characters in my apps look like me?”In it, she pointed out that the $7.53 average charge to play as girl is a lot in the world of apps. “After all, each of the apps I downloaded only cost an average of $0.26.” And she called out other baffling points, like the game in which you couldn’t play as a girl, but could play as… Santa Claus. All despite the fact that the audience for some of these games was majority female.The response was instantaneous and overwhelming: A hundred blogs picked up the story, it spread on Twitter, and respected economists fiercely debated this double standard. And, most important, the game-makers listened. Many of them committed to making their female characters free, and one game, Noodles Now!, even introduced a new character modeled and named after Maddie herself!<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pixelkin.org/2015/09/02/12-year-old-gets-her-own-character-after-exposing-sexism/"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge41_2_b55468bd7e.png" alt="Updated Image"></a>&nbsp; Maddie in “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/noodles-now/id1106721337">Noodles Now</a>!” — <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pixelkin.org/2015/09/02/12-year-old-gets-her-own-character-after-exposing-sexism/">pixelkin.org</a>, September 2, 2015. “12-Year-Old Gets Her Own Character After Exposing Sexism.”Fast-forward to 2022, and Maddie’s still at it. Her research methods, now a bit more rigorous, reveal that about 25% of video game characters are now female, up from 10% in her original research. Not perfect, but moving in the right direction. And while Maddie’s efforts have certainly had a dramatic effect, one issue that her more recent research has shined a light on is the lack of nonbinary and nongendered characters: just 6% in one study of diversity in games. Maddie sees this as the next frontier in the gaming industry.So how was one precocious 12-year-old able to use the Challenger process so deftly to make game-makers change their game’s ways? Let’s take a cue from Maddie and break it down:<h2>1. She started with a hunch</h2>We often talk about the importance of insights, but there’s actually a lot of important work that happens before an insight is identified. Often it’s just the feeling that there’s got to be a better way. Maddie had an inkling that something wasn’t right, and she followed up on it.Takeaway: You know your brands, and you know your market. Trust your gut when it comes to determining where to start looking more closely. It might be a suspicion you have about an overlooked audience. Or the feeling that your team is doing something just for the sake of doing it. It might be a question that no one has been able to give you a good answer to. In cases like those, do what Maddie did: Keep digging.<h2>2. She did her research &amp; sized up the opportunity</h2>By expanding her sample size and investigating more thoroughly, Maddie was able to confirm that this wasn’t isolated to a single game — it was systemic to the entire video game industry. After confirming her hunch, she set out to truly understand the ins and outs of the problem — the variety (and lack thereof) of player offerings in video games, the severity of the imbalance, the different types of pricing structures, etc.Takeaway: In our world, this is the hard work of research. It’s about turning those hunches into a concrete understanding of the situation that’s backed up by facts and supporting evidence. You might try to determine exactly how large that untapped audience is, or do surveys and interviews to see how strongly people are affected by an outdated process, or reach out to patients to see if they truly feel the way you suspect they might.<h2>3. She created a tactical plan &amp; deployed it</h2>Ok, in Maddie’s case, it was fairly simple: An Op-Ed in a major national newspaper, followed by a rapid period of acquiring advocates who supported and amplified her message. And boy, was it effective.Takeaway: How do you act on your newfound, research-proven insights? What are the best solutions to solve this problem that you’ve unearthed and confirmed? Find a way of reaching that forgotten audience, develop a new process that’s more efficient, try a tactic or medium that your competition hasn’t yet considered.<h2>4. She measured success</h2>Several years later, by looking at updated video game stats, Maddie was able to confirm that her initial efforts had been successful, and, at the same time, she made a compelling case for continuing to invest in solving this problem.Takeaway: Your work isn’t done once you’ve executed your plan and everything is in-market. That’s when it’s time to obsessively track your results and adapt based on your findings. That could mean killing an underperforming campaign, or boosting your ad spend behind a surprisingly successful tactic. Objectively measuring your efforts and adjusting accordingly is the key to long-term effectiveness.Maddie’s story teaches us that operating with perceptiveness, analytical rigor, and a little bit of chutzpah can be a game changer for your brand marketing, and that may well signal GAME OVER for your competition.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters' homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB'er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we're sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.&nbsp;</article></div></div></section>

Video Games Are for Girls

Should eating a Hershey’s chocolate bar be considered a crime?

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3841">Should eating a Hershey's chocolate bar be considered a crime?Teun (Tony) van de Keuken, a Dutch journalist, would certainly say so because your consumption of mass market chocolate makes you complicit with human rights abuses carried out by the companies that produce them.Tony began investigating the chocolate industry a few years earlier and discovered that cocoa farmers in western Africa, where 70% of the world’s chocolate comes from, were being exploited and enslaved, and in many cases, child labor was being employed.<iframe width="720" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PD7ePlz0awE?si=coYsYIInPX4NoxBb" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>He was so distressed by these modern slavery practices that he took a dramatic step to drive awareness of the issue. He attempted to get arrested for eating 19 chocolate bars and filed a lawsuit against himself that claimed he was complicit in supporting child slavery and the chocolate industry’s human rights abuses.The case was eventually dismissed, but the stunt garnered him a good amount of publicity. With it, Tony thought he could pressure ‘Big Chocolate’ into making substantive changes to the ways they produced their goods, but the chocolate industry is highly consolidated (just seven big producers own most of the brands we know) and they were unfortunately unmoved.Lacking other options, Tony decided to be the change he wanted to see in the world and launched <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tonyschocolonely.com/us/en">Tony’s Chocolonely</a> in 2005. Brightly colored, fun and whimsical, the Willy-Wonka-esque packaging is a stark contrast to the serious messaging and dire mission behind the company’s founding, and also serves to set the brand apart from its more somber counterparts.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/40_tony-chocoloney_Inline_01.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/40_tony_chocoloney_Inline_01_548a4488a7.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a> Image Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:SKopp">Sebastian Koppehel</a> on the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony%27s_Chocolonely">Wikipedia page for Tony’s</a>In leading the lonely charge to fight inequality in the chocolate industry and produce slave-free chocolate, Tony embodied the very practices and values that he was calling on the industry to adopt. The company pays farmers fair wages and avoids child labor and modern slavery in the supply chain. They publish <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tonyschocolonely.com/us/en/annual-fair-reports">annual reports</a> on the state of the chocolate industry and their efforts to improve it. They create long-term partnerships with farmers that lead to sustainable improvements. Even the design of the bars themselves embodies the company’s values: each chocolate bar is divided into unequal chunks to represent the inequality in the chocolate industry.How has challenging a roughly <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.statista.com/forecasts/983554/global-chocolate-confectionery-market-size">$200 billion</a> industry worked out for Tony’s Chocolonely? Not too shabbily: as of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tonyschocolonely.com/us/en/annual-fair-reports/annual-fair-report-2020-2021">2021</a>, they have 2.2% of the multibillion-dollar US market, and close to 20% of the Dutch market. Their latest annual global sales clocked in at about $115 million, and this winter alone they sold 46 million chocolate bars. Through all of this, they continue to fight to make slave-free chocolate the norm.And the cherry on top? It’s delicious!<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/40_tony-chocoloney_Inline_02.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/40_tony_chocoloney_Inline_02_48d338be1f.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a> Image Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tonyschocolonely.com/us/en">Tony’s Chocolonely website</a>Besides being reminded of how much we love chocolate, what can we learn from Tony’s chocolate challenge?<h2>Go big or go home</h2>Tony wasn’t making headway as a journalist by publishing TV stories on the state of the chocolate industry and pushing the chocolate giants to change their ways. So, he got radical — suing himself, and starting his own chocolate company to disrupt the status quo. The brand does not shy away from the hard issues — they address human rights, child labor, modern slavery, poverty, systemic inequality, and institutional racism head on. Will they solve these problems on their own? No, of course not. But they’re transparent about how they try and when they fail.Takeaway: Does your brand have an opportunity to be brave? Don’t be afraid to make a big splash when the opportunity presents itself. Big change and big results require big, bold moves. Operate like everyone else and risk irrelevance.<h2>Figure out what you stand for and uphold it every day</h2>Tony’s has a very clear vision — a world without modern slavery or child labor in the chocolate industry — and every part of their brand is dedicated to that cause. They’re not even a chocolate company, if you ask them, instead preferring to define themselves as “an impact company that makes chocolate.” They stay true to these core ideals in every communication, event, partnership, and product.Takeaway: Does your brand stand for something that your audience cares about or can be made to care about? A different treatment paradigm? A commitment to an underserved audience? Particularly in today’s world, as we start to more deeply understand the inequities that are baked into all aspects of healthcare, there should be ample ways for your brand to make a statement, perhaps while also making a positive impact for your key demographic.<h2>Live your brand</h2>Two of Tony’s core brand characteristics are “outspoken” and “makes you smile,” and it’s consistent in almost everything they do, from their bright and happy visual identity to the messaging and tone of all their content, even down to their annual <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tonyschocolonely.com/us/en/tonys-fair-2021">state of the company event</a>.Takeaway: Does that brand personality that was workshopped all those years ago still manifest in every piece you put out? Or is it so long forgotten that your brand doesn’t have a singular voice anymore? Consistency in your tone, messaging, and design is key for establishing a solid brand foundation.From journalist to activist to disrupter to successful chocolatier, Tony’s Chocolonely is an inspiring Challenger story that demonstrates how leading the change can garner both respect and real business impact. Was it a risk? You bet. But the results? So sweet.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters' homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB'er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we're sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

A Delicious Challenge

A minor league team is rewriting the rules of the game.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3849">Baseball is back! The 2023 MLB season is upon us, bringing along plenty of home runs, hot dogs, and... new rules?This year, the MLB adopted new rule changes aimed at speeding up the game, creating more action, and making baseball more fan-friendly overall. If these goals sound familiar, it may be because they’re the same key elements of “Banana Ball,” the unique style of baseball developed by the Savannah Bananas that we wrote about last year!With rules such as a strict two-hour time limit, no bunting, and foul balls caught by fans counting as outs, Banana Ball games reject the norms of modern-day baseball in favor of frivolity and fan service. The Bananas took a sport generally known for its slow pace and declining action and transformed it into an exciting show guaranteed to wrap up by 9pm. Now, while you won’t see major leaguers launching into a full sprint when a walk is called any time soon (another Banana Ball staple), what you will find is that the new pitch clock, defensive shift ban, pickoff limits, and larger base sizes that MLB implemented this season are already <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10070503-mlb-reveals-how-much-pitch-clock-rule-change-reduced-2023-spring-training-game-times">shaving off about 26 mins per game</a>!So, in honor of the MLB ushering in this new era of America’s pastime, let’s revisit our cheeky team of challengers that were way ahead of the curve[ball] when they smashed the status quo to make baseball fun again.<hr>If you’re having trouble sleeping, maybe consider watching a game of baseball.Today’s game is, um… slow. If the length isn’t especially tiresome (over 3 hours for your average 9-inning affair), maybe it’s the tedious gaps between game activity (like 20+ seconds between each pitch), or the declining number of hits per game (2020 marked the lowest total since 1968). No matter how you slice it, the way modern baseball games are being played is trending longer, slower, and with seemingly less action.And unsurprisingly, this sluggish pace is translating into sluggish attendance. Even pre-pandemic, in-person spectators were at their lowest levels since 2003. One baseball executive <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/03/17/baseball-preview-pace-of-play-crisis">said</a>, “it’s the greatest crisis the game faces… In the next 5 years we’ll either be the national pastime or a niche sport.” And that’s professional baseball, which has mammoth advertising budgets and superstar players like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Shohei Ohtani. Minor league and amateur teams, who don’t have the same coffers or big names, are every bit as concerned, too; their average attendance hit a 14-year low in 2018.But just when it seemed like winter was coming for the boys of summer, enter the Savannah Bananas — a collegiate summer baseball team that was <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/arts/dance/savannah-bananas-tik-tok-baseball.html">recently profiled in The New York Times</a> &nbsp; for their attempt to breathe life into the declining health of baseball fandom. Their goal, aside from winning games, has been to make baseball fun again (that’s no exaggeration, check out their <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://thesavannahbananas.com/">homepage</a>). And they’ve done it in an eminently Challenger way: primarily with dance.Yes, you read that right.<img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge_39_Inline_01_43330423df.jpeg" alt="Sledge_39_Inline_01.jpeg" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_Sledge_39_Inline_01_43330423df.jpeg 245w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_Sledge_39_Inline_01_43330423df.jpeg 500w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_Sledge_39_Inline_01_43330423df.jpeg 750w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_Sledge_39_Inline_01_43330423df.jpeg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="1000px"> Image Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSavBananas/">Savannah Bananas on Facebook</a>For the Bananas, a conference on the mound routinely becomes a choreographed dance break:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas/video/7105591702227832107">Not playing on mobile? Click here</a><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas/video/7105591702227832107" data-video-id="7105591702227832107"><section><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas" title="@thesavbananas">@thesavbananas</a> Mound visit turned dance break &gt;&gt;&gt; <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/savannahbananas" title="savannahbananas">#savannahbananas</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dance" title="dance">#dance</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/girliloveitwhenwe" title="girliloveitwhenwe">#girliloveitwhenwe</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp%E3%82%B7" title="fypシ">#fypシ</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/viral" title="viral">#viral</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/baseballboys" title="baseballboys">#baseballboys</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/baseball" title="baseball">#baseball</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mlb" title="mlb">#mlb</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/high-6807138014008036101" title=" high - moved to @iceeechu">high – moved to @iceeechu</a></section></blockquote>&nbsp;A player is encouraged to “hit the quan” when walking to the plate for an at-bat:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas/video/7094822422485929258">Not playing on mobile? Click here</a><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas/video/7094822422485929258" data-video-id="7094822422485929258"><section><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas" title="@thesavbananas">@thesavbananas</a> Rumor has it that if you hit the quan, you'll hit the ball too<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/savannahbananas" title="savannahbananas">#savannahbananas</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/baseball" title="baseball">#baseball</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mlb" title="mlb">#mlb</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hitthequan" title="hitthequan">#hitthequan</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp%E3%82%B7" title="fypシ">#fypシ</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/viral" title="viral">#viral</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/searchforwondermom" title="searchforwondermom">#SearchForWonderMom</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7046830976034573061" title="♬ original sound - Evalina♡">original sound – Evalina</a></section></blockquote>After scoring a run, team celebrations can quickly evolve into C&amp;C Music Factory <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=embed_video&amp;v=3232043883694927">dance parties</a>. Even the umpires are joining in on the fun with flamboyant, dance-filled strikeout calls that harken back to Leslie Nielsen in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWY9S-uKU-4">The Naked Gun</a> &nbsp;:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas/video/7093322335024860458">Not playing on mobile? Click here</a><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas/video/7093322335024860458" data-video-id="7093322335024860458"><section><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thesavbananas" title="@thesavbananas">@thesavbananas</a> Ump really said “buh-bye buddy”<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/savannahbananas" title="savannahbananas">#savannahbananas</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/baseball" title="baseball">#baseball</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mlb" title="mlb">#mlb</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/umpire" title="umpire">#umpire</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp%E3%82%B7" title="fypシ">#fypシ</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/viral" title="viral">#viral</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fordforthebuilders" title="fordforthebuilders">#FORDfortheBuilders</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6834322610956897030" title="♬ original sound - Warren">original sound – Warren</a></section></blockquote>In confronting the trend of declining viewership, the Bananas’ owner (who wears a yellow tuxedo during games) wasn’t satisfied with simply looking around and imitating the rest of the league. He notes, “I didn't want to learn from the baseball industry… I wanted to learn from the greatest entertainers out there,” like P.T. Barnum and Walt Disney.<img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge_39_Inline_02_1024x683_6b66afbe17.jpeg" alt="Sledge_39_Inline_02-1024x683.jpeg" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_Sledge_39_Inline_02_1024x683_6b66afbe17.jpeg 234w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_Sledge_39_Inline_02_1024x683_6b66afbe17.jpeg 500w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_Sledge_39_Inline_02_1024x683_6b66afbe17.jpeg 750w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_Sledge_39_Inline_02_1024x683_6b66afbe17.jpeg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="1000px"> Image Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/TheSavBananas/">Savannah Bananas on Facebook</a>Because of their unique and highly entertaining antics, the Bananas have been super successful in growing their following, both online and IRL. The team’s TikTok account has 2.7 million followers, and just look at the comments to see the kind of devotees they’re inspiring. They have a documentary-style <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.savannahnow.com/story/sports/pro/2022/05/23/savannah-bananas-baseball-feature-on-espn-plus-streaming-service-hbo-real-sports-tv-max/9891754002/">TV show</a>, “Bananaland,” debuting on ESPN+ this summer. And they’re selling out basically every home game in their 4,000-seat stadium — more than <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/15/sports/baseball/oakland-athletics-attendance.html">some</a> major league teams. Hoping to get a ticket this season? Too bad — their home games for the rest of 2022 are sold out.Are you thinking there must be some catch here? An organization that puts this much time into pure fan entertainment can’t also be good, right? Not so fast: the Bananas won the 2021 League Championship, already the team’s second championship in its mere 6-year existence.<hr>2023 UPDATE: Since the release of Sledgehammer #39 last June, the team has continued to grow their brand at breakneck speed. Their TikTok following has already doubled in size, clocking in at 5.7 million followers (more than the top five MLB teams have combined). They’ve also celebrated the release of that previously mentioned TV show, “Bananaland” on ESPN+, which has viewers <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://decider.com/2022/08/19/bananaland-espn-plus-review/">planning a trip to Savannah after the first episode alone</a>.In addition to their TV and social media success, the team closed out the 2022 season with a league championship for the second year in a row, and third overall. 2022 also marked their final championship win, however, as the Bananas announced they were <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://ballparkdigest.com/2022/08/24/savannah-bananas-departing-coastal-plain-league-will-focus-on-banana-ball-year-round/">parting with the Coastal Plain League</a> to focus on a year-round tour.The Banana Ball World Tour kicked off this February in West Palm Beach, FL and will continue all the way through September, ending in Cooperstown, NY. Home game tickets completely sold out in January, and owner Jesse Cole even <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/yellowtuxjesse_i-just-turned-down-a-1000000-ticket-order-activity-7021849268982280195-W9pg/">turned down a $1,000,000 group ticket order</a> in an effort to keep tickets in the hands of fans rather than resellers/scalpers. Presale tickets for games on the road have also closed, but if you’re still craving the chance to go bananas, you can sign up for their <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://thesavannahbananas.com/ontheroad/">waitlist</a> to be notified when (or if) any tickets become available.<hr><h2 style="margin-bottom:50px;margin-top:50px;">What makes the Savannah Bananas such exemplary Challengers?</h2>1. They challenge convention: &nbsp; The Bananas have declared, “We are not your typical baseball team. We are different. We take chances. We test the rules. We challenge the way things are supposed to be.” Putting “fans first” in a competitive sports league is radical — an idea that has gotten mostly lip service in Major League Baseball (MLB). And the idea of marketing players aggressively is bold, too! MLB usually avoids marketing its players individually and shuts down fan-generated content. But the Bananas have made the decision to engage with the audience and foreground their players — a move that is unlike any other team in baseball, professional or otherwise.2. They’re rewriting the rules of the game — literally: &nbsp; Every spring, the team goes on a “Banana Ball” tour, playing exhibition games with a dramatically different <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://thesavannahbananas.com/banana-ball-rules/">set of rules</a> designed to enhance the speed and fun of the game. These rules include gems such as “No bunting. Bunting sucks. If a batter bunts, they will be thrown out of the game” or “If a fan catches a foul ball, it’s an out.” These zany rule changes might have baseball purists scoffing, but your average fans cheering.3. They do what others cannot or will not: &nbsp; How many times have you seen a baseball game played by men in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://thesavannahbananas.com/the-greatest-game-ever-played-in-kilts/">bright yellow kilts</a>? How about a senior citizen dance team or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.wsav.com/sports/savannah-man-nanas-bringing-dad-bods-back-in-style/">dad-bod cheerleading squad</a>? Traditionally, the idea of having fun has been pooh-poohed in baseball. Showing emotion isn’t really encouraged. And changing the foundational rules of the game to please fans and see what sticks? Definitely something that others will not do. But the Bananas are willing to take risks and explore new ideas, steering the sport in exciting new directions that would never have been attempted otherwise. And they’re reaping the benefits.The Savannah Bananas are a shining example of the power that Challengers can wield in “a-peeling” to their audience, especially when they decide to take some risks, do a little dance, have a little fun, and get down tonight.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters' homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB'er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we're sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

Baseball Goes Bananas

The hotel heiress and reality TV superstar is not just another ditzy party girl.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3740">Try to guess who these people are:Person A:<ul><li>New York Times best-selling author</li><li>Entrepreneur who owns both a successful media company and a consumer goods company ($4B total revenue)</li><li>Recently launched Metaverse &amp; NFT business ventures</li></ul>Person B:<ul><li>Model for Guess and Christian Dior</li><li>Singer with a #1 song on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart</li><li>DJ who earned millions playing in Ibiza, Las Vegas, and Miami</li><li>Subject of documentaries on Netflix, YouTube, and Peacock</li></ul>Maybe you’re thinking Mark Cuban or Tyler Perry for Person A? Usher or Britney Spears for Person B? What if we told you that Person A and Person B were one and the same? And that individual is none other than hotel heiress, reality TV superstar, and marketing genius, Paris Hilton?<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Hilton_01.jpeg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Hilton_01_8934cf7259.jpeg" alt="Updated Image"></a> Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/23403548@N04">celebboy</a> — <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23403548@N04/2235403462/">Sundance Film Festival 2008</a>Wait… Paris Hilton, marketing genius ?! The ditzy party girl with the little chihuahua?Oh yes, you read that right.Although she got her start as a public figure in a pre-Facebook and Twitter world, Paris’ career has flourished for over 20 years. Her $300M net worth and millions of social media followers are due to more than just a handful of reality TV roles in the early 2000s. They’re thanks to her marketing expertise, versatility, and visionary investing acumen.In an industry known for producing passing fads and easily forgotten stars, Paris’ adaptability and longevity in a tough and crowded marketplace is especially noteworthy. In fact, she’s not unlike a popular healthcare brand facing new competition late in its lifecycle — staying relevant is key to fending off the steady stream of newcomers and maintaining its position.Case in point: Paris’ long and storied career was achieved despite a perpetually shifting landscape that presented challenges like:<ul><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Competition explosion: The market size of influencers tripled from 2017 to 2020 and is currently worth $14B globally; 86% of young people say that they want to post social media content for money. And a proliferation of celebrity-created products (e.g. makeup lines, fashion lines, liquor brands) make it more difficult for someone like Paris Hilton to stand out.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Shrinking attention spans: The average human attention span has <a style="color:#c8333a;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.medicaldaily.com/human-attention-span-shortens-8-seconds-due-digital-technology-3-ways-stay-focused-333474">shrunk</a> from an already measly 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8 seconds today. And it seems like our media fascinations can be even shorter than that. When was the last time you thought about Snooki, or the <a style="color:#c8333a;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/10/07/fleetwood-mac-tiktok-ocean-spray-skateboard-truck-orig.cnn-business">Ocean Spray Fleetwood Mac guy</a>? Influencers and reality TV stars have rarely had staying power.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Constantly changing channels: What was the most visited site of 2021? Not Google, not YouTube, not Facebook — it was TikTok. Staying relevant requires finding audiences where they are, not where they used to be.</li></ul>Given those headwinds, Paris Hilton could have aged out of relevancy years ago. But, if anything, her accomplishments have grown, and her brand has only gotten stronger. So how has Paris the polymath been able to thrive for so long, and what can we learn from her savvy?<h2>She keeps up with current trends</h2>Paris Hilton has consistently been ahead of her time, embracing trends before they pop. From being one of the first reality TV stars on The Simple Life, to popularizing the selfie before iPhones and Instagram even existed. And now, she’s found success as an early adopter and investor in nascent technologies, from cryptocurrency, to NFTs, to the metaverse with “ParisWorld” on Roblox.Takeaway: When planning for your brands, are you researching how to best utilize new tools &amp; technologies? Whether it’s running a campaign on an emerging social media platform or harnessing the power of AI, being an early adopter can be a huge competitive advantage.<h2>She ruthlessly tests and learns</h2>Paris Hilton does a lot. Like… a lot. By launching dozens of business ventures, she’s been able to reach a variety of audiences while diversifying her revenue streams. She has launched 27 fragrances in her career and has 45 Paris Hilton retail stores globally. She owns her own media and production companies, has programming on all major streaming platforms, and a Podcast channel on iHeartRadio. Not all have been successful, but the diversity of touchpoints means that when something doesn’t perform, she can change course and lean in elsewhere.Takeaway: How aggressively are your brands using a real-world environment to test what works? Are you fighting to take risks in tactical execution, knowing that some might fail, while giving your brand room to soar elsewhere?<h2>Her voice remains incredibly consistent</h2>Paris Hilton has a strong, identifiable persona that has really connected with consumers and fans. Once you’ve seen Paris, her brand becomes unmistakable: matching sweatsuits, the color pink, little dogs with diamond collars, sunglasses, lip gloss, and a high “baby” voice. Recently, Paris has admitted to dumbing herself down and playing a character in public. For better or worse, Paris knows how to consistently give her fans what they want.Takeaway: Is your brand instantly recognizable? You can iterate all you want, but customers will come to expect certain things from your brand. Consistency in your messaging and design establishes credibility and dependability, which are key tenets to building the foundation of a strong brand.It might not be easy to see what’s behind the lasting success of a brand unless you look closely — perhaps past all the velour sweatsuits and barking chihuahuas — but longevity and staying power can be achieved if you have the right mix of insight, inventiveness, courage, and flexibility. As Paris would say… “That’s hot.”<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters’ homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge — a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way — here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

Paris Hilton, Marketing Goddess

When understanding a condition is critical, the story is as important as the treatment.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3730"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Inline_0Sledge37_1.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_0_Sledge37_1_0297e718e6.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>James Robinson grew up in Maine, where he played tee ball and hung out at the beach with friends. He went away to college at Duke University and now, in his early 20s, works as a filmmaker in Los Angeles. On paper, he seems like a “normal” guy.But in real life, James is not treated as “normal.” In his words:“It feels like everyone I meet is frolicking happily on a ship they’ve dubbed the ‘USS Normal.’ And then here I am, below the surface, feeling a bit isolated. But whenever I get up to the surface, where the people on the USS Normal can see me, everything starts to get a little weird. They get nervous. They don’t know what to do. So they just avoid looking [at me] altogether. Even my own family.”Why would people be nervous about looking at James?James was born with neurological and vision conditions that prevent his brain from connecting the images received from his left eye and right eye. Rather than collaborate, his eyes work independently.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Inline_0Sledge37_Inline_02.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_0_Sledge37_Inline_02_e29f556b3a.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>This lack of coordination leads to vision that bounces around, switching from one eye to the other — ultimately making it difficult for him to perform simple tasks. James’ conditions, and the way they manifest in his everyday life, are very complex. But most people he knows, including his parents and siblings, have no idea how this truly affects James — both physically and psychologically. In fact, it’s this disconnect that troubles him more than the condition itself. James states, “In all honesty, I don’t have a problem with the way that I see. My only problem is with the way that I’m seen. I just want to be able to connect with people.”And so James, with his filmmaking talents, set out to show them — via a video in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/opinion/strabismus-vision-disability-relationships.html">the New York Times opinion section</a>, naturally.James’s video is a tour de force of storytelling — it is informative and vulnerable, yet entertaining and even humorous. It implores those who comfortably “live aboard the USS Normal” to understand what life would be like if they were “overboard” — what he often feels. And, if the NYT.com comments section is any indication, his video communicated this loud and clear:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Inline_0Sledge37_Inline_03.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_0_Sledge37_Inline_03_f73c809cb5.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>So, of course, now you must watch it!<div class="ck-media__wrapper" data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TjxC-evzxdk"><div style="height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%;position:relative;"><iframe style="height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:100%;" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TjxC-evzxdk" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div>What makes James’s video and his storytelling approach so compelling and powerful? And what can we, as marketers, learn from him when we create ways to empower our audiences to share their experiences?<h2>Mix perspectives and storytelling styles</h2>James used video as his medium to convey his visual reality — the piece starts with a simple visual experiment that surprises his own family, who have presumably understood his condition for his entire life. He then freely mixes first-person POV, head-on interviews, old black-and-white film footage, and visual metaphors to engross the viewer.Takeaway: Push the boundaries of the typical “patient interview.” Are there unexplored storytelling formats to illustrate the lived experiences and emotions of groups of people affected by medical conditions?<h2>Garner surprise from the ordinary</h2>James reveals how objects that many of us don’t think twice about (pencils, sliced cheese) are stumbling blocks for him. Universally relatable objects or situations can be a profound reflection of the experience of a condition — think ordering at restaurants for someone whose condition includes dietary restrictions, or joining in on group activities for someone who has a non-obvious physical limitation.Takeaway: Are there seemingly mundane scenarios that could give an “ah-ha” moment of realization for your brand’s condition?<h2>Help people use their voice, in whatever way they feel most comfortable</h2>James not only felt empowered to challenge his own family and their misperceptions, but also share his experience with the readership of the second largest newspaper in the U.S. But other people may not be so brave and bold.Takeaway: What can you create to adapt to the sharing preferences of different patients? Can you empower someone to use their own voice? Or allow them to use other voices?<h2>Collaborate and distribute with mass media</h2>While James’s initial goal with his film may have been to educate those closest to him, he was able to make an exponentially bigger impact by seeking out other platforms. The New York Times audience was likely not seeking information about this specific condition but was open to learning by watching a compelling narrative.Takeaway: An effective partnership could bring an important story to the mainstream, without the audience needing to seek out an unbranded site.There are countless other people like James out there — individuals who feel detached from those around them due to a health condition. It doesn’t even need to be a rare disease — something as prevalent as diabetes or high blood pressure can still create a stressful division between the sufferer and the people around them. While clinical counterparts in R&amp;D are out there discovering and devising the best treatments to make these individuals’ disease management easier, marketers can deliver an equally powerful form of wellness by empowering empathy.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers floating around the Heartbeat office and resting on shelves in Heartbeaters’ homes. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge—a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way—here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

The Potency of an Empathy Pill

If you’ve seen Hot Ones, you know it’s more than celebs chowing down on chicken wings.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3696">Let’s say you just saw the latest Spider-Man movie, and it sparked your interest in Tom Holland, the latest lad to rock the spidey suit. So you search his name online and, after scanning the results, you spy this:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Inline_01.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_01_b19aa50a60.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>Well, THAT feels different from all the other Tom Holland links you’re seeing! Curiosity piqued, you watch the video, in which Tom answers an interviewer’s questions while suffering through progressively spicier chicken wings. By the end, you’ve learned a lot of interesting things about Tom in a way that is memorable and fun.A week later, you’re scrolling on Facebook and see that a friend has shared a video of Simu Liu also eating wings with the same interviewer:<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Inline_02.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_02_1b6b790f9d.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>You haven’t watched the movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (clearly, you’re no Marvel diehard), so you don’t know who Simu is. But you remember the premise of Hot Ones from that Tom Holland episode, so you decide to watch it and see why they featured this guy. The episode uses the same structure and even the same hot sauces, but you learn about an entirely new person. You end up binge-watching a few more episodes and then decide to hit “Subscribe” to keep up with new episodes in the future. End scene.That, in a nutshell, is the beauty of great format! It’s a smart storytelling approach that makes the information you want to impart more interesting and eye-catching. In the case of Hot Ones, there are plenty of other celebrity interview options out there for us to choose from—but only one where they’re eating hot wings!A great format can also be repeated and adapted for lots of different content, which ultimately helps an audience know what to expect and drives them to engage over and over. This reliability is important because, in a world where we are making hundreds of choices everyday about where to point our attention, a repetitive format can take a lot of strain off our brains. Content becomes familiar and predictable, conditioning us to know that we’re going to enjoy the structure.And enjoy we do! The ongoing success of Hot Ones isn’t an anomaly—there are countless examples of content with versatile, repeatable formats that continuously captivate audiences (no hot sauce required):<ul><li>Other video series like Carpool Karaoke, which always shows James Corden and a celebrity driving around and singing together for 15 minutes</li><li>Social media accounts such as Humans of New York, which shares a daily photo and quote from a random New York resident</li><li>Podcasts that break down a random topic every week, like Stuff You Should Know</li><li>TV, where you can look no further than any reality show competition</li></ul>But wait, there are more benefits to format!On the flip side of the content coin, we have the people who developed the Hot Ones series. For each of the 16 seasons, the same interviewer has been filmed in the same basic set: same tablecloth, chairs, and camera angle. Before each season starts, the only things the production team needs to do are select the 10 hot sauces they’re going to feature and come up with the handful of interesting personal questions to ask each guest. Across 200+ episodes, the producers haven’t had to revisit or reinvent the wheel once (except for some tweaks related to the pandemic). So there’s an added beauty of production efficiency—content creators can spend more time on the actual information and less time trying to come up with new ways to share it. The engaging, repeatable format has already done that for them.Think this can’t work for healthcare? Think again! One of our favorite formats is from Glamour, which has creatively visualized various women’s health scenarios—ranging from migraines to menopause—in just 2 minutes:<iframe width="720" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mQn8N61ovjQ?si=en7ReGoixMFUJWKB" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <iframe width="720" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Fc2S7_k53k?si=WIMI5A0I5JKOsUvz" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>There are plenty of ways that pharma brands can use formats to consistently engage audiences over time, with topics ranging from disease education to customer experience. For example:<ul><li>A series of KOL discussions where physicians from different specialties are asked the same questions, leading to an interesting cross-section of answers</li><li>A collection of “day in the life” vignettes of families all living with the same condition</li><li>A consistent patient “host” asking a selection of other patients one key question about their disease</li><li>A series of posts on social media that follow a patient through their experience on an infusion treatment one week at a time</li></ul>Flaming hot content is in your future if you find a format that fits your audience and can bring your information to life. Let us know if you need any help—meanwhile, we’ll be rewatching one of our favorite Hot Ones episodes (yup, another Marvel movie star):<iframe width="720" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VwHwq5W18uY?si=Xm4nk8hgAWqgmpHb" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Huge hat-tip to our friends at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://storythings.com/">Storythings</a>, who are obsessed with all things format and generously shared some of their insights in this post with the Heartbeat team. Want to fuel your format obsession? Check out their <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.formatsunpacked.com/">Formats Unpacked</a> substack.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers present in the Heartbeat office. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge—a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way—here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

The Secret Sauce to Hot Content

For ICU doctors, a low-tech list has produced highly impressive Tx results.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3663">Think about the countless tasks you undertake every workday:<ul><li>Getting dressed (in sweatpants, obviously)</li><li>Brewing coffee</li><li>Making breakfast</li><li>Working out (err, maybe)</li><li>Responding to all those emails</li><li>Designing that slide…</li></ul>It’s a list of dozens, if not hundreds, of actions.A study found that the average ICU patient is the recipient of about 187 different actions every day — HCPs administer their medication, adjust their oxygen, suction their lungs, even brush their teeth to prevent bacteria-causing pneumonia. And while the actions that we take in our daily lives feel important, in an ICU, they are truly a matter of life or death. The consequences of a missed step or slight oversight could be catastrophic. The same study found that an error was made in only 1% of those actions, but that means nearly two mistakes every day with each patient — two chances for catastrophe, on top of an already precarious situation. So how do you reduce error in a practice that is so very complex?<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Sledge35_Inline1.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge35_Inline1_c7fa580bfb.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>There are a lot of things that can go wrong in the ICU, but <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist">a critical care specialist named Peter Pronovost</a> decided to tackle one of the most prevalent: Infections in IV lines. His solution? Not a complex device, not a novel cleaning solution. It was a checklist. One piece of paper. Five tasks aligned to five checkboxes.To test the checklist’s effectiveness, first he studied patient care without the checklist. In a third of cases, doctors skipped at least one critical step in setting up patient lines. Then they implemented the checklist and empowered nurses to stop a doctor if a step was skipped. The results after a year were incontrovertible: The 10-day line infection rate dropped from 11% to zero. It was calculated that the checklist spared 8 lives, prevented 43 infections, and saved $2 million. Pronovost roped in a few other ICU colleagues to create their own checklists, and the results were similarly dramatic: In all, the average length of stay in the ICU dropped by half. All this progress is thanks to a few rudimentary tools that Pronovost estimates would cost only about $2 million dollars to implement in every hospital in the United States.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Sledge35_Inline_02.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge35_Inline_02_16ba8ef867.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a>In thinking about our own desire to deliver helpful tools to HCPs, here are some simple yet powerful takeaways from this amazing effort:<ul><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Medicine is wildly complex. It’s a constant stream of decisions and actions, which is hard even for the most highly trained, specialized professional. Imagine having to make life and death decisions every hour of every day. So, any useful tools we can give to HCPs to help them make decisions — checklists (of course), diagnostic criteria, cheat sheets — can have a profound impact.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">HCPs have egos. This is not a criticism — we all have egos. But remember that when introducing new behaviors to HCPs, you’re not only up against medical precedent, you’re also up against the way these individuals see themselves as practitioners. One of the ways that Pronovost overcame this was by enlisting insurance companies to offer bonuses to institutions that agreed to implement the checklists. And it worked. Another strategy you could consider is to find trusted HCPs to become early adopters and advocates for the desired behavior change.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Nurses matter. Remember, in the case of the line infections checklist, it was nurses who were the enforcers. Their influence on patient care can’t be discounted. All too often, nurses are treated as a secondary audience and are the first to go when a brand loses budget. But without them and the accountability they provided for the checklists, these life-saving results in the ICU wouldn’t have been possible.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">This isn’t an HCP solution, it’s a health system solution. Without buy-in at all levels — the docs, the nurses, the administrators, the insurance companies — the checklists simply doesn’t work. Thus when you’re designing solutions for professionals, consider the entire ecosystem: Is there a pharmacist that has to buy in? Is there an office manager that must be on board? Are managed markets standing in the way?</li></ul>So the next time you’re gravitating toward a shiny new marketing tactic (marketing in the metaverse, anyone?!), stop and make sure that there isn’t a “clear line” to a simple solution, much like the one Pronovost identified.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers present in the Heartbeat office. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge—a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way—here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

The List That Saves Lives

Fun fact: a core tenet of Disney’s theme park strategy was inspired by… the ankle monitor.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3647">Fun fact: a core tenet of Disney’s current theme park strategy was inspired by… the ankle monitor.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Sledge34_Inline_01.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge34_Inline_01_339dbeddb7.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a> Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bracelet_%C3%A9lectronique.JPG">Bracelet électronique.JPG</a> from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Wikimedia Commons</a> by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:J%C3%A9r%C3%A9my-G%C3%BCnther-Heinz_J%C3%A4hnick%22_/o_%22fr:Utilisateur:J%C3%A9r%C3%A9my-G%C3%BCnther-Heinz_J%C3%A4hnick">Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en">CC-BY-SA 3.0</a>Several years ago, the team behind Disney Cruises needed to solve a problem: they were chaperoning children’s activities onboard their ships but had no efficient way to ensure all kids were safe and accounted for. Stopping activities every 30 minutes for roll call was not a very magical experience. So they turned to monitoring technologies which, thus far, had been used to keep track of criminals and dementia patients.And so the Disney Magic Band was born. Then it kept growing.After showing success on ships, Magic Bands were brought to dry land and given for free to every visitor of the company’s theme parks. Combined with the proliferation of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.iotforall.com/what-is-internet-of-things">Internet of Things</a>, a Magic Band had the capability to create an enchanted experience for visitors. Just wave it like your own magic wand to unlock the door to you resort hotel room, pay for food, and even ride the Magical Express.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.weareheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Sledge34_Inline_02.jpg"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Sledge34_Inline_02_88c0b48079.jpg" alt="Updated Image"></a> Credit: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/05/new-magicband-options-coming-soon-at-walt-disney-world-resort/comment-page-1/">Disney</a>But the bands went beyond the practical: Imagine a 5-year-old walking through the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. She spies Cinderella across the way and runs over to say hello. Cindy greets the child by name, says she remembers meeting her last year, and asks how she enjoyed her visit to Epcot Center the previous day.That’s right, the bands can even enable characters to “know” a child’s name and Disney experience history.Since the band’s initial launch, Disney has transferred these same capabilities to the magical instrument that most adults have in their pockets: a smartphone. Through geolocation and user input, the Disney Experience app delivers a whole host of services that streamline and enhance a visitor’s park experience.This is called a “connected strategy” and it has the ability to increase a customer’s willingness to engage/buy while often creating cost efficiencies for the business, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.salesforce.com/campaign/sales-service-content-hub/hbr-develop-and-compete-on-connected-strategies/?d=cta-body-promo-3">according to Wharton School professors Nicolaj Siggelkow and Christian Terwiesch</a>. The linchpin of a connected strategy is going from reactive, disconnected interactions between a customer and a brand to proactive, interwoven experiences that position the brand as a helpful guide.There are 4 different categories of connected strategies you can explore:<h2>Responding to a desire</h2>In these cases, a brand is meeting a customer need highly effectively—rapidly and/or broadly—as soon as the customer has it. Amazon, Lyft, and AirBnB do this. In pharma, does it sound like… a chatbot to anyone?! Imagine your customer wants information and engages the chatbot, which then triggers an AI-based cascade of information and support that helps that customer in the short term and anticipates their needs in the longer term.<h2>Curating an offering</h2>Netflix gives us content suggestions, but pharma can do it too. Marketers can use a CRM engine to recommend content for HCP emails, based on prior conversations between individual HCPs and their sales reps. And the more the CRM gets to know an HCP, the better its recommendations get.<h2>Coaching behavior</h2>For pharma, this one is a no-brainer—hello, adherence. But getting patients to take their meds should only be the start of it. Health-related behavior change (weight loss, nutritional eating, smoking cessation) can all be supported by connected strategies, and lifestyle support offerings (emotional health, caregiver wellness) are ideal candidates too.<h2>Automating execution</h2>Here you’re anticipating and then fulfilling your customer’s needs automatically—and in many cases, before they are even aware they have a need. Prescription or inventory refills are obvious opportunities. But we can think beyond that, too: imagine a brand detecting changes in a patient’s insurance status, and then proactively alerting them and working to resolve any issues, all to ensure continuity in both the patient’s treatment and bank account.So how do you start to design a connected strategy? Consider 3 key questions along your customer’s journey:<ol style="margin-bottom:50px;"><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">What is the unmet need that your customer is struggling to address? In healthcare, we need to understand not only the unmet need in treatment but also the experience of receiving that treatment, where notable gaps or needs may also exist.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">How do your customers search for and acquire solutions to this unmet need? Patients differ in terms of where they seek information, who they trust to provide guidance, and what role they play in their own treatment decisions. Similarly, some HCPs are mavericks, willing to push the envelope to help their patients, while others take a wait-and-see approach. You will also need to consider how customers receive the product or service, whether it’s about fulfillment at the pharmacy, getting to and spending time in receiving the treatment in person, or administering it to themselves at home.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">What products and/or services also available to the customer? Finally, you must think about what alternative treatments and services may be available. This may not only be Rx treatments, but also OTC, alternative medicine, or lifestyle choices. These approaches may come with additional support and services, which should be considered along with the treatment itself because they can contribute to the overall brand experience, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.</li></ol>Improving one’s health may not deliver the same warm and fuzzy feeling as being namedropped by Cinderella, but the patient and HCP experience is certainly overdue for a little magic. Delivering a connected strategy has the power to be your brand’s happily-ever-after experience. According to our aforementioned <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.salesforce.com/campaign/sales-service-content-hub/hbr-develop-and-compete-on-connected-strategies/?d=cta-body-promo-3">Wharton professors and their many case studies</a>, this approach can deliver significant competitive advantages and even disrupt entire industries.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers present in the Heartbeat office. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge—a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way—here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

Delivering Disney Magic to Healthcare

What do Pumpkin Spice Lattes and the '90s hip hop group 2 Live Crew have in common?

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3625">In 1985, former Second Lady Tipper Gore bought the popular Prince album Purple Rain&nbsp;&nbsp;for her young daughter. After listening to the lyrics of the song “Darling Nikki,” she realized that the title character was engaged in activities that were not suitable for her elementary school–aged children. So Tipper banded together with a few other outraged women in Washington and launched the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parents_Music_Resource_Center">Parents Music Resource Center</a>. The group’s intention was to keep music riddled with swearing, sex, drugs, and violence out of the hands of their kids. And thus, the sticker we’ve all seen countless times, the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/10/29/parental-advisory_wide-1aa5c9539fe4e7f1ad184c7d75ab33f1c07c0038.jpg?s=1400">Parental Advisory Label</a> (PAL), was born.<img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_01_bcc37f57a2.jpg" alt="Updated Image">There was plenty of pushback. During a Senate hearing called to discuss “record labeling,” Dee Snider of Twisted Sister accused the ladies of the PMRC of projecting their own lurid fantasies onto his music. Frank Zappa predicted that all American music would be reduced “to the intellectual level of a Saturday morning cartoon show.” And John Denver—an unlikely crusader for sex, drugs, and rock &amp; roll—<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSjjD6rRu4&amp;feature=emb_title">floored</a> Congress with his testimony supporting free expression.<img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_02_4ccc9fd9bc.jpg" alt="Updated Image">Putting this PAL sticker on an album is a voluntary action by record companies, and there are no definitive criteria for what gets a sticker—only recommendations. Hilariously, Frank Zappa’s album Jazz from Hell  got a warning sticker, even though it’s an entirely instrumental album (presumably it’s the “Hell” in the album name, as well as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSjjD6rRu4&amp;feature=emb_title">another song title</a> that got someone so worked up).But here’s the kicker: the PAL sticker likely had the opposite effect of the one Tipper &amp; Co. intended. According to many in the music industry, it attracted attention and made kids want those albums more.Fresh Kid Ice of 2 Live Crew, whose 1990 album Banned in the U.S.A.&nbsp;&nbsp;was the first to sport the current label and who had a previous album briefly outlawed for obscenity, claimed that the sticker actually helped sell their albums more because they seemed taboo. Marc Weinstein, a cofounder of Amoeba Music stores, said, “More often than not, from what I saw, it actually became a sales tool—it made it easier for teenagers to identify the cool stuff.”This all points to a classic marketing truth: sometimes restricting your audience’s access is actually a good thing. Exclusivity—the perception that something is hard to get, limited in quantity, privileged, or restricted—can be a powerful motivator. Think about Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Lattes or McDonald’s McRib: they’re only available during certain times of year and have developed devoted followings. Or warnings that there are “only 2 seats left” for a flight in Kayak.com’s search results. Or “restricted” WiFi for Hilton Honors members (even though it’s actually free for everyone!). These ploys all make us pay at least a little more attention, if not act with downright urgency. In fact, in one <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sbp-journal.com/index.php/sbp/article/view/2594">study</a>, consumers were willing to pay 50% more for a wristwatch advertised as an “exclusive limited edition” rather than a “new edition.”<img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Inline_03_a7ca377dfe.jpg" alt="Updated Image">So how can we put the exclusivity rule to work for healthcare? A few thought starters:<ol style="margin-bottom:50px;"><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Make access to information exclusive. Do you have a compelling story? Data? A new paper? Think about making it available exclusively. Maybe it’s available only after signing up, maybe only through a sales rep. Or perhaps it’s accessible only for customers who have consumed other&nbsp;&nbsp;content first, enticing deeper engagement and demonstrating that they’re ready for the juicier stuff you have available.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Create VIP programs. Can you create a special experience only for a subset of your audience? Of course it’s not about incentivizing anyone to prescribe, but perhaps there is a compelling experience you can offer—a Zoom call with the CEO, a webcast with a KOL, or an advisory board—that enables someone to receive valuable information and feel like an insider in the process.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Plan smaller, more intimate events. Rather than cast as wide a net as possible for eyeballs, can you create experiences that are intentionally small—even if you must turn people away? Think of product theaters, speaker events, and KOL talks. Sometimes fewer attendees might mean greater engagement.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Design certification programs. For products that require some complexity to dispense, implant, or use, can you initially limit access to only those who have undergone a certain degree of training—and then recognize them for it? It may decrease the pool of HCPs available to use your product, but it likely will also create demand to be one of those certified HCPs. It may also have the added benefit of ensuring a level of quality when it comes to using your product, leading to more positive experiences.</li><li style="margin-bottom:25px;">Prequalify customers with an eligibility survey. Can you create a process by which patients can find out if they’re a likely candidate for a drug or procedure? In addition to learning valuable information about your audience based on their input, the appeal can tap into that human desire to find out if we’ve made the cut, if we’re on the list, if we’ve passed the test. And that inclination may be enough for patients to take an extra step toward finding out if your product is right for them.</li></ol>When it comes to exclusivity, we’ve got plenty more ideas up our marketing sleeves. But they’re only available for a limited time and for our most ambitious Challenger marketers—so give us a buzz before this offer expires … forever.<hr>At any given time, there are hundreds of actual sledgehammers present in the Heartbeat office. To celebrate their first year on the team, each HB’er receives their very own sledge—a nod to our daily pursuit of tearing down tiresome healthcare marketing. To determine what is built in its place, we often turn to outside industries, cultural forces, and personal experiences. We eagerly share them with one another, and now we’re sharing them with you. Clear the way—here comes The Sledgehammer.</article></div></div></section>

Parental Advisory: EXPLICIT CONTENT

We’re advertisers, not fortune tellers but James, our fearless leader, has some hunches.

MM+M recently tapped James Talerico, our President &amp; Chief Creative Officer, for his premonitions on the themes and patterns in healthcare marketing for 2024.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>In the wake of a year packed with election cycles and Olympics aspirations, James believes that innovative, human-centric healthcare creative will reign.<o:p></o:p>“Amidst all the talk of generative AI and marketing automation — and yes, those tools will be hugely impactful — the one thing I am certain we’ll see in 2024 is more human, more ambitious healthcare marketing. Never before has our culture needed more accessible healthcare communications. Never before has the creative bar or the audience expectation been higher. Never before have all those familiar advertising tropes been more familiar.<o:p></o:p>So, more meaningful engagement! More candid communications! More daring campaigns! And yes, some of those more-human ideas will be imagined with our artificial partners.”<o:p></o:p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mmm-online.com/home/channel/2024-predictions-from-mmm-agency-100-honorees/">Read more from our fellow MM+M agency honorees</a>.<o:p></o:p>

We Have Thoughts on the Year Ahead

Our EVP of Media, Dan Haller, shares his insights with MM+M

Media Best Practices for Challenger Brands

Heartbeat leadership weighs in on industry challenges & creative inspiration

<img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Med_Ad_News_Roundtable_December_2025_Linked_In_2_329f8e7f81.png" alt="MedAd_News_Roundtable_December_2025_LinkedIn (2).png" srcset="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/thumbnail_Med_Ad_News_Roundtable_December_2025_Linked_In_2_329f8e7f81.png 245w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/small_Med_Ad_News_Roundtable_December_2025_Linked_In_2_329f8e7f81.png 500w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/medium_Med_Ad_News_Roundtable_December_2025_Linked_In_2_329f8e7f81.png 750w,https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/large_Med_Ad_News_Roundtable_December_2025_Linked_In_2_329f8e7f81.png 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="1000px">2025 arrived with no shortage of complexity—and the conversations shaping our industry rose to meet it.Heartbeat leadership joined the Med Ad News’ 2025 Roundtables, contributing thoughtful perspectives to some of the most timely and important discussions facing healthcare marketing today.James Talerico, Heartbeat’s President, and Lisa Varshney, Chief Strategy Officer, took on the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pharmalive.com/healthcare-agency-roundtable-2025-a-year-of-volatility/">defining challenges of 2025</a>—exploring the pressures teams are navigating, the pivots required to keep pace, and the patterns reshaping how organizations operate.For James:"[The greatest challenge has been] Separating the wheat from the chaff. So much comes at us in this era of AI, social media overload, regulatory revolution, and distrust of expertise. These waves of hype have reminded us to keep the needs of our audiences front of mind and ask, simply, how can this ‘next thing’ help? How can we continue to move more compelling communications to consumers and HCPs alike, so that we, as a culture, can make better, smarter, healthier decisions?"While for Lisa:"2025 was the year of long-building forces coming to a head. After years of experimentation and anticipation, the realities of AI, shifting media models, and evolving regulations collided, forcing teams and clients to make hard choices amid uncertainty. Across teams and clients, the pace of change, especially around AI, created both opportunity and confusion. Everyone recognized its potential but grappled with practical questions: how to use it responsibly, integrate it into workflows, and measure its real impact. Regulatory ambiguity compounded hesitation, especially in healthcare, where compliance and ethics remain central.This uncertainty also extended to the media landscape. The direct-to-consumer (DTC) model faced disruption as traditional TV reach declined and privacy regulations tightened, forcing brands to rethink how to connect with patients and healthcare professionals. Determining where to invest, whether in connected TV, influencer content, or owned digital ecosystems, became a strategic balancing act.&nbsp;&nbsp; Internally, the challenge was maintaining clarity and confidence amid shifting rules and expectations. Teams had to learn quickly, experiment responsibly, and manage client anxiety about what’s next."Kris LoCascio, EVP of AI Transformation, joined the conversation on c<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pharmalive.com/healthcare-agency-roundtable-2025-finding-inspiration-sparking-creativity/">reative inspiration</a>, sharing what fuels fresh ideas and how his creative process continues to evolve. He explains:&nbsp;"Technology is accelerating faster than ever. GenMedia has brought some great promises to what can be done with AI, but not yet what great work looks like. Even the most advanced models can’t consistently match the nuance of something truly crafted. &nbsp;So instead of chasing the perfect output, we have been focusing on where we have the most control in the ideation. On a recent project, we used AI to rapidly prototype a miniature world. Knowing it would allow us to start on third base, we explored the details in a way we never could before. Then, human craft took over as artisans came in to elevate the concept and bring the idea to life through 3D printing a physical model and hand-finishing the details. &nbsp;For us, that’s the new balance. Technology allows us to gain velocity. It may change the process, but the soul of the work remains. The care, craft, and human touch can be felt when done right and make it resonate."From operational realities to creative evolution, these conversations offer a snapshot of where our industry is headed and how Heartbeat is helping move it forward.Explore all the topics covered in this year’s Roundtables: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pharmalive.com/med-ad-news-december-2025/">www.pharmalive.com/med-ad-news-december-2025/&nbsp;</a>

2025 Agency Roundtables

Our new ECD is the latest Heartbeat Exec to be honored by Xpectives Health.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-4071">Kris LoCascio, Executive Creative Director for leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat, has been recognized by Xpectives.Health as one of its annual <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://xpectives.health/agency-vanguard-awards/">Agency Vanguard Award Winners</a>.Xpectives.Health is one of the leading forums for direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising thought leaders. The Agency Vanguard Award recognizes standout agency team members who are driving innovation and improving patient communications. It is awarded to select agency executives for their extensive accomplishments, influence on future consumer health launches and campaigns, and contributions or service to patients and the overall DTC industry.LoCascio received this honor following 15 remarkable years at Heartbeat and 20 years overall in the healthcare marketing industry. Throughout this tenure, he has been a driving force of innovation in an oft-stagnate industry, leading a multitude of award-winning advertising campaigns.With a staggering stack of creds, LoCascio has worked with brands both big and small and on products both blockbuster and niche. His boundary-pushing influence can be seen across the entirety of Heartbeat’s portfolio, and his work has garnered more than 70 major industry honors. Most notably, LoCascio’s work for XenoPort’s Horizant earned more than 20 awards during the 4-year client engagement, including a Clio Award for Best Pharmaceutical Digital Campaign, a Med Ad News Manny Award for Best HCP Campaign, and an OMMA Award for the brand’s groundbreaking rich-media campaign.Beyond his vast healthcare expertise that spans nearly every therapeutic category, Kris is also a skilled technologist with a wealth of knowledge about every corner of the online world. His efforts have opened doors to inventive methodologies that embrace emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning, all while upholding the exceptional craft that Heartbeat is renowned for.Taking the Creative leadership reigns from Heartbeat President and current Chief Creative Officer, James Talerico, LoCascio is only the second person to hold the distinguished title of Executive Creative Director at the agency. Talerico noted that “Kris is a brilliant creative mind who will help all of us generate better, more compelling, more powerful communications — communications built to thrive in our multiplatform reality.”LoCascio is the fifth Heartbeat executive to receive Agency Vanguard recognition. Group Creative Director Chris Whaites received the same distinction last year, following EVP of Marketing and Public Relations Janelle Starr in 2019, SVP of Strategy Hudson Plumb in 2018, and President &amp; Chief Creative Officer James Talerico in 2017.LoCascio and other Agency Vanguard Award recipients will be honored at a ceremonial dinner on October 27, 2023, at the W Hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey.</article></div></div></section>

Kris LoCascio: Agency Vanguard 

We have a new ECD! Heartbeat veteran Kris LoCascio takes the agency's Creative reins.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3891">Leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat has named longtime creative leader Kris LoCascio as its new Executive Creative Director. LoCascio previously served as Group Creative Director, guiding creative development across many of the agency’s highest-profile accounts.LoCascio’s extensive healthcare experience spans nearly every therapeutic category, with brands both big and small, on products both blockbuster and niche. Since joining Heartbeat in 2008, LoCascio has been one of the agency’s premiere creative talents over the course of his 14-year tenure.Responsible for some of Heartbeat’s most critically acclaimed and highly decorated campaigns, his work has garnered more than 70 major industry honors. Most notably, LoCascio’s campaigns for XenoPort’s Horizant alone earned more than 20 awards over the course of the four-year client engagement, including a Clio for Best Pharmaceutical Digital Campaign, a Med Ad News Manny Award for Best HCP Campaign, and an OMMA Award for the brand’s groundbreaking rich media campaign.In his new role as Executive Creative Director (ECD), LoCascio will focus on the means and methodology behind Heartbeat’s creative operations while inspiring a creative community of more than 70 talented craftspeople. LoCascio will also guide Group Creative Directors and their teams to further elevate the quality of Heartbeat’s award-winning creative product, as well as reimagine how it exists in the world.“Heartbeat has been my home for most of my career and has been instrumental in shaping who I am as a leader and as a Creative,” said LoCascio. “I’m excited to build on the legacy here, ushering in a new era of creativity that pushes the boundaries of how people think and care for their health and the health of those around them.”Heartbeat President James Talerico, who held the ECD title for the past 15 years, will now step into the role of Chief Creative Officer, focusing more broadly on the Heartbeat brand and the creative vision driving the agency.“Kris LoCascio is a brilliant creative mind and a ‘Creative’s Creative’ who understands that great ideas don’t simply emerge from the ether. They come from talented humans who trust one another and the structures they rely upon to create,” said Talerico. “Kris will help all of us generate better, more compelling, more powerful communications—communications built to thrive in our multiplatform, post-COVID reality.”Along with LoCascio’s transition to ECD, fellow Creative department leaders Chris Whaites and Jillian Anderson are being elevated to Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director, where they will expand their leadership responsibilities and management of Creative staff on client accounts, find new creative opportunities for brands to engage with their audiences, and raise the bar for Heartbeat’s day-to-day creative output.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game — they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs its organization around a “100% Integration” model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. It prices work based on outcomes, not outputs. Its innovative model delivers not only alignment but also powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: nearly 300 employees between NYC &amp; LA; multiple agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the MANNYs, MM+M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity &amp; inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&amp;I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as follows, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.'” Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please email <a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a>.</article></div></div></section>

Kris LoCascio Named Exec Creative Director

Xpectives Health honors our Group Creative Director and 20-year agency veteran.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3878">Chris Whaites, Group Creative Director for leading healthcare marketing agency Heartbeat, has been recognized by Xpectives.Health as one of its annual Agency Vanguard Award winners.Xpectives.Health is one of the leading forums for direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising thought leaders. The Agency Vanguard Award recognizes standout agency team members who are driving innovation and improving patient communications. It is awarded to select agency executives for their extensive accomplishments, influence on future consumer health launches or campaigns, and contributions and service to patients and the overall DTC industry.Whaites received this honor following nearly three decades in the marketing industry, with 24 of those years devoted exclusively to healthcare advertising. He joined Heartbeat in 2003 as one of the agency’s earliest Creative hires and is fast approaching his 20th anniversary with the company.Along with his immense talent and relentless dedication, he is known for bringing insight, empathy, and a passion for powerful yet simple storytelling to his work. His extensive list of industry experience includes some of the most recognizable brands in healthcare, such as Tylenol®, Cimzia®, Xyzal®, Viagra®, and Cialis®. More recently, Whaites played a key role in the launch of a blockbuster immuno-oncology therapy, as well as the creative efforts behind an unbranded atrial fibrillation and deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism awareness campaign — where his work earned him seven major industry honors.“I’ve seen firsthand the profound impact that healthcare advertising can have on people’s lives; it’s why I’ll always be grateful to be a part of this industry,” Whaites noted. “And I’m equally grateful to be part of an agency that has allowed me to grow into the Creative I am today. To be mentored by the likes of Bill Drummy and James Talerico makes me one lucky Creative. I’m looking forward to the road ahead.”Whaites is the fourth Heartbeat executive to receive Agency Vanguard recognition. The agency’s Executive Vice President of Marketing Janelle Starr received the distinction in 2019, following Heartbeat Senior Vice President of Strategy Hudson Plumb in 2018 and President/Executive Creative Director, James Talerico, in 2017.Whaites and the other Agency Vanguard Award recipients will be honored at a ceremonial dinner on October 13, 2022, at the W Hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey.About Heartbeat&nbsp; Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game — they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs its organization around a “100% Integration” model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. It prices work based on outcomes, not outputs. Its innovative model delivers not only alignment but also powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That’s the philosophy, here’s the creds: nearly 300 employees between NYC &amp; LA; multiple agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the MANNYs, MM+M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity &amp; inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&amp;I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as follows, “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.'” Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please email <a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a>.</article></div></div></section>

Chris Whaites Agency Vanguard Award

Our resident iconoclast joins an elite crew of influential forces in healthcare marketing.

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-3559"><img src="https://hbpublicwebstorageeast2.blob.core.windows.net/hbassets-prod/assets/Pharmavoice_100_James_T_H_Blog_Header_e83e9e94b0.jpg" alt="Updated Image">Leading Healthcare advertising agency Heartbeat is proud to announce the selection of James Talerico, Heartbeat’s President and Executive Creative Director, for inclusion in 2021’s PharmaVOICE 100.Since 2005, this prestigious honor has recognized 100 professionals each year across the life-sciences industry who inspire their colleagues and challenge their fields through innovation, creativity, leadership, and business acumen. Billed as a list of “the most inspiring individuals in the industry,” James will join an elite group of alumni from all parts of the life-sciences business continuum; his former colleague and friend, Heartbeat Founder Bill Drummy, is also a PharmaVOICE 100 honoree, and received PharmaVOICE’s elite Red Jacket Award—a distinction earned by a small subset of PharmaVOICE 100 honorees.PharmaVOICE is a respected industry publication serving as a resource for life-science executives and other healthcare-service professionals. Their staff judges potential PharmaVOICE 100 candidates on their demonstrated leading-edge creativity, their skill at developing and motivating talent, how they’ve contributed to innovation and breakthroughs in their business, and how they’ve positively impacted both their companies and the life-sciences industry at large.James joins the PharmaVOICE 100 as an already highly decorated creative talent and industry leader. He was named a DTC Perspectives Agency Vanguard in 2017, and, alongside clients, his creative teams at Heartbeat have hoisted more than 250 major creative advertising awards for agency work.He has long been recognized by peers as a skillful, compassionate leader with exemplary creative vision and dedication to lasting social impact. Under James’s guidance—alongside his partner, Nadine Leonard (President and Executive Planning Director)—Heartbeat has scaled significantly, supporting healthy business growth and talent development without any loss of the agency’s famously robust company culture. This commitment to creating and preserving one of the most enriching, unique workplace cultures in our industry is reflected in many of the culture-oriented awards the agency has won during James’s tenure. Heartbeat has been included in highly competitive “Best Place to Work” lists from either Ad Age or MM+M magazine for 4 consecutive years and was recently recognized as a “Diversity &amp; Inclusion Champion” by the Med Ad News MANNY Awards.Heartbeat is immensely proud to work with a leader of James Talerico’s caliber and wholeheartedly congratulates him for this well-deserved honor.Find out more about James’s inclusion in the PharmaVOICE 100 and read PharmaVOICE’s exclusive interview with him in the August/September issue of the publication, available digitally <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pharmavoice.com/news/2021-07-pharmavoice100-commanders-chiefs/615807/">here</a>.About Heartbeat Heartbeat is a full-service agency for healthcare Challenger Brands. Challengers are playing a high-stakes game—they must battle behemoth market leaders, upend ingrained treatment habits, or transform a “me-too” product into “yes-please.”The agency is known for serving up distinctive strategies and differentiating approaches, ensuring clients’ market positions are uniquely owned. Heartbeat designs its organization around a “100% Integration” model, housing media, strategy, med comms, creative, technology, and even point of care/population health under the same roof for the tightest, most integrated campaigns possible. It prices work based on outcomes, not outputs. Its innovative model delivers not only alignment, but also powerful orchestration, greater efficiency, and maximum impact for every dollar spent—all the necessary elements for Challengers to triumph.That’s the philosophy. Here are the creds: 275+ employees between NYC &amp; LA; 6 agency leaders with decades of tenure; a pile of awards from the likes of the MANNYs, MM+M Awards, OMMAs, and Clios; an industry-leading commitment to diversity and inclusion (with a Med Ad News D&amp;I Champion nod to match); and a President who dared to be quoted as follows: “We celebrate people who stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is dumb.'” Damn straight.For more information about Heartbeat, please email <a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a>.</article></div></div></section>

PharmaVOICE 100: James Talerico

People keep telling us this James guy is a big deal. Apparently MM+M agrees.

James Talerico: Pinnacle Award

A powerful story and great partners in Marinus Pharma made "Raising Lina" a success.

PM360 Masterclass of Storytelling

Find out what makes Heartbeat so magically delicious in MM+M's annual agency issue.

MM+M Agency 100 2022

A speedy video recap to celebrate joining the quarter-century club

<section id="post-content"><div class="grid-container main-wrapper"><div class="grid-x content-wrapper"><article class="large-8 large-offset-2" id="post-4071">The year was 1998:<ul><li>Google became a thing</li><li>Jordan played his last game for the Bulls</li><li>The FDA approved Viagra&nbsp;</li><li>And a tech-loving entrepreneur named Bill Drummy opened a marketing agency called Drumbeat Digital<o:p></o:p></li></ul>&nbsp;As the years passed and Drumbeat became Heartbeat, our little community kicked down the doors of big-time healthcare advertising. Now, we're the big time and can hardly believe it happened.&nbsp;It was hard work, damn good fun, and here it is in 89 seconds...&nbsp;<div style="padding:150.09% 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe style="height:60%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:60%;" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/894133386?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" title="Twenty Five"></iframe></div></article></div></div></section>

25 Years in 89 Seconds

The 2023 Black Leadership International Awards x Bob Marley Edition.

A hearty congratulations to our own Stephanie Robinson (Account Director) and Stanlisha Shaffer-Berry (Associate Director, Production) who were both recently honored with Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 2023 Black Leadership International Award!<o:p></o:p>In their words, here are some key takeaways of their career journeys thus far.<o:p></o:p>Stephanie Robinson<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;“Get up, stand up…stand up for your right. Get up, stand up…don’t give up the fight.”<o:p></o:p>These aren’t just the lyrics of Bob Marley’s 1973 hit song “Get Up Stand Up”, this verse also doubles as invaluable career advice.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>To Stephanie, these were lessons gleaned from long car rides with her father that would later become a rallying cry to carry her through the ebbs and flows of her career. From starting as a “doer” all the way to climbing the ranks of leadership, remembering these words kept Stephanie grounded and ready to face any challenges that came her way.<o:p></o:p>Stanlisha Shaffer-Berry<o:p></o:p> The strength of a career can be measured by the breadth and sum of one's network and support. For Stanlisha, this was key to navigating new and uncharted professional waters.&nbsp;In fact, having a mentor was the silver bullet for Stanlisha’s career, particularly during a time of a career transition. As she describes “Mentorship opened my eyes to new possibilities…Having mentors invest and pour into me throughout my advertising career has changed how I show up daily.”<o:p></o:p>Now, Stanlisha is dedicated to returning that effort in kind and paying it forward.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>Congratulations again ladies! We’re inspired by the work you do daily.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>Be sure to click and check out&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://issuu.com/diversityjournal/docs/pdj-q4-2023/62">Stephanie’s</a> and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://issuu.com/diversityjournal/docs/pdj-q4-2023/64">Stanlisha’s</a> individual profiles!<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:comment-list;">&nbsp;<div style="mso-element:comment;"><div class="msocomtxt" id="_com_1" language="JavaScript">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div></div></div>

They Make Us Proud

This is medical advertising history in the making.

Antoinette Henry: 2024 Future Famer

It's your chance to pick Kris LoCascio's brain.

Create Winning TV Ads with Xpectives

Andy Mathurin: 2024 Clios Health Juror

James serves up insights to end pharma ad cliches once and for all.

I Don't Want a "Pharma Ad"

Our campaign ft. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a slam dunk!

Another Win In The Books

There's no one more deserving than Madhuri.

MM+M Women of Distinction 2024

2 Minutes With Andy Mathurin

We're Viddy Winners!

Our clients are challengers. Naturally, so are we.

MM+M Agency 100 2024

Dan Haller at PulsePoint 2024

Patient recruitment, as we know it, is over. 

We’re thrilled to launch Heartbeat Clinical Research—our new division dedicated to transforming qualified patients into engaged participants and passionate advocates for their health outcomes. The future of clinical trials starts here.&nbsp;For all the juicy details, we've released the following announcement:NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, December 3, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Heartbeat, the agency known for challenging healthcare marketing conventions, today declares the end of traditional clinical trial recruitment by uniting Langland U.S. and BBK Worldwide to launch its new Patient Activation Division, Heartbeat Clinical Research. Langland, the global full-service agency headquartered in the U.K., will continue to support clinical trials—combining art and science to deliver a diverse set of capabilities to engage patients, site staff, and HCPs.“Patient recruitment, as we know it, is over,” said Sarah McKeown-Cannon, Senior Vice President and Head of Heartbeat Clinical Research. “The clinical trial industry has been solving the wrong problem. While others focus merely on finding patients through increasingly sophisticated data platforms, the real revolution lies in activation—transforming qualified patients into engaged participants and ultimately into advocates for their own health outcomes.”The new division marks a shift from conventional patient recruitment to a data-driven model that focuses on patient activation pathways and behavioral economics. This approach moves beyond traditional recruitment metrics to measure and optimize the factors that drive patients—and their clinicians—to say “yes” to clinical research participation.“We’re not just launching another clinical research division—we’re fundamentally reimagining how we engage with the stakeholder ecosystem in Clinical Research,” said James Talerico, President at Heartbeat. “By focusing on activation rather than recruitment, we’re addressing the actual barriers to study success: trust, complexity, and disconnected experiences.”Heartbeat’s Patient Activation Division will partner with pharmaceutical companies and research organizations to: • Transform traditional recruitment programs into activation pathways and health literacy-generating experiences • Design trial experiences that turn patients into health activists • Create culturally relevant engagement strategies that drive meaningful participation • Build sustainable, long-term activation strategies at the asset, rather than study level • Depart from traditional and transactional sponsor-to-vendor relationships, forging new partnerships within the ecosystem“This isn’t about incremental improvements to the current system,” added McKeown-Cannon. “It’s about challenging the fundamental assumption that patient recruitment is the answer. Our data shows that activation—getting the right patients to say yes and stay engaged—is what truly drives successful programs.”The division launches with several flagship partnerships already in place, focusing on therapeutic areas where traditional recruitment methods have historically fallen short.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A Research Revolution

Future Famer in the House

We’re excited to announce that Heartbeat is on Ad Age's Best Places to Work 2025 list —our fifth time making the list since 2017. We're thrilled to be the most awarded healthcare agency by Ad Age and we will keep defending our title!We've released the following announcement:Heartbeat, the leading marketing agency for healthcare Challenger brands, has been named to Ad Age's 2025 "Best Places to Work" list, becoming the most awarded healthcare agency since 2017. This marks the fifth year Heartbeat has received the honor with prior awards in 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2017. The agency was named #2 in 2023 and #3 in 2022 in the large agencies category. Heartbeat is the top health agency on this year's list and ranked 4th amongst other large agencies.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><blockquote>“I love the culture we’ve built at Heartbeat,” says James Talerico, Heartbeat President. “Every person in our community shares our Challenger values and supports one another in realizing them, through successes and failures. We want each other to grow, to be bold in our thinking, and to be better people. And it’s that last point that sets us apart. Together we work to improve as professionals and as people. Every day. We are all Challengers.”&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></blockquote>The award continues a multi-year tradition of workplace recognition and dedication to employee satisfaction. Over the last eight years, Heartbeat has earned consistent yearly industry accolades, including landing on premier healthcare marketing publication MM+M’s “Best Places to Work”&nbsp;list in 2018, 2019, and 2021. The agency was also recognized on the 2022-2023&nbsp;“Inclusive Workplace”list from Best Companies Group and won the Med Ad News 2020 Diversity &amp; Inclusion Champion Award, highlighting Heartbeat’s commitment towards building an inclusive, supportive work culture.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>Heartbeat’s notable offerings include an onsite career coach for personalized mentorship, the “Work Your World” program which allows employees to live and work in any of the 180 fully operational Publicis offices around the globe, and a monthly Challenger Awards initiative that recognizes exceptional employee work and contributions.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>Ad Age’s “Best Place to Work” winners were selected based on a rigorous review of company responses, including data on demographics, policies, practices, and core values, as well as confidential employee feedback on pay, benefits, work-life balance, and company policies. See the full Heartbeat profile on the list <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://adage.com/article/best-places-work/heartbeat-best-places-work-2025/2595196">here</a>.<o:p></o:p>For more information about Heartbeat, drop an email to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:marketing@weareheartbeat.com">marketing@weareheartbeat.com</a> or follow them on&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/heartbeat-ideas/?viewAsMember=true">LinkedIn</a>. For more information on joining their team, visit&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://weareheartbeat.com/careers">weareheartbeat.com/careers</a>.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;About Heartbeat<o:p></o:p>Heartbeat is a full-service agency with a POV like no other—it is uniquely built to help healthcare Challenger brands defy the odds and create new, healthier realities. The agency is known for helping brands overcome their thorniest marketing challenges, ranging from shifting deeply ingrained prescribing habits to making the most of advertising spend, tackling a tricky audience segment, or fending off a fierce new market entrant. That’s the mission, here are the creds: 250+ talented thinkers and makers, 44% of whom have been with the agency for 4 or more years (and several as many as 20 years); a proud member of Publicis Groupe; a pile of industry awards for their brand communications and an 8-time winner of “Best Place to Work” by Ad Age and MM+M; the most diverse agency of its size and damn proud of it.<o:p></o:p>

Most Awarded Healthcare Agency Workplace

Our very own chief strategy officer, Lisa Varshney was recently honored as Agency Vanguard by DTC Perspectives. To celebrate this honor, we've released the following press statement below about Lisa's achievements:<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, March 13, 2025 /<a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(1, 72, 128);font-family:Montserrat, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" dir="auto" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">EINPresswire.com</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">/ -- Lisa Varshney has been named a 2025 Agency Vanguard by <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(1, 72, 128);font-family:Montserrat, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" rel="external nofollow" target="_blank">DTC Perspectives</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">, recognizing her leadership in healthcare marketing. Varshney serves as Chief Strategy Officer at <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(1, 72, 128);font-family:Montserrat, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" rel="external nofollow" target="_blank">Heartbeat</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">, a leading healthcare agency under <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(1, 72, 128);font-family:Montserrat, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" rel="external nofollow" target="_blank">Publicis Health</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">. The award honors executives who drive innovation, influence consumer health campaigns, and make meaningful contributions to patient communities. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Varshney’s recognition follows more than 20 years of strategic achievements and more than eight years of service to Heartbeat’s highly successful clients. After joining Heartbeat in 2016, Varshney became an influential leader in the agency’s strategy discipline, blending her unique experience as a chemist, consultant, and brand strategist to bring rigor and resourcefulness to the agency’s practice. During this time, she enhanced three subdisciplines: a robust Health Systems and EHR/Health IT consulting practice, best-in-class data innovation and analytics, and social media marketing. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Clients have relied on Lisa to help them take on fierce competition, shift ingrained habits, and tackle formidable markets. Over the years, Lisa has played a pivotal role in supporting scores of pharmaceutical and biotech clients across a range of therapeutic areas, including cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, immunology, neurology, oncology, rare disease, women’s health and more. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As James Talerico, President and Chief Creative Officer of Heartbeat notes: <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“There is not a nut that Lisa cannot crack, an insight she cannot mine, a clear strategic path she cannot discern through complicated data or murky segmentation. For years, she has partnered with our clients and internal teams alike to do surprising, provocative, amazing work. Lisa is a mentor to young talent and genuine servant-leader, never pausing when more is needed or compassion is required. We all need more Lisas in our lives.” <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In recognition of her accomplishments, Lisa will be honored at the annual DTC National conference, which will take place at the Westin Copley Hotel in Boston on April 22–24, 2025. Varshney is the sixth Heartbeat leader to receive the Agency Vanguard recognition. Other notable award alums include President James Talerico, Chief Client Officer Janelle Starr, Executive Creative Director Kris LoCascio, Group Creative Director Chris Whaites, and SVP of Strategy, EHR &amp; Outcomes Optimization Hudson Plumb. &nbsp;<p class="contact" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Montserrat, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:normal;margin:1em 0px 1em 40px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" dir="auto">&nbsp;

Lisa Varshney — Agency Vanguard

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DEI is in Our DNA

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MM+M Agency 100 2025

Where others see complexity, she sees opportunity.

Leading the charge on Challenger brands isn’t for everyone—but luckily, it’s exactly what Stacey does best. We’re proud to announce the addition of a remarkable new Challenger to the Heartbeat crew: Chief Client Officer, Stacey Vail!NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, July 31, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Heartbeat, the Healthcare Challenger Agency, has appointed Stacey Vail as Chief Client Officer. Stacey’s 25+ year career in pharmaceutical marketing has spanned high-impact HCP and DTC campaigns across categories like immunology, neurology, respiratory, diabetes, and rare disease — expertise she now brings to one of the industry’s most iconoclastic agencies.A longtime leader within Publicis Health, Stacey has shaped the most complex and high-profile brands in the industry, while advancing omnichannel thinking and patient experience innovation. Her appointment marks a strategic move for Heartbeat — not only increasing its wealth of senior talent, but super-charging the agency’s consumer and HCP content enablement efforts with Stacey’s client focus and business savvy.In her new role, Stacey will be instrumental in unlocking capabilities for Challenger Brands and the marketers who lead them — from real-world data integration to next-gen content production and scaled patient support and advocacy platforms. Her addition to the team amplifies Heartbeat’s mission to help ambitious brands outperform the market by creating new, healthier realities for the patients they serve.“Stacey knows how to find opportunity in complexity — and how to unlock momentum where others stall,” said James Talerico, Heartbeat’s President and Chief Creative Officer. “She has a rare mix of operational mastery and brand instinct that our clients will feel immediately.”Known for uniting cross-functional teams and pushing creative, data, and tech to work harder together, Stacey’s portfolio stands as a testament to her success as an indispensable partner for brands with something to prove. Her appointment comes at a moment of rapid growth for Heartbeat, as more brands seek agency partners built for complexity, speed, and outsized results.Stacey holds a BA in Advertising from Rider University and an MBA in International Marketing from Rowan University. She also serves as a Trustee of the William G. Rohrer Charitable Foundation and Foundation Board Member of Rowan University.

CHALLENGER BRANDS

CONQUERCOMPETITION

MAKE EVERYDOLLAR COUNT

QUESTIONCONVENTION

REINVENTTHEMSELVES

SHIFT INGRAINEDBEHAVIORS

Heartbeat is the agency forhealthcare challenger brands

MARKETING
THAT MATTERS

INSIGHTFUL,
INVENTIVE,COURAGEOUS

2025 Agency Roundtables

DEI is in Our DNA

Introducing Stacey Vail, CCO

THELATEST

CHALLENGER BRANDS

CONQUERCOMPETITION

MAKE EVERYDOLLAR COUNT

QUESTIONCONVENTION

REINVENTTHEMSELVES

SHIFT INGRAINEDBEHAVIORS

Heartbeat is the agency forhealthcare challenger brands

MARKETING THAT MATTERS

INSIGHTFUL,INVENTIVE,COURAGEOUS

2025 Agency Roundtables

DEI is in Our DNA

Introducing Stacey Vail, CCO

THELATEST

MARKETING
THAT MATTERS

INSIGHTFUL,
INVENTIVE,COURAGEOUS