Eurocom Alliance Makes US Push

US-based pharmaceutical clients now have an opportunity to tap the resources within the Eurocom Healthcare Communications Network. The Eurocom network concept was initiated in late 2003 and formally established in 2006, comprising independently owned communications agencies in the five major European countries and the US-based health care advertising agency Topin & Associates.

As the network rolls out an initiative to familiarize itself among companies who seek solutions for their global brands, Tony Chant, president of the London-based agency Eurocom Healthcare Communications (eurocomhealthcare.com), and managing director of the network, explains that the network brings the skills and talents of the diverse group together to provide a communications solution to clients rather than selling them an advertising idea. Although Eurocom is not the first independent network to come into the marketplace, Mr. Chant says the network offers a number of differences.

"You have individuals within the countries that know their countries well and can make decisions quickly," Mr. Chant told Med Ad News. "So whatever the client wants to do, they are able to speak to the very top management-the owner of those organizations-and they can get the network to make very fast decisions for them, which I don't think the other networks can do in quite the same way."

One case in point is the launch and ongoing promotion of the Azilect brand, marketed by US-based Teva Neuroscience Inc. (tevaneuroscience.com). Topin & Associates was chosen as the global branding agency for the launch of Azilect, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The brand was to be launched globally with H. Lundbeck AS (Iundbeck.com) as a joint-marketing partner in Europe. The Eurocom network was instrumental in the development and execution of the launch campaign.

From the beginning, Topin and the Eurocom network shared input and worked as a team on brand positioning, key message development, creative, and market research. Together, the agency and network navigated through challenges, such as promotional restrictions with the product, and worked to refresh the global branding for Azilect.

"As we were working on Azilect for Teva Neuroscience and Lundbeck, we did the global branding with Tony, and we worked together from inception," says AI Topin, president, Topin & Associates (topin.com). "Then as it rolled out, Tony did the brand book in Europe and worked with a number of other agencies to do the rollout."