Aurora

Describe your agency in five words

Happy team and happy clients

How would you sum up 2010 for your agency?

Aurora really came of age in 2010, highlighted by the fact we increased our fee income by a third. We more clearly defined our speciality practices, launched a new website, gained lots of new clients and increased the number of Aurorians in our amazing team.

What was your agency’s high point of 2010?

Moving into a very lovely new office in Farringdon, London. We can see the BT tower and London Eye from our lofty position.

What was the low point of 2010?

Losing a member of staff to a competitor – our first and only leaver since we started five years ago.

Please give an overview of your staffing through 2010, including significant hires and internal promotions.

We hired two new team members, promoted three and our first ever hire achieved PR Week’s 29 under 29 status. We continue to celebrate having a 98% staff retention rate.

What were your three best campaigns of 2010?

Media relations: Going head to head in a race for media coverage when data for Novartis’ pipeline MS product and a competitor pipeline product were published in the same issue of the same journal. Winning the race, with fingolimod covered in nearly all national daily papers, online and on BBC Breakfast News and ITV News.

Branding: Launching long-standing client Fresenius Kabi into the branded generics market in Asia-Pacific and achieving full uptake by nine marketing companies, including the new proposition, messaging and branding.

Market access: Introducing to payers a client’s COPD portfolio as a new ‘one-stop-shop’ model developed for the benefit of payers and patients, leading to enhanced reputation for the client among this difficult to reach audience.

What were your most exciting client wins of 2010?

Every new client win is exciting. We particularly like it when existing clients award us more business, like Roche, Novartis and Lilly. But new clients such as Janssen and Norgine are great.

Of which achievement in 2010 are you most proud?

Delivering on our promise to keep our clients and team happy.

What trends did you notice throughout the year in the industry i.e. Clients taking longer to sign off budgets?

Clients understandably tightened their purse strings during 2010 and procurement people were a familiar sight at our pitches. We were pleased that a majority of our new business came from our existing clients. A trend in 2010 was undertaking much more project-based activity and ensuring that these projects were highly measurable in every respect.

How has digital changed the agency landscape in 2010?

As the world becomes more chatty, with social media taking a front seat, Aurora has been pleased to lead by example, teaching clients from our own social media adventures.

What are your plans for 2011?

More of the same... more growth, more happy clients, a bigger team who stay happy and don’t ever leave!