Aurora

Aurora

www.auroracomms.com

Clover House

147-149 Farringdon Road

London

EC1R 3HN

Longest-held clients

Fresenius Kabi, Lilly, Novartis

New business contact

Neil Crump, MD and owner, neil@auroracomms.com, +44 (0)7738 206153

 

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CEO/MD

Claire Eldridge and Neil Crump, managing directors and owners

Email

claire@auroracomms.com

neil@auroracomms.com

Telephone

+44 (0) 20 7148 4170

Describe your agency in five words

Great work makes everybody happy

How would you sum up 2011 at your agency?

A year of incredible growth in many ways: growing our work with existing clients, growing our list of new clients, growing our talented team, growing the range of services through practice groups, growing into bigger premises, and growing our income by 61%.

What was your agency’s high point of 2011?

Other than the growth mentioned above, one particular high point was the return of the only team member who ever left, restoring our staff retention to 100% over six years.

What was the low point?

When the sausage BBQ disappeared from Exmouth Market.

Please give an overview of your staffing through 2011, including significant hires and internal promotions.

We added five new people to our team, including the returning team member. We are proud to have given four interns, two of them graduates, a chance to gain paid work experience with us last year, with the two graduates joining us permanently at the start of this year. Three of our team were promoted. We continue to grow into 2012.

What were your three best campaigns of 2011?

1. We continued to support Novartis for the fourth year on the launch of the world’s first MS pill.This included a high-profile media campaign and successful communications around multiple health technology appraisal milestones.
2. We worked with Janssen to develop a suite of materials that help clinicians to better manage their patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The ‘Your day’ consultation resource and the ‘How’s today been?’ smart phone app allow clinicians and young people to explore the times of the day they find most challenging, helping them make informed decisions about the best ways of managing life with ADHD.
3. We conducted an extensive social media listening exercise for Roche in four different disease areas. The listening outputs enabled brand teams to make informed decisions about whether integration of social media was appropriate for their 2012 activities.

What were your most exciting client wins of 2011?

There are nine new clients to choose from. It was good to start working with GSK – a new client company for Aurora. An early win for a GSK/Amgen co-promote was great and Amgen has proved to be a big growth client for us since. A flurry of wins towards the end of the year was exciting, among them a US company, C8 Medisensors, the leader in non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes. As always, it was a pleasure to be awarded more work from existing happy clients, including Novartis and Roche.

Of which achievement in 2011 are you most proud?

Managing the growth of the agency without compromising on having happy clients and a happy team. The team is very much involved in how Aurora will continue to grow without growing pains.

What trends did you notice throughout the year in the industry?

We see a continued focus on digital communications from clients and are keen to work with them to ensure that digital campaigns are fully integrated and not a bolt-on. Some say traditional media is dying out but we know that coverage remains extremely important to clients and influences online conversations. It is as important as ever to have excellent journalist relationships. Margins continue to be squeezed as clients expect more for their money.

Tell us how your digital work became more measurably effective in 2011.

Previously digital programmes were measured based on the ‘buzz’ they generated. As content sharing now drives a truly social web, measurement has changed and we are able to demonstrate behaviour changes and real business benefits.  Our own agency experience means we are perfectly placed to advise clients and develop digital tools that align with brand strategies and deliver clear business benefits.

What’s your priority for the agency this year?

To continue the pattern of strong growth while maintaining team and client stability. We particularly want to continue to design and deliver high-impact campaigns for our clients that have a positive impact on people's health. Our experience shows we can make a difference.