Past Meetings

Corporate Production in the Pharmaceutical Industry

A panel discussion with the heads of video studios

at three major pharmaceutical corporations

(in alphabetical order by company):

Mary Beth Erickson, Bristol-Myers Squibb Corp.

Marybeth has been Studio Manager for BMS Films for the past 3 1/2 years. She has worked in the video production field for over 17 years, mostly as an independent contractor serving as producer, project manager and director for a wide variety of productions.  Mary Beth has a BA in Broadcasting from Montclair State University.

Michael Lillo, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

Mike is Manager, Communication Services, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. He has worked in video production for 18 years, including 12 years as an independent contractor and the past 6 years with Novartis. He received his Master's Degree in Corporate and Public Communication from Seton Hall University in 2005. In 1990-91 Mike was the President of this chapter when it was known as ITVA North Jersey.

Andrew Cordery, Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals US

Andrew has worked in the video production field for approximately 20 years, the last four as Video Project Manager in the Multimedia Services division of Johnson & Johnson, whose business has increased in scope every year of his tenure. Before joining J&J, Andrew worked for several smaller vendors doing extensive pharmaceutical work. Andrew has a BA in Radio, Television, and Film from Temple University.

At  The College of St. Elizabeth, St. Joseph’s Hall (Student Union) 2 Convent Road, Morristown, NJ 07690

New Jersey is home to the headquarters of about one third of all the major US pharmaceutical companies. This vital and successful industry is essential to everyone’s health, as well as to the economy of our state, our country and the entire world. Each of our participating companies maintains an active visual communications presence, not just in advertising to professionals and consumers, but on an internal level as well.

 The subjects discussed included  

• departmental organization (in-house vs. freelance) 
• the kind of work done within each company: Who are your clients? In what area is your department?
• creative factors vs. content limitations
• the mix of scripted programs to “news” events
• equipment and facilities
• the current political climate relating to the pharmaceutical industry
• and much more

Meeting Review: 

by Dave Sica

Our March meeting promised to be the best attended and most worthwhile meeting of the year. It lived up to the hype -- and more!

Why was it such a success?

This meeting was billed as a frank and honest look at production practices in one of the most active, dynamic sectors of business and industry. And our panelists delivered on that promise. Honest (sometimes brutally honest) assessments of the good, the bad and the ugly sides of corporate video production were freely offered. The relationships between on-site media services, agencies and freelance production personnel were discussed in-depth. The sometimes widely-differing dynamics of three of the largest players in the business were compared and the similarities of mission and practice were discussed.

With a disarming and frequently self-depracting sense of humor and a keen sense of where they came from and where they're heading, our panelists provided a perspective on the ups and downs of their careers, their departments their vendors and the overall industry that was alternately encouraging and alarming, and frequently amusing! 

If you missed this meeting, you missed the definitive look into the workings of contemporary corporate video.  

Our panelists: Mike Lillo, Andrew Cordery and Mary Beth Erickson

Our host Ron Loneker welcomes us to the College of St. Elizabeth. Emcee Paul Payten kept things moving.

Attendees at a sold-out event.

Dick Van Deusen of Media Strategies, Inc. wrote a review in his newsletter which included the following: 

(For those of you who have come to the industry only recently -say within the past twenty or thirty years, Dick was one the people who founded what today has become MCA-I.)

Pharmaceutical Industry Media Production Alive and Very Well

On March 21, 2007, the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the Media Communications Association – International sponsored a panel discussion with the media department managers from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals. The primary emphasis and experience of all three managers was in video production, though all were also involved in or expanding into trade show and sales conference support. Here is what they had to say about the current and future of video and media production in this major industry segment.

Mike Lillo, Manager, Communications Services, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ

The 1996 merger of Sandoz and Ciba Geigy triggered a major reduction and refocus of media services at Novartis, with the Ciba Geigy emphasis on photography and meetings taking precedence over the video operations at Sandoz.

In 1998, along with other changes in management, the entire in-house media staff was let go and the company moved to total reliance on outside production companies and agencies for their marketing communications. With the arrival of a new CEO (formerly with J&J), the media organization was brought back to life with a $500,000 investment and Mark Lillo was appointed Manager. He was, and remains, the only full time employee in the operation, relying on 4 full time contractors and freelancers brought in on a per project basis. His responsibilities were recently expanded from Video to all Communication Services reflecting his move into different communications areas and the general increasing demand for media in the company.

Last year he was given $150,000 capital investment budget... ...which successfully reduced outside production costs. Most editing is now done in-house using contract and freelance staff.

Mike’s organization is responsible for internal communications for the U.S. only. Corporate communications is the responsibility of a corporate group in Basel Switzerland.

He says it’s all about building relationships. Pick up the phone and say “Yes”, but, as the work load is increasing, he’s becoming more and more inclined to say “No” though with caution.

Mary Beth Erickson, Studio Manager, BMS Films, Bristol-Myers Squibb Corporation, Plainsboro, NJ

The company has studios in Plainsboro (large enough for four simultaneous sets, a smaller one in Lawrenceville and a small insert stage in New York. The latter ordered by a former CEO who used it for simple communications. They have remote equipment and 8 editing suites and a staff of 15, having added 12 in the past year with three current staff openings. A significant number of freelancers are used on a regular basis. Very often BMS Films will have six or more projects in production on any given day.

Mary Beth has been with the company for three and a half years and they have tripled production every year since, having done 585 projects in 2006. Per project production costs range from $1,000 up to $300,000. When she came on full time, there were two people on staff. We note that at that time, the company had gone through some severe financial problems and, in fact, had offered itself for sale, but was unable to find a buyer.

BMS Films has developed a matrix that allows them to compare the costs of doing work internally with that of using outside production companies or agencies. This was developed through rate sheet comparisons and was validated by Ernst and Young. Using this matrix, BMS Films is able to report cost savings to management and their clients on a regular basis. These savings are typically in multi-million dollar ranges and they report having saved $3,000 as of the March date of this meeting in 2007. Mary Beth believes their very existence depends on the cost savings they can prove. Their comparisons have shown their costs as being 50% less than outside. In addition to communications and sales training programs, BMS Films does post production for broadcast and radio commercials.

They do not bill back for facilities and it is unclear whether staff time is billable or how these costs are accounted for in the overall comparative calculations. However, in part because of the demonstrable savings, they recently received a budget of over $600,000 to invest in facilities in order to better compete with outside services.

Andrew Cordery, Video Project Manager, Multimedia Services Division, Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Raritan, NJ

To see the full story on how this department which had been on a full-charge back accounting system, on the verge of being eliminated to a fully funded, high profile strategic partner, see our 2005 interview with Tom Eckert. Note that there are five media departments in the J&J family of companies, including J&J Corporate in New Brunswick and Neutrogena in Los Angeles.

Multimedia Services benchmarked outside costs using known charges, rate sheets and estimates from outside producers and agency preferred vendors to establish comparative cost information. As a result, like BMS Films, they are in a position to report cost savings on a per project basis. They are also able to provide comparative pricing in the pre-production project estimating phase.  A typical example would be a quote of $105,000 for internal production of a project that would be projected to cost $250,000 if done by an outside agency. They have great faith in their estimating ability and will never go over budget or ask for a budget increase unless the client significantly changes the scope of the project.

Note that under the fully funded model, clients pay all out of pocket costs directly. Overhead costs for staff and facilities are funded by the clients annually based on their projected media needs.

Media Services considers itself to be an on-site agency, doing high quality creative work in competition with the agencies and they are frequently in competition with agencies for specific projects. They also have working relationships with agencies and which involves doing some portion of the work for the agencies, such as post production, where it is less expensive to use the in-house facilities.

Demand for their services is increasing. They have to be a bit careful to avoid being overwhelmed by demand. They have a seat at the strategic planning table and many of their clients ask that a representative of the media group attend early planning sessions. Freelancers are invited to contribute creative ideas for projects, though the only payback is a possible job if the idea sells.

Their current staff is supplemented by contractors. They are currently considering signing with a contract services manager to handle all freelance and permalancer arrangements.

Summary and Conclusions

The audience of about 50 people was primarily composed of independent producers, videographers, and voice over talent, typical of an MCA-I gathering. Overall, however, it was the largest turnout seen at an MCA-I chapter meeting in recent memory.

The panelists were empathetic with the audience, since all of them had begun as freelancers who morphed into corporate management positions. They loved doing what they were doing; however, none of them were fond of the office politics and management responsibilities that went with that transition. 

Unlike companies we’ve heard from in the financial services industry, none of these companies were doing much at all with High Definition or even DVCam. In fact Novartis is still shooting on Betacam. CD and DVD replication and distribution is being replaced with on-line distribution, with increasing utilization of iPods. As we have seen with other companies, however, this form of distribution is limited because some of the sales representatives in the field do not have high speed internet access. As Andrew Cordery commented, their distribution technology is determined by the lowest common denominator. That is, the minimum available to any of their field sales representatives.

This was an excellent program, one we wish we could see more of.  

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MCA-I North Jersey proudly presents our December Holiday Party!

December 6, 2006, 6 – 9pm The Park Avenue Club 184 Park Avenue Florham Park, NJ 07932 Join eleven Marketing & Communications associations for the Fourth Annual Holiday Networking Event. There will be butler-passed Hors D’oeuvres, Food Stations, Drinks, Desserts, Door Prizes, many great networking opportunities, and much holiday celebration. Register today at (201) 998-5133 or www.njadclub.org. $55.00 per person before December 6th! You can mail your payment to NJ Ad Club - 199 Prospect Ave, North Arlington, NJ 07031 Remember, at The Park Avenue Club, proceeds go to eleven local charities – giving us even more to celebrate during this wonderful holiday season!

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

* AMA-NJ American Marketing Association New Jersey Chapter * * ADCNJ Art Directors Club of NJ * * BMA-NJ Business Marketing Association New Jersey Chapter * * CCI Corporate Communication Institute* * CCM Council of Communication Management * * MENG Marketing Executives Networking Group * * NJAdClub New Jersey Advertising Club * * NJ/IABC New Jersey Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators * * NJ/IABC Student Chapter * * PRSA-NJ Public Relations Society of America – New Jersey * * MCAi-NJ Media Communications Association International North Jersey*

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