Michael Dumigan Named Managing Director of New Operation

Austin, TX (Sept. 10, 2008) HC&B Healthcare Communications, one of the nation’s top 25 independent healthcare marketing firms, has opened an office in London, deepening its commitment to providing integrated global resources to a growing base of international clients. The new office will be headed by industry veteran Michael Dumigan, who joins the agency as managing director.

“Many clients today have worldwide operations and require partners who can operate effectively on an international scale,” said Kerry Hilton, president and CEO of HC&B. “Strengthening our global capabilities equips us to better serve our clients’ existing needs and to provide vital resources and knowledge to clients expanding into new geographic regions.”

Michael Dumigan, formerly managing director of Brand Create Limited, a London-based branding agency, brings wide-ranging experience in healthcare, consumer and corporate communications to his new role as managing director of the London office of HC&B Healthcare. His healthcare experience spans multiple therapeutic categories and includes work for Bristol-Myers Squibb, KCI International, and other major global corporations.

Dumigan’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in genetics from Northern Ireland’s Queens University of Belfast and a Master of Business Administration from Manchester Business School, one of the top-25 business schools in the world. He was an occasional lecturer on marketing for Open University, a distance-learning institution operating in 13 cites across the U.K., and is widely published, contributing articles to periodicals ranging from Pharmaceutical Times to the World Trade Organisation’s Annual Review. In 1997, Dumigan stood for Parliament (unsuccessfully) as a liberal democrat candidate for the cities of London and Westminster.

“We’re very pleased to have Michael leading our global expansion,” Hilton said. “His business vision and passion for healthcare align closely with HC&B’s corporate philosophy, and his intelligence, creativity and strong management skills have produced an impressive record of achievement.”

In his new role, Dumigan will have overall responsibility for the new London office, including its growth, development and day-to-day operations. He will oversee all current HC&B global accounts, working closely with HC&B management in the U.S. and reporting directly to Hilton. He will also lead new global business development efforts.

“We’ll hit the ground running because we have already won substantial global healthcare business with a client operating in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific,” Dumigan noted. “We’ve put a top-grade team in place in London and we are already working closely with our counterparts in the U.S. to deliver global solutions for a growing number of global healthcare brands.”

The new HC&B office will be based on the 16th floor of Centre Point at the heart of London’s West End, overlooking the City of London and Docklands (an upscale business and residential area flanking the River Thames) and conveniently close to the rail links for Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports. The address is 103 New Oxford St., London WC1A 1DD.

For additional information on HC&B’s global expansion and new London office, email Kerry Hilton at kerry.hilton@hcbhealth.com or phone (512) 320-8511. Michael Dumigan can be reached at michael.dumigan@hcbhealth.com or by phone at +44 203 102 5170.

Rankings Published by Medical Marketing & Media

AUSTIN, TX (July 8, 2008) HC&B Healthcare Communications, the leading healthcare marketing agency in the Southwest, has been ranked one of the top 60 healthcare firms in the nation in Medical Marketing & Media’s annual “Agency Issue” review, published this month. HC&B is already listed among the country’s top-25 independent healthcare agencies.

The new rankings, based on estimated revenue for 2007, place HC&B among some of the largest advertising networks in the U.S. and reflect the value of the agency’s distinctive approach to healthcare communications. HC&B serves the entire healthcare sector, including manufacturers (of high-tech medical devices, high-science pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, genetic engineering products); providers (physician groups, allied healthcare professionals, hospitals, managed care organizations, insurers); and consumers (patients, caregivers).

“Our deep understanding of how each healthcare sector relates to and influences the others is an important differentiating feature of our agency,” said Kerry Hilton, president and CEO of HC&B. “We see healthcare as a continuum and we see healthcare communications through a very different lens from other agencies.”

One of the fastest growing agencies in its field, HC&B has maintained a compounded 25 percent annual revenue growth since its inception in September 2001. Capitalized billings for 2007 were $26 million.

HC&B’s financial growth has tracked its parallel growth in accounts, service offerings and geographic presence. The agency won eight new assignments in the past year, adding accounts from Agennix, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems (ANS), Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Luminex Corporation, the Menninger Clinic, Optima Health, Senior Safe at Home, and VASER Lipo. The agency also launched a new division – HC&B Digital – and is in the final stages of establishing a London office to provide integrated global resources to a growing base of international clients.

HC&B’s work has won several awards in recent U.S. and global ad competitions, including an MM&M Award from Medical Marketing & Media and, most recently, four International Awards of Excellence from the Healthcare Communication and Marketing Association.

In addition to those already named, HC&B’s clients, both domestic and global, include Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI), Exagen Diagnostics, Solis Women’s Health, Sound Surgical Technologies, Kemin Health, Texas Oncology, the Scott & White Health Plan, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, Ponder & Co., and The Scooter Store. Agency services include advertising, research, interactive marketing, media planning and buying, trade show planning and promotion, clinical education, and speakers bureau development.

AUSTIN, TX (July 2, 2008) HC&B Healthcare Communications, one of the nation’s top 25 independent healthcare firms, has hired Erica Stevenson as account coordinator.

She will be working on the agency’s wide-ranging accounts, including managed care, physician medical groups, and hospital and diagnostic centers. She reports to Kim Carpenter, account director.

“Erica’s attention to detail will offer great support to our many accounts, which represent the full healthcare spectrum,” said Kerry Hilton, the agency’s CEO and creative director.

Before joining HC&B Healthcare full time, Stevenson, 21, worked as an account services intern for six months. Last year, during her 2007 summer break, she interned in the media department at SicolaMartin, an advertising and marketing subsidiary of Young & Rubicam Brands.

Stevenson received a B.S. in advertising from The University of Texas at Austin. She also served as vice president of Texas Lassos, a women’s service organization on campus dedicated to contributing to the University and Austin community. She lives in Austin, Tex.

Winning Campaigns – 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze – Underscore Agency’s Expertise Across Full Healthcare Spectrum

AUSTIN, TX (June 12, 2008) HC&B Healthcare Communications, one of the nation’s top 25 independent healthcare firms and the largest in the southwest, won four International Awards of Excellence – popularly known as the In-Awe Awards – in this year’s annual competition recognizing excellence in healthcare advertising as judged by strategy, creative execution and performance. Winners were announced by the Healthcare Communication and Marketing Association, sponsor of the awards, at a gala June 5 ceremony at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.

Reflecting HC&B’s experience in the full continuum of healthcare services and products, the agency’s In-Awe wins represent a broad range of clients and showcase HC&B’s work in both the professional and consumer arenas.

HC&B won two In-Awe awards in the category of consumer print ad campaigns, earning a gold award for the agency’s “Imagine” campaign created for the Menninger Clinic and a silver a award for its “Texas Friendly” ads developed for Scott & White Health Plans.

The ads for the Menninger Clinic, a Houston-based international psychiatric center  of excellence, use a series of hypothetical questions (“Imagine if people thought asthma was ‘all in your head’?”) to illustrate the misinformed and stigmatizing assumptions people frequently make about those with mental illness.

The Scott & White ads successfully tap into the deep human need for individual recognition and understanding, using simple but powerful associations (such as the shared joys of Friday night football games) to convey the message that Scott & White understands Texans and is uniquely committed to meeting their health insurance needs.

HC&B also won a gold award for a billboard teaser ad in the category of outdoor billboards. Created for Texas Oncology, the world’s largest group of medical professionals devoted exclusively to cancer care, the ad shows the words “I Can” standing out boldly and vividly while becoming incorporated into the words “FIGHT CANCER.”

HC&B’s fourth In-Awe win was a bronze award in the category of direct mail print campaigns for materials promoting the V.A.C GranuFoam Silver Dressing, a wound treatment system made by Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI).  Each element of the campaign graphically reinforces the product’s innovative and unique advancement of silver technology.

The International Awards of Excellence, or In-Awes, are among the healthcare advertising and marketing industry’s most prestigious honors. Established in 1985 by the Healthcare Communication and Marketing Association, the awards recognize excellence of performance in healthcare advertising as well as excellence in creativity and graphic execution.

“We’re honored to receive these awards, and thankful to the HCMA and In-Awe judges for recognizing our work,” said Kerry Hilton, president and CEO of HC&B.  “We’re also continually thankful to our clients for their support and partnership in making the work possible,” he added.

AUSTIN, TX (April 30, 2008) Capping seven years of double-digit growth in marketing to customers across the entire healthcare continuum, HC&B Healthcare Communications, one of the nation’s top 25 independent healthcare firms, has established a full-scale digital division.

The new business unit, HC&B Digital, will offer clients expanded digital capabilities, including strategy; web design and development; patient, physician and sales force education; internet marketing (search, email and social); and online media services. The division, which currently has seven employees, is expected to nearly double by the end of 2008. It will be headed by industry veteran Steven Roy, director of interactive, who has played a key role in building HC&B’s digital capabilities over the past two years.

According to Kerry Hilton, chief executive officer and one of HC&B’s founding partners, HC&B Digital was created to meet the demand for digital solutions among the agency’s clients. “The new digital division represents an expanded commitment to embracing a holistic and fully integrated approach to communicating with customers across all care settings,” he said.

Roy agreed, pointing to the Internet’s ability to break down barriers, improve communications and create personal relationships among marketers, providers,  and patients. “The goal of HC&B Digital,” he said, “is to capitalize on this potential, helping clients generate online awareness, drive qualified traffic, deliver leads, and  develop long-term relationships with their customers.”

Roy, who has a decade of experience in healthcare, technology and digital marketing, will have overall responsibility for HCB Digital, including its growth, development and day-to-day operations. He will oversee all current accounts in addition to leading new business development efforts, reporting to Kerry Hilton.

Before joining HC&B in 2006, Roy co-founded Yellow Circle, a web development agency that created online marketing initiatives, generated sales from existing customers, and oversaw creative and development teams for clients in the areas of healthcare, high tech, government, professional services and retail.

Before that, he was product manager and web developer for Net Home media, where he built online communities and developed tools to improve the user experience.

Roy, 33, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Md., and resides in Austin, Tex.