|
Past Heroes, Future Visionaries |
 |
 |
MM&M, November 2005
By James Chase
[Download PDF]
One of the things we suffer from in this industry, says Tom Domanico,
chairman and chief executive of FCB Healthcare, is that we’ve lost our
clients from the perspective of how they value us. “That is a major,
major thing in terms of what they look at and what our contributions
are.”
Domanico has just taken the reins of the Medical Advertising Hall of
Fame (MAHF) from its chairman emeritus, Euro RSCG Life chief executive
Ron Pantello. And while tackling present-day issues might not be the
most obvious concern for an organization that preserves the past, both
Domanico and Pantello are keen to stress that MAHF’s contribution to
medical advertising goes way beyond its historical perspective. “The
question is how do we demonstrate that we are valuable in what we do
other than working with the clients daily in our programs?” asks
Domanico. “The more we do to advertise ourselves, to promote ourselves,
to put ourselves in the best light, the more the total industry
benefits.”
MAHF was formed in 1996, following a lunch between Pantello and David
Gideon, then publisher of Medical Marketing & Media, during which
the two shared concerns that the industry’s rich history would soon be
lost. Both pledged resources, and soon after a committee was formed
with Pantello as chairman. The first MAHF dinner was held at the The
Plaza, New York the following February, where 500 guests honored the
first five inductees, including Rolf Werner Rosenthal, Robert A. Becker
and Matthew J. Hennessey.
“I called Matt [Hennessey] on the phone to let him know about it,”
recalls Pantello. “and he said, ‘I don’t think I can make it.’ Matt is
basically a very shy person. So I said, “You know, this would be very
sad if you didn’t come because a lot of people would like to say thank
you.’ He said, ‘What do you mean a lot of people?’ I told him 500 and
he said, ‘Well, I can make it then.’”
To date, 41 legends have been inducted, not only agency founders, but
also creatives, publishers, marketing research people and even a
pharmaceutical company executive — all of whom are memorialized on the
Hall of Fame’s Web site, www.mahf.com. But MAHF’s accomplishments go
beyond the induction dinner. The organization is nearing completion of
a painstaking effort to collect and archive as many pieces of medical
advertising it can find. The plan is to create a phenomenal resource,
the only archive in this industry, whereby users can search for ads by
category or era. Much of the work will eventually be available on the
MAHF Web site, although the organization is planning also to give the
collection to an institution, probably Duke University, “for safe
keeping,” says Pantello.
Another important contribution has been the publication of the book Medicine Avenue,
which documents the history of medical advertising up to the early
1990s. “It’s a very classy piece and it speaks highly of the industry
itself and of the people in the industry,” says Domanico. “People come
on board at my agency, and [the book] immediately changes their
perspective on this business. They say, ‘Wow, there’s some top names in
here, these people really put a lot into it.’ That accomplishes a great
amount of publicity for us and that feeling of belonging for them, and
they aspire to it.”
Now MAHF is planning a second volume, Medicine Avenue II,
to bring the industry up to date. With a lot of the content focusing on
more contemporary topics, such as direct-to-consumer advertising,
Domanico believes it will open the door wider to some of the industry’s
younger talents. “They will be able to relate a little better to some
of the things we are going to demonstrate… because they’ll be part of
it,” he says.
Indeed, MAHF recognizes the need to involve younger people, and Medicine Avenue II
is seen as key to helping change the perception of MAHF in the eyes of
the industry’s young talent. “It’s been somewhat looked at as an old
boys’ club for a little bit,” says Domanico, “and we’ve been trying our
darndest to overcome that. I don’t think we’ve been that successful
yet.”
Another step MAHF has taken to break the “old boys” image is to
initiate a rotating chairmanship. Pantello was the group’s first and
only chairman, but now, with the recent changing of the guard, Domanico
will serve a fixed two-year term, after which Scott Cotherman, chief
executive of Corbett Accel Healthcare Group, will take the reins. The
idea, says Pantello, is to “bring in fresh blood, younger people who
have a passion for this business. This thing needs to be shared from
generation to generation. Scott is not an old fart like me and Tom,
he’s from a new generation who are going to ensure that the Hall of
Fame continues its good work.”
Pantello recognizes, however, that for MAHF to meet its mission this
quest for youth must be balanced with some maturity in the ranks. “You
need to have some gray hair and to have been in this industry for a
while, so that everything you do during the day doesn’t necessarily
have to do with you, and you have to be openhearted enough to make a
contribution to the industry that’s been so good to you,” he says.
“That’s not something you get when you’re 28 years old, or maybe even
38 years old.”
MAHF’s immediate task is to select the 2006 inductees from this year’s
nominations. The closure of New York’s The Plaza has forced the event
to be moved. The committee chose The Pierre.
One longer-term aspiration is for MAHF to have its own exhibit area in
the advertising museum of New York, something which the AAAA is hoping
to build. “It’s now just a dream,” says Pantello, “but it’s hoped that
one day the dream will come true.”
Back to other articles.
|
|
