• by Larissa Faw , April 21, 2015

Last year, industry veterans Robert Finkel and John Kane shut down their healthcare ad agency Kane & Finkel after 17 years. Now Robert Finkel is back in the game with FreshBlood, a new creative consulting firm specializing in the healthcare industry.

Aimed at biopharma, medical device developers, digital health pioneers and health care ad agencies, FreshBlood offers commercialization strategy, business analytics, brand strategy development, creative services, digital media strategy, and agency search. Finkel stresses that FreshBlood is not an ad agency nor a pure consultancy. If anything, it’s a hybrid of the two.

FreshBlood’s infrastructure is nontraditional compared to that of an advertising agency that relies on staffing full-time employees. The company currently has around 15 associates -- ranging from senior-level marketing and creative experts, management consultants, and brand strategists to medical communications specialists -- who comprise the initial FreshBlood consortium. The shop expects to add to this roster over time. 

"FreshBlood is the culmination of years of experience in the field," said Finkel. "I've always taken an active role in addressing the critical issues that companies across the spectrum of the healthcare industry encounter, from pre-commercialization and market-shaping activities through to product launch and global brand strategy. FreshBlood's model blends expert knowledge, senior talent and fresh perspective --beverything that a healthcare company or ad agency needs in terms of analytics, strategy and creative firepower. I see us as being a kind of 'force multiplier' for immediate and interim challenges."

The name FreshBlood was selected to capture the unique nature of the creative consultancy business model. Plus, FreshBlood is meant to hold a double meaning, he says. On one hand, there is the essential tie to health-related subject matter. An additional meaning relates to how FreshBlood acts as a primary source of nourishment and rejuvenation.

FreshBlood's initial client base includes Versartis Pharmaceuticals, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Optovue, Klick Health and DDB Worldwide.