Business & Professional
Prescription
For Success
.
Couple start BIG and get bigger
with the pharmaceutical industry.
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
0
n the outside, it doesn't
look big at all — more .
like an empty, non-
descript office building in a row
of light industrial structures in
Ferndale.
But on the inside, it's really big
— BIG Communications, that is;
a modern, uniquely designed inte-
rior, housing an innovative, bus-
tling, $10 million a year business.
The strategic marketing and
communications company was
founded by a young Jewish couple
in a basement and has grown to
be nationally recognized — with
most of the major pharmaceutical
firms in the nation as its custom-
ers. Promo magazine calls it the
second fastest-growing promo-
tional marketing company in the
U.S., and Inc. magazine ranks it
the 167th fastest-growing private-
ly held company in the country.
What makeS the success story
all the more amazing is that the
multi-billion-dollar-a-year phar-
maceutical industry was probably
the furthest thing from the minds
of Lisa Stern, who was a French
major, and Scott Stern, a music
major, both at the University of
Michigan, when they contem-
plated forming BIG. The Sterns,
both 38, with three children,
bounced around a few basements
and small office buildings before
landing in the 20,000-square-foot
"home" in Ferndale.
Now, about 60 employees,
dressed in casual clothes, scurry
around their open-bullpen-type
offices, decorated with dart
boards and signs with catchy
phrases, working on their com-
puters and other high-tech equip-
ment."We develop innovative
programs to engage, educate,
motivate and influence sales forc-
es and healthcare professionals:'
said Lisa, CEO and president of
BIG. Scott is senior vice president
of client services.
The couple have known each
other since they attended Temple
Israel's Sunday school. Lisa went
on to Bloomfield Hills Andover
High School and Scott attended
North Farmington. After college,
Lisa studied French in Paris,
performed and was a writer for
a touring comedy troupe, then
entered the video production
business, specializing in videos
for such clients as Chevrolet,
Compuware and Masco.
Scott wrote commercial musical
compositions for large firms to be
used on radio and television. In
fact, Lisa was one of Scott's clients.
The Sterns decided to expand
their horizons and run their own
business. They joined forces com-
mercially — and romantically
— in 1994, getting married and
operating BIG Communications
out of the basement of the home
of Scott's parents, Norton and
Sherrie Stern in Farmington Hills.
They later moved to the basement
of their own home in Commerce.
"We took advantage of the tech-
nology boom among computer
companies and other sophisti:
cated, high-tech firms:' said Scott.
"We found our niche in technol-
ogy and became a full-blown
marketing and communications
operation. We got away from the
automotive business altogether.
"We moved to a small office in
Birmingham in 1997, then anoth-
er office in Royal Oak in 2000. We
hired 10 employees and secured a
number of high-tech customers.
"Everything was going great
— until Sept. 11, 2001, when our
business came to a complete halt,
and we laid off everyone."
The terrorist attacks on
America.also attacked the nation's
economy; many businesses were
cutting back and suddenly didn't
need marketing and
communications assis-
tance.
"We realized we just
had to re-invent our-
selves to survive,' Lisa
said. "We borrowed
money from our family
and friends, and decided
we needed a completely
new industry. We did
a lot of research and
chose the pharmaceuti-
cal industry. One reason
was what I call the 'I want that'
factor. The pharmaceuticals have
so many brands of medicine that
many customers are bound to say,
`I want this: or 'I want that."
The Sterns started hiring again
and began a system of what Lisa
refers to as "psycho dialing" —
making hundreds of daily phone
calls to pharmaceutical firms,
asking for their business. "Along
the way:' said Lisa, "we hired
some medical -writers and learned
everything we could about the
industry, the regulations, the com-
pliance rules, the technical details,
the language — everything.
"Tinally, Abbott Laboratories in
Chicago gave us a break and took
us on."
Scott said, "Our business has
grown by 1,000 percent over the
last four years, doing about $10
million a year, and we're now the
leading health care communica-
tion company focusing on physi-
cian education."
BIG Communications has 16
of the top pharmaceutical com-
panies in the nation as its cus-
tomers, including such giants as
Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck,
Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb and,
of course, Abbott.
"Basically, we train the
people at these companies:' Lisa
explained. "We strategize, then
design and create marketing and
communications programs and
deliver them to the pharmaceuti-
cal companies through materials,
films and workshops. We arrange
seminars and sales meetings in
a seamless fashion; nothing falls
through the cracks."
Visitors to doctors' offices prob-
ably notice representatives of
pharmaceutical companieS with
attaché cases entering the waiting
rooms, then going in to see doc-
tors for a brief time. "Our job is to
insure those salespeople make the
most of their few minutes with
the physician, and we emphasize
brand awareness:' Lisa said. "We
help the companies maximize
sales representative time. They
have to understand the many
brands and their complex chal-
lenges."
BIG even provides the sales
reps with audio information they
can listen to while driving to
appointments or while waiting in
the physician's office.
Because 80 percent of its cus-
tomers are based in the Northeast,
BIG maintains an office with
some account executives in
Cherry Hill, N.J. The company
also has an advisory board com-
posed of physicians and other
health-care professionals who
help develop marketing plans.
The Sterns credit two Jewish
executives with helping them
achieve success. Brad Oleshansky
of Birmingham is chief operat-
ing officer and David Goldman
of Farmington Hills is senior vice
president for new business devel-
opment.
Arik Green, a native of Israel
who operates his own design firm,
created BIG's interior that the
Sterns like to call a "comfy cozy
design, sort of similar to a New
York loft." Added Lisa, "It provides
a relaxed, informal and pleasant
atmosphere that complements our
young, creative work force."
When the Sterns are relaxing
on their own, they devote a lot of
time to volunteering at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield. Scott
plays the piano keyboard for
some family services and in the
"Shabbat Unplugged" band. He
also has written a few songs for
the "Unplugged" concerts.
Lisa works on graphics with
Rabbi Josh Bennett and his wife,
Meg. The latter also does freelance
graphics work for BIG.
"The Sterns are really a hard-
working couple, very talented
and aggressive, and they have
done an amazing job with BIG
Communications:' said Meg
Bennett.
BIG's biggest challenge now,
according to Scott, is "just keep-
ing up with this huge growth on a
daily basis, maintaining new pro-
cesses and systems and stressing
to our employees to keep up the
good work."
August 3 - 2006
33