Relationship Overview

It was time for a checkup

Merck is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Every day, they improve the lives of millions through breakthrough medications and vaccines. The challenge? Merck had so many traditional agencies of record (AORs) supporting dozens of brands that making critical updates and modifications had become highly inefficient in terms of time and ROI. So Merck needed a new kind of partner—one that could not only deliver great work but could also deliver against demanding timelines and keep marketing efforts on track.

We had the remedy

Aquent Studios partnered with Merck on a multifaceted, long-term engagement to efficiently identify, modify, and produce creative deliverables at scale when FDA or market changes were required. Several new and existing functions were created and staffed while a dedicated studio that is experienced with pharma requirements partners with Brand teams and their AORs.

What did that mean? New operational processes. New workflows. Detailed SOPs. And even new roles that increased Merck's speed to market with updated marketing campaigns. Right from the start, we proved that we could deliver—and within three months, Merck asked us to support additional teams and lanes of work. Now, we partner with Merck's Marketing Promotions, Market Access, Medical Education, Internal Communications, Digital Engagement, and Agile teams to provide outsourced capabilities in design, marketing, promotions, and project management.

Collective health

What began as a studio of 5 is now 160 strong, touching more than 40 brands across all product categories. Our 13+ year partnership has saved Merck tens of millions of dollars over traditional AORs, thanks to our efforts in implementing better ways to deliver on-brand creative at scale. And guess what? Our processes are so good, they're now standard operating procedure for Merck internally—we even train new Merck employees and agencies on them. Now, when an operational challenge arises, our champions at Merck often ask, “Have you talked to Aquent Studios about that?”

Relationship Overview

A directional dilemma

Adobe's mission is to harness the power of creativity to push the boundaries of what's possible. The challenge? Their 30+ Creative Directors were so busy managing multiple agencies and contractors that they spent more time drafting briefs and reviewing often off-the-mark work than actually driving the creative vision.

Full speed ahead

We partnered with Adobe to build and scale a virtual, integrated Studio that put their Creative Directors back in the driver's seat. Our creatives work directly with Adobe creative leadership. That means synergy and trust are there from the start, and communication is constant—beyond any agency they've worked with. And because we're tapped into Adobe's priorities and work, we're always a step ahead—and always able to pull in resources and build our teams to make big things happen. Fast.

The destination

Elevated, premium work that delivers on the Adobe brand—that's what we created right from the start, and faster than expected.

We can't share everything we do for Adobe, but we can tell you that we do a lot—Creative & Art Direction, Graphic Design & Illustration, Animation & Motion Graphics, Production Design, Video Production & Editing, UX Design & Copywriting, UI Design, Copywriting & Editorial, Studio & Project Management, and more.

To date, our partnership has grown from a studio of 26 to more than 80. Every day, Adobe relies on Aquent Studios to do things other partners can't—like enabling their in-house agency to deliver more breakthrough work than ever before.