A cheerful, red, balloon-shaped shell frames the snack bar at the Loop headquarters of healthcare advertising leader AbelsonTaylor.

The nook also symbolizes the company’s rise to success. AbelsonTaylor, named 2007 Agency of the Year this month by the healthcare publication Medical Marketing & Media, came into its own in 1993 with an advertisement featuring a red balloon.

The ad featured the high blood pressure medication Hytrin and used a red water balloon and clothespin to demonstrate how the Abbott Laboratory drug eased blood pressure.

Dale Taylor, president and CEO of AbelsonTaylor, said the ad  (aimed at doctors rather than patients) pioneered the use of symbolism and metaphor at a time when pharmaceutical ads featured molecules and charts.

“That’s when the phone started ringing,” Taylor said.

The phones have been ringing ever since. For 11 of the past 12 years, industry peers have named the company the “most creative” in the U.S. in an annual industry survey. In addition, AbelsonTaylor’s individual ad campaigns have won a slew of industry awards and the company gained 13 new brand assignments in 2007.

Dr. Shastri Swaminathan, president-elect of the Illinois State Medical Society, said advertising aimed at doctors allows physicians to access information about medications that might be outside their area of specialization. The industry advertising is available via talks, magazines and publications that include medical journals.

“Those are the most effective and seem to be the most helpful to me,” he said, of advertising geared toward doctors.

Today, AbelsonTaylor oversees 40 accounts, of which only six are aimed at consumers. 

Direct-to-consumer prescription advertising has taken off since the 1980s, in response to the political and regulatory climate as well as a stronger emphasis on the role of the patient in making medical decisions, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association,. Still, AbelsonTaylor’s focus remains mostly on doctors and the medical community.

“No one makes decisions to prescribe a drug based on advertising,” Taylor said. Instead, an advertiser’s purpose is to remind healthcare professionals of the facts behind the advertising. And the facts are what doctors seem to want even if the approach is creative, Taylor said. 

AbelsonTaylor’s clients include GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen Inc., Wyeth and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. AbelsonTaylor has grown every year since its inception, with a 25 percent increase in growth from 2005 to 2006, followed by a 9 percent increase in growth from 2006 to 2007.

“Our major goal is to stay the most creative in the business and growth will take care of itself,” Taylor said, stating that maintaining a creative staff is key to this process.

“The number of people allowed to work on the creative process sort of makes it fun and special,” said Jody Van Swearingen, an associate creative director of art at AbelsonTaylor.

AbelsonTaylor employs 120 “creatives” who produce ideas and images for the various campaigns. Teams of creatives pitch different ideas and compete against each other in hopes of seeing their ideas ultimately succeed.

Competition is alive and well at AbelsonTaylor, Taylor said.