George Recine
Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director
PRECISIONeffect
The Creative Vigilante
Some might call George Recine a “creative vigilante.” He rejects cliches and industry norms and isn’t afraid to admit his distaste for the standards of pharma advertising. In his own words, “A lot of creative work in pharma fails to connect. I think we can relate to our audiences better than what we’ve seen come to market. I understand the ground rules of pharma, but, years later, I’m still creating workarounds. I want to do better.”
George transitioned to pharma in 2010, after spending six years copywriting for Gotham Inc., where he worked across household brands like Newman’s Own, Maybelline, and Best Western. That experience helped shape his creative approach and instill a set of parameters he hasn’t sacrificed since joining the industry. He says, “I won’t accept work that doesn’t raise an eyebrow, or make a person stop and think.”
An example is the agency’s work with Auvi-Q, a pocket-sized epinephrine auto-injector designed for kids with life-threatening allergies (LTA). The product and company were being relaunched, requiring the team to build the brand from the ground up. George drilled down into the lists every parent makes for when their children are out of sight—an emergency phone number for the babysitter or sneakers for recess—and added Auvi-Q to the list. The resulting ResponseAbility campaign was enthusiastically received by the two founding brothers (who faced life-threatening allergies themselves) and helped Auvi-Q quickly capture more than 20% market share—all the more impressive given the legacy brands and competitiveness of the therapeutic area.
George’s deep well of empathy and creative vision were also critical in the agency’s work for Biogen’s Spinraza, the life-changing drug for young children with spinal muscular atrophy, as it reached out to adult patients amidst many emerging competitors. George helped the team develop programs and materials that helped explain Spinraza’s unique value and ease the burdens of administration.
“He knows how to cut through the red tape, corporate jargon, and all other forms of [word George would say but I can’t in this forum],” says Ariel Dreyer, Associate Creative Director, PRECISIONeffect. “His top priority is making good work with good people.”
