Cencora

The Challenge

How do you build a globally recognised brand in a fragmented industry, while engaging niche decision-makers at scale?

Following a major rebrand, Cencora needed to be seen, remembered and preferred by the decision-makers who matter. But in a world where B2B buying journeys are self-directed and audiences span pharma-specific and mainstream channels, traditional awareness tactics fall short. Cencora needed a new model of brand building – rooted in discoverability and relevance, not reach.

The Insight

Discoverability isn’t just about showing up, it’s about showing up in the right context, at the right moment, to the right audience.

ROAST identified that high-value pharma audiences in Mid-to-Large Pharma and Emerging Biotech were active around major industry events, consuming a mix of trusted trade media and mainstream digital platforms, and receptive to high-quality video and contextual placements – but resistant to broad, generic digital advertising. The opportunity wasn’t mass awareness. It was precision-driven visibility that could translate directly into long-term consideration.

The Solution

A phased media strategy engineered to build visibility, familiarity and relevance – using creative storytelling and contextual intelligence.

Wave 1 launched Cencora at scale: high-impact OOH around JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, premium sponsorships with STAT, Fierce Pharma and Endpoints, and broad YouTube, LinkedIn and programmatic coverage. 35M+ impressions – Cencora entered the market with authority, not noise.

Wave 2 moved to video storytelling to build familiarity. We targeted senior R&D, Commercial and Strategy decision-makers, contextualised around ISPOR and BIO. 5.2M YouTube views at 73% completion – significantly above B2B benchmarks.

Wave 3 tightened to ABM retargeting and Blis geo-retargeting of conference attendees from JPM, BIO, ISPOR and Asembia. 37,000+ post-event clicks via geo-retargeting – conference audiences re-engaged with precision. CTRs hit 1.23% in Montreal and 1.02% in Barcelona. Each wave built on the last.

The Result

Cencora needed to be seen by the right people, in the right context, at the right moment – and the awareness data confirmed it worked.