Ogilvy & Mather is to rebrand the company’s healthcare offering, combining Ogilvy PR’s healthcare practice with Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide.
“As the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries undergo huge transformation and consolidation, they demand a new agency model,” noted Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide chairman & CEO Matt Giegerich.
“The new model blows up the old-world agency architecture, built on separate discipline pillars, and instead pulls together and integrates the experts around their domain expertise regardless of their function (advertising, med ed, direct, PR, or social).”
On the back of the merger, Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide has also overhauled the combined company’s management structure, appointing Kate Cronin to the Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide board.
She previously led both Ogilvy PR and the New York office and will preside over the integration of the two companies, reporting to Giegerich and Ogilvy Public Relations’ global CEO Christopher Graves.
“I’ve long admired Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide’s depth of healthcare expertise and commitment to clients,” remarked Cronin.
“Our joint vision is to be experts in healthcare marketing communications and bring our deep industry knowledge and forward-thinking approaches to our clients.
“Transitioning to the healthcare role full time affords me the ability to bring my heritage and expertise to clients, while establishing the precedent for future integrated communications efforts in the healthcare sector.”
As Cronin moves across into the healthcare role, Robert Mathias, president of Ogilvy Washington, will serve as the New York office’s acting head, while a replacement is found.