A MERGER THAT MATTERS
February 2, 2021 | www.mindplusmatter.com
Pegasus, Ashfield Digital and Creative and Cambridge Biomarketing relaunch as Mind+Matter ‘First-in-class’ global agency conceived to confront the toughest challenges in healthcare and wellness New global agency offers 24/7 access to sector experts with ‘unparalleled breadth and depth’ of capabilities The launch of Mind+Matter is one the transformational initiatives being announced as part of the rebranding of parent company Ashfield Healthcare Communications to Ashfield Health
Pegasus – the fifth largest healthcare agency in the UK – has merged with fellow Ashfield Health agencies Ashfield Digital and Creative (ADC) and Cambridge Biomarketing to form Mind+Matter, a ‘global creative powerhouse in health’.
Global President Ben Beckley says Mind+Matter will be the first global agency to create meaningful experiences by bringing data and emotion together to drive behaviour change.
“Health is the most vital, exhilarating frontier in communications, and we had to bring this global team of world-class experts together – even if we’re apart.”
“Covid has shown in an instant how our individual health is also a truly global issue, and we need to offer clients a deeply interconnected, cross-sector response to their challenges – we will supercharge health communications with big thinking that’s unafraid to confront the toughest problems out there.”
The Mind+Matter team now comprises more than 250 people providing global client support. Ben Beckley, former president of Cambridge Biomarketing, leads the new agency from Boston in the US, along with Managing Directors Corrina Safeio, Alyse Sukalski and Carina Whitridge, who head up the UK, US West Coast and US East Coast hubs respectively.
Combining proprietary data, a proven behaviour change methodology and emotive, award-winning creative, the new agency gives clients including Bayer, Holland & Barrett, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi access to a broad range of deep specialisms under one roof to ultimately drive better outcomes for clients and their audiences.
“This is a merger that matters,” explains Ben. “It’s a genuine meeting of minds between three thriving agencies to help our clients realise their biggest ambitions.”
“There has been zero downsizing; instead, we’ve grown to bring together the depth, breadth and mind-blowing talent to compete at the very top of the agency big leagues – and that’s where we’re going.”
At the heart of the offer is the CHANGE methodology, a behavioural science-led strategic methodology co-created with the internationally recognised Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London (itself an expert voice in the public health response to Covid).
With new branding and the formal announcements made, the coming months will see Mind+Matter deliver on an ambitious international growth strategy that will place a proprietary data model alongside this proven behaviour change methodology.
UK Managing Director Corrina Safeio is passionate about taking the CHANGE methodology to the world stage: “We’ve been using this approach for around five years, and on some of our most decorated and effective campaigns,” she explains.
“Now, we can reach more clients and ultimately more people who stand to benefit from evidenced, considered behaviour change.”
The regional MDs are joined on the global leadership team by Annemarie Crivelli as global Head of Experience and Alisa Shakarian as global Creative Director.
Annemarie, who is overseeing a major investment in Mind+Matter’s data capability explains, “Smart, effective omnichannel experiences always start with the data. We’re already aggregating data and applying descriptive analytics to predict behaviour before it happens … but this is really just the start. Watch this space for exciting updates on our capability to push the boundaries of insight, expertise and more experience across disciplines, markets and therapeutic areas.”
Mind+Matter’s bold creative offer will also have the weight of the Ashfield Health network behind it. Ashfield Health is the new brand for Ashfield Healthcare Communications which has been transformed following the appointment of former McCann Health President of the Americas, Amar Urhekar.
“Ashfield Health is now designed to respond better and quicker to the new challenges our clients face. We encourage independence and entrepreneurialism in our specialist agency teams but also have the unique ability to work as one team when needed. By unifying around our common purpose of make it matter, we have stronger connections that enable us to scale rapidly and provide our clients with tailored expert teams. We can truly deliver life-changing work that matters,” said Amar.
Ben says feedback from existing clients has been overwhelmingly positive: “Our clients have already seen what we can do as separate agencies – the outcomes and the awards speak for themselves – and now we can give them even more as a global agency.
“I’m already extremely proud of this team, and we’ve just scratched the surface of what we can achieve together.”
This content was provided by Inizio
Company Details
Latest Content from Inizio
MedTech specialist joins Research Partnership
Janet Powers has joined the company as a Director in the MedTech division.
EVOKE MIND+MATTER BROADENS STRATEGIC CAPABILITY WITH FULL-SERVICE RESEARCH & INSIGHTS OFFERING
Headed up by Research Director, Angela McMean, the Evoke Mind+Matter Insights division comprises a team of primary research specialists focused on delivering meaningful, data-driven insight that supports the agency’s mission...
Interactive: Best Behaviour
Download our curated collection of case studies and other useful resources that illustrate how we apply the principles of behavioural science in our research design.
RP Investigates – Q&A session: Living with Lupus
In this 45-minute session, Head of Living With, Mariel Metcalfe spoke to Brenda, who was diagnosed with Lupus 12 years ago.
Webcast: Demand Assessment
Find out how a study design which better reflects real-world choices can produce a more realistic model for the future market.
White paper: Are we prepared for the influx of CAR-Ts?
Download this white paper, in which we look at how market access and hospital processes will need to transform to accommodate the the influx of CAR-T therapies
New syndicated patient report – Living with Lupus US
Living with Lupus US is a new syndicated patient report which offers valuable insights into patient attitudes and behaviour towards their condition, treatments and unmet needs.
Video: Emotion AI
Artificial intelligence is revolutionising the way we conduct healthcare market research.
Report: Mexico’s drug market access landscape shake-up: What does it mean for pharma?
Rebeca Nana Barrantes and Tania Rodrigues outline what the shake-up in Mexico’s drug market access landscape means for pharma.
Webcast: Virtual Q&A session – The future of digital health
In this webcast, Senior Director, Richard Head and Director of The Medical Futurist, Dr. Bertalan Mesko host a live virtual Q&A discussion about the future of digital health.