Reports from our company leaders

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n 2016, Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide expanded its leadership position in the healthcare communications industry, adding 21 clients never worked with before, in more diversified categories than ever before, with significant growth in Specialty Marketing, Medical Affairs and Market Access.

Throughout the year, we drove horizontality through collaboration within Ogilvy and across WPP

Global macro healthcare trends, and our deep understanding of them, continue to guide the agency. With consolidation and contraction ongoing, our clients have laser focus on efficiency and ROI, a renewed emphasis on Real World Evidence, accelerated R&D in specialty medicines and continue to experience access/reimbursement pressures.

Our response to these trends includes the formation and launch of NANO – a specialized, highly nimble unit designed to work with emerging healthcare and selfcare companies. We developed and launched a comprehensive Patient Access Service offering, and saw exponential growth of our proprietary properties such as the Element Access Tool that delivers real-time, office-level reimbursement data and unique EHR initiatives delivering key messages within the workflow.

Of course, we continue investing in talent, growing staff in such critical areas as medical strategy, planning, and digital engagement strategy, while elevating our creative product across all disciplines.

Throughout the year, we drove horizontality through collaboration within Ogilvy and across WPP, working with OgilvyRED, Effective UI, Bottle Rocket, social@ogilvy, Y&R and more, while remaining key contributors to the healthcare Team accounts.

In 2017, although full of potential change, we will likely face similar market pressures. But we approach the year with enthusiasm as part of the new WPP Health & Wellness group, building on the strengths and resources of the healthcare specialist agencies, and supporting the new Ogilvy Health & Wellness practice in its efforts to capitalize on this growing and dynamic market. We are excited to enable new cross-agency collaboration – horizontality – for the benefit of our clients and development of our people.

After 25 years with the agency, I retired from Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide in April 2017. I handed over executive and managerial duties to my very able successors: managing partners Darlene Dobry, Michael Parisi, Shaun Urban and Marc Weiner, who now co-lead the agency.