WPP has created a new sub-holding company that aims to significantly advance the global advertising and PR giant’s offering and partnerships with clients across the health and wellness sector.
The company said in a statement that WPP Health & Wellness was created with a strong global perspective on the challenges and opportunities in today’s health industry, and will build on WPP’s areas of competitive advantage to accelerate growth, new opportunities and better health outcomes for clients.
WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said health and wellness is one of the most exciting sectors of the global economy and offers enormous opportunities for the group’s businesses.
“This new unit is significant because it represents the next evolution of horizontality, through which WPP will continue to lead and transform health marketing,” he said.
The three initial priorities for WPP Health & Wellness in 2017 are to create a new specialised healthcare unit, develop a specialised healthcare consulting service, and create a health-focused data and insights offering, according to the company statement.
WPP Health & Wellness will be led by global CEO and marketing veteran Mike Hudnall, who has experience in healthcare marketing and global client leadership.
“Our clients today live in an increasingly regulated, outcomes-based, and consumer-driven world that presents complex challenges and significant opportunity for their business,” Hudnall said.
“We have been incredibly successful to date, and I am excited to build on our achievements and provide our clients with a higher level of strategic partnership, an expanded range of specialised modern services, and specialised healthcare capabilities in new sectors.”
Meanwhile, Gary Pattison has taken up the newly-created position of CEO of WPP Health & Wellness AUNZ. He will work closely with leadership teams Sudler & Hennessey and Grey Health Group, and continue to lead the Ogilvy CommonHealth team.
Pattison brings 20 years’ experience in healthcare communications in both Australia and the UK.
“The formation of WPP Health & Wellness comes at an ideal point in time where clients are looking for smarter thinking, bigger ideas and increased collaboration and innovation across disciplines and across communications channels,” Pattison said.
“Harnessing the unrivalled power of WPP locally and globally for all of our health and wellness clients in Australia and New Zealand is an awesome prospect.”
The launch of WPP Health & Wellness comes after two of WPP’s local agencies formed a crisis management solutions firm earlier this month.
