ghg: 2018

 

ghg | greyhealth group
200 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Telephone: 212-886-3000
Website: ghgroup.com

 

Agency management says in a crowded industry of “me too” healthcare players, ghg took dramatic steps in the latter half of 2017 to reinvent itself to better meet the needs of its clients, today and in the future. “Leveraging more than three decades of healthcare leadership and innovation and marrying it with an entrepreneurial mind-set and approach to problem-solving, we now look at ourselves, and perform for our clients, as a 30-year-old start-up,” executives say. “What this means for our client partners and our people is increased agility, flexibility, and transformative solutions at every turn.”

According to managers, to ensure a seamless transition with maximum impact, ghg has created a new leadership and operations team, allowing for closer collaboration, problem-solving, and knowledge-sharing across disciplines. At the helm is Erin Byrne, CEO. Benjamin Houghtaling, Ph.D., becomes ghg’s first chief scientific officer. Sarah-Jane Barker is senior VP of market access and WG, U.S. Walter Dewees becomes managing director of OnCall. And Barbara Blasso takes on the role of executive director of scientific communications lab, including IMsci and Phase Five Communications.

They are joined by Agency Lab leaders Nichole Davies, head of strategy; Gary Scheiner, chief creative officer; Karl Tiedemann, New York client services director; Greg Lewis, market leader for Summit; Bryan Archambault, newly appointed chief marketing officer and market leader for Kansas City; Seth Perlman, chief digital officer; Tony Cofone, senior VP of operations; Dan Relton, senior VP of talent; and George Liggett, chief financial officer.

‘IMsci’s reputation of strong scientific acumen and outstanding client services is a testament to 20 years of continued growth and recognition within medical communications,” ghg executives say. “With medicine getting more complicated, IMsci’s strong scientific bench and strategists provide clients the partnership they need to sort through the data and emerging treatments. We continue to evolve our thinking to support the content that drives our business, and, with this, we bring new media to HCP programs – supporting the experience and enhancing the scientific story with multipurpose interactive presentations (MIP), virtual reality (VR), and documentary programs.”

WG continues to expand its team and offerings across managed-care marketing, pricing, market access, and HEOR, according to managers. “With both U.S. and global capabilities, WG constantly applies the learnings from more stringent EU markets to the evolving payer landscape in the U.S.,” executives say. “The team has been integrating closely with Kantar Health and Sudler in China to address some of the growing market-access hurdles our clients are facing. Integration with ghg’s digital team has additionally allowed for the development of more innovative platforms to deliver value communication.”

In 2017, ghg created a new studio offering: Graphica Health. According to agency leaders, Graphica Health produces and delivers brand content across all channels, while leveraging the most appropriate talent, tools, and workflow processes. “This new model exists with one goal in mind: delivering excellence in creative execution while optimizing costs,” executives say.

“Another one of our new initiatives inspired to drive great work is the launch of our Global Creative Council,” managers say. “Comprising our brightest creative minds, the Global Council is responsible for identifying the most promising, game-changing ideas and working together across groups and offices to make them even bigger and smarter.”

ghg has also increased its investment in emerging technologies, most notably artificial intelligence, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality, and voice, according to agency leaders. “We are proud to have developed the first-ever virtual-reality experience for Pfizer Injectables sales representatives,” executives say. “Using drones and 360-degree videos, we created a fully immersive virtual reality tour that takes customers through the core steps of production and is designed to educate them on the complexity of manufacturing. We’ve also launched initiatives featuring IBM Watson, and we are about to launch a new voice initiative.”

Additionally, ghg’s alignment within WPP Health & Wellness “is perhaps the most exciting change of all, as it gives us greater depth and breadth across our business,” executives say. “With the network strength of WPP Health & Wellness behind us, we are able to deliver superior partnerships and communication services to clients.”

This year, ghg realigned around clients and their successes, agency managers say. “As a client-oriented agency focused on helping our clients transform their businesses, we restructured to encourage horizontality and a new culture of collaboration,” executives say.

Services include brand strategy and identity development; strategic consulting; professional/Rx promotion; consumer marketing, including DTC/OTC; customer-relationship marketing and closed-loop marketing; traditional digital marketing, including Web, mobile, and social; innovative digital marketing, including AR/VR, cognitive computing, and voice; physician workflow and point of care, including electronic health records; professional medical education and scientific communications; patient medical education; market research and analytics; market access strategy; publication planning; sales training; scientific visualization; contract sales; managed-care marketing; market access, pricing, and HEO; and public relations.

ghg’s philanthropic work with the Jed Foundation continues, agency leaders say, as the organization kicks off a major initiative with the New York Department of Education and the Mayor’s Fund to address mental health in the New York City school system. The agency also does work for Helen Keller National Centers, and for its 50th anniversary, ghg created the campaign, “Device Disabled.”

“Since nearly everyone is immersed in his or her own little digital world, deaf and blind to the real world, we turned the tables to have deaf-blind people show us that we are the ones with limitations,” executives say.

ghg also continues its work for the Jericho Project, a nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness at its roots by enabling formerly homeless or at-risk individuals and families to lead independent lives, managers say.