Omnicom Health Group: 2021

Omnicom Health Group

200 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

Telephone 

212-907-6900

E-mail 

[email protected]

Website 

omnicomhealthgroup.com

 

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Omnicom Health Group (OHG) still managed to achieve what network leaders cite as impressive growth in 2020. “The market for our services evolved, and our clients leaned on us in a big way to help them pivot to digital content,” says Ed Wise, CEO of OHG. “As a result, we grew in the mid-single digits last year. Achieving that for a network our size is already big, but doing it during a global pandemic is nothing short of remarkable.

“I attribute this 100 percent to our amazing and growing pool of OHG talent, and how our people continue to show up with energy, innovative ideas, and a real passion for our clients’ healthcare brands.”

According to Wise, “The pandemic has thrust the biopharmaceutical industry into the global spotlight, and I’m particularly proud of how our OHG agencies have partnered with several of our client companies battling COVID-19. We’re working with Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Gilead, and other leading manufacturers, helping create responsible, effective communications around both vaccines and therapeutics. I’m humbled and proud they’ve partnered with us on this important work.”

Wise adds that the past 12 months also reminded everyone of the heroic importance of healthcare workers. “So our agencies rallied to create a campaign called ‘UniteInGratitude’ to publicly express thanks,” says Wise. OHG’s #UniteInGratitude features a reimagined American flag sewn from “surgical scrub green, n95 white, and hospital blue,” saluting everyone who wears these colors to the fight against COVID-19.

OHG’s campaign ran nationally, supported by network and cable TV, social, and out-of-home in large U.S. cities. Award-winning actor Dennis Quaid lent his voice to the effort, which helped raise not only gratitude but tens of thousands of dollars for the CDC Foundation’s Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund.

“In such a divided year, we felt the one thing we should all agree on – and support – was healthcare workers,” says Wise, who expressed thanks to clients Pfizer and Merck for helping launch the campaign. “It was great to see Gratitude flags flying outside their research facilities, and shared by healthcare workers across social media. We’re pleased we had a chance to express our thanks.”

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

COVID additionally accelerated the move to omnichannel marketing for most of our clients,” notes Wise. “So we’ve accelerated our talent and capability by adding new Chief Digital Officer Tom Edwards, responsible for all digital and data operations.”

Edwards is a seasoned digital thought-leader and technologist with his own widely viewed TED talk. “Tom brings expansive digital experience from his gaming background at TripleClix to his data savvy from Epsilon” Wise says. “He provides a futurist vision along with the practical skills and organizational savvy to cement our position as leaders in data-driven omnichannel marketing.”  

“I’m so excited to bring my passion and background to the amazing healthcare world at OHG,” Edwards says. “We have an incredible healthcare data stack that I’m working to democratize so all our agencies can access and take advantage of it for clients. I’m also forging deeper integration with Omnicom media operations and their consumer data sources. My goal is to help our agencies and clients use data and better digital experiences to thrive in a future that’s already here.”

OHG has also stepped up its commitment to DE&I by adding VP, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Gena M. Pemberton to its leadership. Pemberton brings more than 20 years of corporate talent and DE&I experience to her new role from previous positions at Johnson & Johnson and Motorola.

“I have a pretty clear mission at OHG,” Pemberton says. “To make us the most diverse, welcoming, and inclusive healthcare communications network, embracing people and programs that lead to greater social and health equity. And I’m glad to feel the enthusiasm of OHG leaders across the board.”

While OHG had a number of efforts in place to create an inclusive work environment, Pemberton is working to bolster them. “My goal has been to focus, amplify, and expand what we’re doing.” To that end, Pemberton recently launched “Hi,” shorthand for “Healthy Inclusion,” to evolve how OHG attracts, recruits, and develops underrepresented talent.

“Through Healthy Inclusion, we want to foster a supportive culture where all employees are valued and accepted, and have equal access to rewarding career development and growth,” Pemberton says.“ I’m thrilled to be using my passion for diversity, health, and communications to bring this to life at OHG.”

OHG expanded its commitment to employee growth by partnering with Cornerstone, a leading cloud-based learning provider, to migrate all of the network’s OHG University learning and development content online.

“I’m proud of how our people wanted to keep growing, even remotely,” Wise says. “So our fabulous L&D team, including Kathleen King, Matt Figler, and Sara Grega, helped make ‘OHGU Online’ a reality.”

Using the new OHGU Online platform, 96 percent of OHG’s employees grew their skills from home last year, completing more than 11,000 training hours of virtual coursework. “Not even COVID can stop our focus on helping OHG talent get better,” Wise says. 

One of OHGU’s marquee programs has been ONC-U, the network’s ongoing initiative to up-skill staffers in the fast-growing area of oncology. “But we also kept hearing from clients that they could use the training within their own organizations,” Wise adds.

So in 2020 the Group decided to pilot ONC-U Online with clients, welcoming 30 of them – alongside OHG staff – for the 8-week training course. As one client noted, ONC-U “definitely demonstrates how much you value the education behind the science to best position your teams to service us.”

OHG also undertook a similar effort in rare disease, launching the OHG Rare Collective in 2020, and putting more than 120 senior staffers through the bespoke five-week course. “Every rare disease has its own unique set of circumstances and challenges,” says Wise, “but rare diseases also share a lot of commonalities. So we assembled a collective of thought leaders from across OHG to share best practices around rare [disease] patient advocacy and community engagement, as well as effective ways to communicate with HCPs and payers. We’re expanding this in 2021.”

STRUCTURE AND SERVICES

OHG is composed of more than 20 “independent-minded” healthcare companies that leaders say are “brilliantly connected” to collaborate on behalf of shared clients. The network is organized around four customer verticals.

HCP marketing is served by Biolumina, CDM, DDB Health, Harrison & Star, TBWA\WorldHealth, and WildType.

Patient marketing services are provided by MMG, Patients & Purpose, and Snow Companies.

Access/reimbursement communications are handled by Adelphi Real World Values & Outcomes, Entrée Health companies, and Valuate Health Consultancy.

Medical/evidence/regulatory communications are handled by Adelphi Group, BioPharm, and the Healthcare Consultancy Group (HCG), which includes Chameleon, Entwine, Health Science Communications, Hyphen Digital, ProEd, The Scienomics Group, and Synergy.

In addition, Omnicom Health Group also has three “centers of excellence” shared by all of its agencies: media (SSCG Media Group), technology (OHG Technology Group), and production (Link9). To serve its more than 20 agencies with uniform operational excellence, OHG manages human resources, learning and development, business development, legal, and finance as shared services. 

FUTURE PLANS

We are eager to take advantage of the amazing scientific innovation our clients have developed around COVID, so we can start working in person as soon as it is safe,” Wise concludes. “We are looking forward to using our ‘year of remote learning’ to keep evolving and adapting. We are determined to become an even more diverse and inclusive OHG community. We are helping more clients thrive in every channel. And we are committed to supporting our people so that they keep learning and growing. That is what I mean by being ‘Best of Health.’”