NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness (SSW), a division of the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, announced today that Ned Russell has been named EVP, Managing Director of the agency. Russell joined SSW earlier this year as EVP, Director of Client Service. He assumes leadership of the agency following the departure of Jim Joseph, who left to pursue other opportunities. Sam Welch, President of Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare Communications Group, said, “We are delighted to have Ned ready to step into this role. He has played a significant role on the agency’s executive team in building business and relationships with existing agency clients.” Russell will manage the agency’s operations in partnership with Chief Creative Officer Helayne Spivak and Johanna Skilling, Director of Strategic Services. Welch continued, “We have a terrific management team in place that has excelled in creating a unique business model and offering around marketing wellness.”
SSW has had a strong new business record this year and has seen its creative work garner many major industry awards, including the first-ever Grand CLIO Healthcare Award for the Ambien CR “Silence Your Rooster” campaign. The agency also won the Durex business and more than four key new assignments from existing clients.
Russell said, “We have great momentum, a dynamic management team, and a strategic vision that really distinguishes us in the marketplace. Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness offers a highly relevant solution for brands that see health and wellness as a differentiator across many different categories, from food and nutrition to exercise."
Russell joined SSW with a rich experience on both the client and agency sides of the marketing business. Most recently he was Vice President, Brand Marketing for the Las Vegas-based Sands Corporation, where he served on the Executive Committee and Operating Board. Prior to Sands, Ned held leadership positions at agencies including Arnold Worldwide NY, Wolf Group, DDB, and Lintas Worldwide on high-profile accounts including Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Hershey’s, McDonalds, Lee Jeans, and NYC & Co. Tourism. In addition to his U.S. experience, he worked for Lintas in Tokyo for three years.
Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness began a transformation in 2007 from an agency focused solely on healthcare advertising into a fully integrated wellness agency. The agency handles integrated marketing for clients along the entire wellness spectrum including Nexium, Ambien CR, Plavix, Durex, Frontline and Transitions, among others. The agency provides a full-range of marketing solutions including advertising, digital, direct, promotion, and social marketing strategies. The agency was created to leverage the value of marketing wellness as a differentiator for healthcare, lifestyle, food, and other brands. Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness is a unit of the Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare Communications Group, part of the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group. For more information visit the agency’s website at www.saatchiwellness.com, or its blog at www.saatchiwellness.blogspot.com
Editor’s Note: A photograph of Russell is available upon request.
PHCG
Rosemary Abendroth, +1-212-468-3438
Global Communications Director
Mobile: +1-917-650-3567
rosemary.abendroth@publicishealthcare.com
