Healthcare ad and media agencies break into annual 'best workplaces' ranking

Print 25 November 2015
Beth Snyder Bulik / FiercePharmaMarketing

Two healthcare agencies made a noteworthy list this week. And while it was only two, it still points to how pharma marketing is moving more mainstream as healthcare and prescription drugs infiltrate the daily political and cultural conversation.

Publicis Health Media president Matt McNally

Publicis Health Media was named No. 24 on Advertising Age's annual list of best places to work, a ranking of the best advertising and media agencies that considers factors such as employee satisfaction, compensation, benefits, hiring practices and work-life balance. It was one of two healthcare-focused agencies on the list; Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness also made the cut, coming in at No. 48 out of 50.

"We're seeing more appetite to want to cover the health and wellness space. It now transcends pharma and includes so much more. We're in consumer packaged goods and health and beauty. … It's one of the few categories that's growing," said Matt McNally, president of Publicis Health Media. "Along with that we're seeing a resurgence and rebranding of what it means to be a media agency. Media is now one of the more strategic areas in marketing."

The Ad Age write-up described Publicis Health employees as "a work-hard, play-hard group of individuals," and McNally agreed of course, noting that many of the employees who took Ad Age's surveys, which account for 60% of the company's score, are new to the agency. PHM has hired 100 new people this year, McNally said, and now counts a staff total of just under 280. The big hiring jump speaks to the influx of new business as well as growth from existing clients, he said.

"When I interview people, I tell them health is a journey like no other. It's the longest journey that we're all on, and whether it's the birth of a child, a grandparent with Alzheimer's or knowing someone with cancer, we're all experiencing it," McNally said.

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