New Leadership at Ogilvy CommonHealth's Agency in Australia

PARSIPPANY, NJ--(Marketwired - Sep 24, 2013) - Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide (www.ogilvychww.com), the health behavior experts of Ogilvy & Mather (www.ogilvy.com), today announced that Gary Pattison has been appointed Group Managing Director at Ogilvy CommonHealth in Australia.

Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide (OCHWW) is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY) (www.wpp.com). The organization houses and maintains individual Ogilvy CommonHealth and Ogilvy Healthworld brand identities within the marketplace.

"I am delighted to be taking the helm of Ogilvy CommonHealth in Australia," Mr. Pattison said. "It's a great honor to be on board and be associated with an iconic brand like Ogilvy. The global health network within Ogilvy has ambitious plans, and I see an agile, inventive, connected and visionary group of health communication experts. I am looking forward to leading the group as we change, evolve and innovate in the new world of health and wellness. The prospect of building upon what we already have in Ogilvy CommonHealth in terms of our people, expertise and clients is a mouth-watering one."

Mr. Pattison replaces Graham Edwards, who will retire at the end of the year. A 17-year veteran in commercial roles within health communication agencies in both the UK and Australia, Mr. Pattison relocated from the UK to Sydney in 2006 to set up the first fully integrated, high-science, medical communication unit in Australia. Within 3 years, he led it to become an award-winning medical communication and medical education agency.

A member of the Australian AFA Healthcare Communications Council for many years and an Effie Awards judge, Mr. Pattison has been working with the Ogilvy CommonHealth team as an operational consultant for the past 3 months to help effect a timely and thorough handover from Mr. Edwards.

OCHWW Global Chairman and CEO Matt Giegerich praised Mr. Edwards' significant accomplishments. "He is a visionary leader who established us in the Australian healthcare communications market, and has over the years served Ogilvy Group illustriously under various roles including managing the Asia Pacific Region. Graham has been both a colleague and a friend to many of us in the OCH family, and we are indebted to his vision and commitment for propelling us to our present position in the industry."

On Mr. Pattison's appointment, OCHWW Asia Pacific Director Rohit Sahgal said, "With every transition comes the chance to discover new leadership and to scour the industry for the absolute best. Australia has always played a prominent role in our regionwide footprint, and it was critical we got it right. I am delighted to announce that we have found just that individual in Gary Pattison. Gary is a seasoned communications professional with sound local and global experiences on pharmaceutical brand launches and disease area education programmes, across a variety of therapeutic areas."

Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide is committed to creativity and effectiveness in healthcare communications, everywhere. With 60 offices across 33 countries, the group provides marketing services including brand identity and development, clinical trial recruitment, digital/interactive services, direct-to-consumer, direct-to-patient, global integration, managed care marketing, market research and analytics, media planning and buying, medical advertising and promotion, medical education, public affairs and relations, relationship marketing, and strategic consulting. The network also offers scientific communications and publications services through a wholly owned separate legal entity.