Adweek published a report that feels like PR for VMLY&R, a White advertising agency expanding its health and wellness practice—and expounding its divertsity drivel by hiring a handful of people of color and lots of White women. The growing VMLY&R Health is tackling inequities in healthcare—charging that marketing is part of the solution. Um, how will a firm and industry steeped in inequity and systemic racism bring fairness and equality to healthcare? By sermonizing about the Six Commandments? Marketing is not part of the solution—it’s a persistent part of the problem. Looks like VMLY&R is posing as the Great White Hope by prosing the Great White Hype.
VMLY&R Health’s Fresh C-Suite Wants to Remove the Friction Between Patients and Care
It is now the first healthcare agency with a chief experience design officer
By Emmy Liederman
“It’s PR not ER” and “We’re not saving lives” are a few lines that Walt Geer says the ad industry throws around to convince overworked professionals to take a deep breath, get a good night’s sleep and put their jobs in perspective. But when you work in healthcare marketing, there’s really no room for error—you’re advertising wellness solutions instead of bubble gum, and according to Geer, making a mistake can put someone’s life on the line. The stakes are high, and that’s why he is putting his skills to work as the first chief experience design officer in the space.
Geer, who is known as a DEI thought leader in the ad industry, was just promoted into a new role for VMLY&R Health after nearly two years of experience design work at VMLY&R. He will report to Claire Gillis, VMLY&R Health’s new CEO, who will also oversee the recently-hired Jason Gloye as co-lead North America and chief client officer, Christianna Gorin as co-lead North America and chief experience officer and Olivia Collins as managing director of global growth.
Healthcare clients have always been cash cows for agencies, and this truth has only been magnified by the pandemic. The emergence of a global leadership team with fresh roles comes on the heels of 17% global growth and 21% growth in North America for VMLY&R Health.
Gillis and most of her team don’t have traditional ad backgrounds—Gillis is an ex-pharmacologist who once persuaded the British government to give out free HPV shots to kids in schools—but that’s exactly why she thinks they can make magic.
“I’m in communications for health because I want to change outcomes,” said Gillis. “I’m in this company because we have the firepower and the incredible talent to be able to maximize that firepower.”
‘More than marketing’
It’s no secret that healthcare fails communities of color. For example, according to the American Journal of Public Health, Black women are 3.5 times more likely than white women to die during childbirth.
“When we think about how we actually reach people, having a thorough understanding of these individuals is so critical,” said Geer, highlighting that the best people to properly advocate for the Black community’s access to health is someone from the community itself. “We need to think about access, and we need to develop smarter approaches to how we see people, because again, education is really important.”
Driving education and improving access are goals that Gillis and Geer share. Why universal care feels like a distant dream, Gillis does her part by crafting the communication that informs healthier lifestyles.
“It is a fundamental human right, like education, to be able to access great healthcare,” said Gillis. “For many different reasons, people don’t have it, but we work every day to make sure that best information is out there to change behaviors.”
Why experience design in healthcare matters
Experience design in healthcare is about connecting with a patient during various points in their day—whether that means using an Amazon Alexa for a symptom check-in during breakfast or a heart rate monitor through an Apple Watch during an afternoon run—and using that data to optimize the consumer experience.
According to Geer, it’s not just about understanding who the patient is—it’s also about knowing when to connect with people and through which platforms.
“Experience design is about reaching people at a moment that actually matters, understanding the entire digital ecosystem and knowing when it is the right moment to speak to someone,” he said, adding that he will focus on more universal access and education for communities that have been historically left out of the conversation.
VMLY&R Health is founded on integration. Instead of crafting a TV spot or consumer touchpoint in silos, creative and experience design work together in one room to deliver a better consumer experience. This history of unified work is what attracted Geer to the agency.
“It’s not about marketing,” said Gillis, who has encouraged consumers to rethink their perspective of advertising as a “dirty word.” “It’s about how we change outcomes for patients. Ultimately, that’s why we’re here.”
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