VMLY&R Hires Augé Reichenberg as Chief Creative Officer of Health Practice

VMLY&R has announced the appointment of Augé Reichenberg as chief creative officer of its growing health practice. In her new role, Augé will drive the development of world-class creative work for VMLY&R’s health clients including Pfizer, Sanofi, Merck, GSK, AstraZeneca and many more. She will report to Jason Xenopoulos, CEO of VMLY&R New York and co-CCO of North America. 

Augé joins the agency from Havas Health & You where she served as executive vice president, chief creative officer. Prior to Havas, Reichenberg held creative leadership roles at Razorfish Health, FCB Health and McCann Health. Over the course of her career, she has led and grown business for clients such as Sanofi, Allergan, Novartis, Pfizer and Bayer– and successfully launched Prolia (Amgen), Gilenya and Entrensto (Novartis) among others.

Under Augé’s leadership, the ‘Lighter Blue’ campaign for Takeda’s Trintellix won at the Cannes Health Lions, and she co-created ‘Hope for Depression,’ a film that went viral by addressing a little-discussed truth about chronic depression. She was also behind the Effie award-winning ‘Elephant’ campaign for Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim’s respiratory medicine Spiriva, as well as MetLife’s (Life Insurance) Snoopy “Guarantees for the IF in LIFE.” 

“Augé has a proven track record of delivering award-winning, effective creative work at some of the top agencies in the industry,” Jason said. “As we continue to build the connected health agency of the future, Augé’s leadership and expertise is an invaluable addition to our bench of strengths in the health and wellness space.”

According to Augé: “VMLY&R is rare. It has the winning combination of proven creative excellence and a technological edge that is uniquely elevating the art and science of health like no other agency before it. Through giant ideas and technological know-how, VMLY&R has ways to directly serve up connected health solutions all along a person’s individual health or wellness journey.

“Considering I have dedicated my entire career to what creativity and technology can do for the health and wellness of humanity, I imagine you could call this a perfect fit.”

Augé’s hire is the latest move from the agency, underscoring continued momentum for its health practice. The agency recently launched VMLY&Rx – a global healthcare agency that aligned with WPP’s health teams to serve pharmaceutical clients. In 2019, VMLY&R’s health practice had over $100 million in revenue in North America and over $160 million globally, leading to its recognition as one of the industry’s top 20 global health agencies. 

“It’s been an extraordinary year all around – We’ve seen more than double-digit percentage growth in our health practice this year despite the 2020 market challenges,” said Howard Courtemanche, chief business officer of VMLY&R’s health practice. “Augé has driven remarkable results, both creatively for her clients and on the new business front. We’re thrilled she’s joining VMLY&R to take our momentum to the next level.”  

Over the course of her career, Augé has won multiple Cannes Health Lions, Effie Health, Clio Health, LIA, AME, Globals, MM&M, DTC Nationals, PM360 and many other awards. She has been honoured to judge in the most prestigious award shows in the world, including Cannes Lions, Cannes Health Lions and Effie’s Health. She was also named to the DTC Hall of Fame, one of the industry’s highest honours.