Today, leading global health and wellness agency, Evoke, announced three key leadership hires to its executive team. Will Reese joins the agency as Evoke’s Chief Innovation Officer – operating on a global scale and supporting all Evoke agency brands. Additionally, Evoke North America has added Rachel McCready as Chief Creative Officer and Alexis Penty as Chief Strategy Officer.
“I am thrilled to welcome Will, Rachel and Alexis to Evoke and our leadership teams,” said Reid Connolly, CEO and Founder of Evoke. “Our continued growth and the evolution of the marketplace has given us the rare opportunity to bring on three renowned industry veterans and innovators to lead critically important capabilities at the agency. Our eyes remain on the future of healthcare and how we continue to bring our clients the most advanced thinking and the best solutions to drive real business results. This group of leaders brings immense experience to the team, and together, I’m confident that our ability to create the most meaningful experiences in healthcare for our clients and for the patients they serve will continue for many years to come.”
Evoke’s newly appointed Chief Innovation Officer, Will Reese, brings over 25 years of life science experience to Evoke and will oversee Customer Experience, Engagement Strategy and Marketing Technology, with a focus on omnichannel marketing. Reese’s leadership will ensure that all Evoke agency brands are shaping the future of innovation in healthcare marketing and unifying data, marketing technology and omnichannel marketing practices to create unprecedented, personalized experiences for their clients’ brands.
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Most recently, Reese was Chief Innovation Officer for Life Sciences at Cognizant and President of Cadient, their life sciences marketing agency, where he led digital marketing transformation across industries – including pharma, medical, device, CPG and healthcare. He has worked across numerous therapy areas including men’s health, women’s health, cardiovascular, oncology, diabetes and vaccines. He is a frequent speaker on innovation and CX best practices and has led numerous workshops. Reese reports to Evoke CEO Reid Connolly.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Evoke. Having worked with the team prior to joining, I quickly saw that the talent and culture here are unmatched,” said Reese. “Evoke is connecting all the dots between CX, strategy, creative and technology like no other agency – I look forward to building upon this and ensuring we are bringing experiences to life in the most meaningful and human ways possible.”
Rachel McCready joins Evoke as Chief Creative Officer, North America. A health-native creative, McCready has been building brands within the health space for more than 20 years, most recently as Executive Creative Director at Klick Health. She also held creative leadership positions in both independent and network agencies and earned a reputation as a transformative agency leader who creates meaningful, impactful work for agencies and clients alike. Work created by McCready’s teams has been recognized by the Creative Floor, MM+M, 360, and the David Ogilvy Awards. She has served on juries for the Clios, the London International Awards, the Global Awards (the New York Festivals), and the Effies Best of Best. She was inducted into the MM+M Hall of Femme in 2021. McCready reports to Jen O’Dwyer, President, Evoke North America.
“I’m so excited to be joining the team – Evoke is taking creativity to a new level both in terms of how we approach client problems and the work we deliver. And there’s never been a better time for the Health More Human™ mission,” said McCready. “We are all craving more humanity right now, and I believe 2022 will signal a strong return to all things “real” – real human experiences, real art, real connections. Get ready to have some very real emotions evoked this year.”
Alexis Penty joins Evoke as Chief Strategy Officer, North America. Penty brings to the role over 20 years of experience harnessing the power of customer insights to build formidable brands. She has led initiatives across a wide range of therapeutic areas: infectious disease, oncology, rare disease, neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, men’s health, women’s health, and genomics. Penty will be focused on leading and growing Evoke’s brand strategy practice across North America. Prior to joining Evoke, Penty was Head of Strategic Planning at The Bloc and spent five years at Klick building the Brand Strategy practice and AOR portfolio. She was the strategic lead on award-winning campaigns that have been recognized at Cannes, MM+M, and PM360. Other past roles include global consumer advertising at Leo Burnett and insights and consulting with in-sync/Publicis Healthcare Communications Group. Penty also reports to Jen O’Dwyer, President, Evoke North America.
“It’s a privilege to work in an industry where what we do matters. Evoke takes that privilege to heart; honoring human truths as the foundation for fostering positive change,” said Penty. “Strategically, it’s about unearthing opportunity for meaningful human connection – in how we work as teams, as partners with our clients – and ultimately in how a brand’s purpose can inspire people. I see already that this is what drives the strategy team here, and why this team is succeeding in creating groundbreaking work. It’s exciting to be part of that and contribute to further fueling that spirit.”
Evoke includes specialty agencies Evoke KYNE, focusing on communications and PR, and Evoke Navience, focusing on market access and payer marketing. Evoke is a 2021 Crain’s Best Place to Work. Evoke KYNE has won a number of awards in 2021 including, PRovoke’s Healthcare Agency of the Year, Agency of the Year, and PRWeek’s Best Place to Work.
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