PR heavyweights launch new agency
pharmafile | October 29, 2003 | News story | |Â Â Â
Former managing directors of Shire Health London and Cohn & Wolfe Healthcare have joined forces to launch a new independent, full-service PR agency.
Sarah Matthews and Angie Wiles have set up Richmond-based Virgo HEALTH PR to offer clients the best of both small and large PR agency worlds with what they say will be a unique blend of the two.
Sarah, former Managing Director at Shire Health and Angie previous head at competitors Cohn & Wolfe Healthcare both have over 15 years experience of healthcare PR.
Angie Wiles, Joint Managing Director, said: "Clients are now more than ever looking for improved returns on their marketing investment and at the same time, pressures and overheads within some of the larger agencies are increasingly constraining. So, the time is right from both an industry and personal perspective for our new proposition".
"Sarah and I have known each other for a long time and, as direct competitors, have long respected each other's work. We are two like-minded individuals and in working together, our aim is to make big brand expertise and insight more accessible for clients across the board".
Joint Managing Director of Virgo Sarah Matthews said: "Having come from leading firms, we understand how some clients might feel more comfortable with the support of a bigger 'premium' agency, but we also appreciate the attraction of working with a smaller agency that can provide a more personalised and often more cost-effective service".
"The healthcare PR environment has changed as the number of stakeholders for each product increases. This does demand more of a sophisticated approach than we saw even five years ago".
Virgo's founders have previously worked on a large number of high profile projects, including GSK's "Ticket for Health" vaccines campaign, the 'Think Twice' campaign for SmithKline Beecham Parkinson's disease treatment Requip and launched GSK's Zyban smoking cessation product.
