WPP has launched a new sub-holding company, WPP Health & Wellness.

Gary Pattison has taken up the newly created position of chief executive officer of WPP Health & Wellness AUNZ and will split his time between leading WPP Health & Wellness AUNZ – working closely with the leadership teams of Sudler & Hennessey and Grey Health Group – and continuing to lead the Ogilvy CommonHealth team.

Pattison stated, “The formation of WPP Health & Wellness comes at an ideal point in time where clients are looking for smarter thinking, bigger ideas and increased collaboration and innovation across disciplines and across communications channels.  Harnessing the unrivalled power of WPP locally and globally for all of our health and wellness clients in Australia and New Zealand is an awesome prospect.”

Pattison has been group managing director of Ogilvy CommonHealth for the last three and half years, guiding the business through a period of significant growth.

His twenty year career includes director & consultant at OptiMED Health Communications 7 Consultancy, managing director – Australia at Caudex Medical, managing director at Complete Medical Group Australia and Group managing director at McCann Health Australia.

Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive officer of WPP, commented, “Health and wellness is one of the most exciting sectors of the global economy and offers enormous opportunities for our businesses. WPP Health & Wellness will build on the excellent work we are already doing in this space and take us into new areas with a much more comprehensive offer. This new unit is significant because it represents the next evolution of horizontality, through which WPP will continue to lead and transform health marketing.”