VML Health's Claire Gillis On Humanising Healthcare

Health is a serious business. And ushering historically wary pharma clients into the world of modern marketing is a tough call. For Claire Gillis, global CEO at VML Health, the business of health is pumping through her veins - making all this look like an easy task. Gillis is not just another CEO. She's a trained pharmacologist, economist, entrepreneur and business leader before she was announced global CEO of the unified VML Health - one of the largest health communications networks in the world. And hugely passionate about using communications to promote better access to healthcare. What’s completely clear is that marketing – understanding the impact of communications in changing lives – runs through everything Gillis is building within the VML Health business.

It was in October 2023 that WPP merged VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson. The merged entity then began operational on 1 January, 2024. Gillis, then the CEO of VMLY&R Health, was promoted to the newly created global role.

She was the obvious choice. During her time as CEO of VMLY&R Health she set up operations in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, expanding VML Health’s global footprint while launching the WPP Wellness Lab, a ‘living laboratory’ to create an evidence base for workplace wellness strategies, focusing on mental health and personalised support. Gillis also created a taskforce to support neurodiversity in the workplace, and has promoted flexible working for all parents, in-house counselling/support, and mentoring programmes for women.

With a background in science, having studied pharmacology at university, Gillis went on to do an MBA and spent several years working in the pharmaceutical industry before setting up the WG Group with her co-founder Karen Westaway - one of the first UK health consultancies to specialise in market access, with an objective to maximise clinical and health economic data to accelerate access to medical innovation. Their consultancy was subsequently bought by WPP in 2010. Along the way, she has spearheaded countless access programs that have transformed health outcomes and she is most proud of the work they did developing the economic argument that led the UK government to introduce free access to HPV vaccines. She has also helped to set up the Advanced Breast Cancer Global Charter and continues to work to support the Alliance—which promotes better care around the world for those with advanced breast cancer.

All of which may make her sound hugely impressive (and she really is), driven and singularly ambitious. Just consider this, while completing her Masters degree at Oxford University, she examined the representation of Non-Hispanic Black women in breast cancer (BC) and metastatic breast cancer (MBC) research in the United States. Her research analysed representation in all US BC/MBC trials between 2003 and 2020, using a unique data aggregator tool developed specifically for this study, revealing statistically significant bias favouring non-Hispanic white women in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

A strong advocate for women in business, she wears all these accolades very lightly and what shines through is her warmth and her empathy. "For me personally, my own KPI and vision will always come back to equity. The world is full of shocking health inequalities – on all dimensions, from economic to ethnicity. It’s what brings me to work every day," she says.

To explore her journey and how she's managing to navigate the challenges of health communications while merging two healthcare giants, we sat down with Gillis to discuss science and creativity.

You've led the organisation through the merger of VMLY&R Health and Wunderman Thompson Health - establishing VML Health. What has that meant for your clients and your talent?

It’s been a merger of two very complementary offerings. It wasn't about bringing two companies together and saying ‘what overlaps have we got?’ It was about saying ‘how do we enhance for clients?’ It's been really smooth from that perspective. Obviously, we’ve been bringing together two different cultures too, which is always interesting! We’re almost a year into the merger now, and we've come to something that’s a new collective. From a client perspective, it’s been really exciting. We have so much opportunity and talent here. And because we work with the likes of Ford, Coca Cola and Starbucks, there’s something a little bit magical for us to offer a health client that wants some extra creative sparkle to put into their brands.

From a talent POV, we’ve got a lot to offer too. I’ve always maintained that health communications is a great place to be – it gives the people who work in it a real sense of purpose. You can affect a lot of people's lives with what we're doing on a day-to-day basis. Fundamentally, health affects all of us – it’s a truly global audience – so it’s important to listen to everyone. It sounds like a cliché but, for me, every voice has value – so it’s a philosophy that’s deliberately at the heart of our culture. We're not hierarchical. We put great development pathways in place for people, and within such a large company we really have the space to develop. If someone’s unhappy, they come to me or their line manager and we’re generally able to offer them the chance to do something different or try something new. If you offer this kind of flexibility, people always come back. If you look at our returners – our ‘boomerangs’ – you can see that that’s true. Although we haven’t compared it with other agencies, we get a fair few. That speaks volumes for our values and our culture. Ultimately, this is a tough job. We work long hours in high-pressure environments, so it’s really important to place a meaningful value on people’s contributions and perspectives and to create a culture (and mechanisms) that empowers them to share their thoughts. We’ve done that.

I guess the final thing to say circles back to the merger and what it means for our clients and our teams. For me, leading the organisation through that transition, the most important thing to convey was that we were building on strong foundations, rather than raising things to the ground and starting again. Too often, merged organisations get sidetracked by costly ‘rebrand’ narratives that distract clients and unsettle teams. We didn’t need to do that; we already had a great brand and a great culture, the merger has just been about building on those and making them even stronger. Our growth in 2024 shows we’ve bought clients and teams with us.

It's been less than a full year since the merger. What’s been your top priority in terms of your vision for the ‘new’ VML Health?

In terms of our vision for the new VML Health, we believe in the power of science and creativity, and its collective ability to change lives. We connect creatives, scientists and strategists, and have the expertise and scale to make the most of the technology that’s redefining comms. This disruptive innovation is already taking us to places we never thought possible. WPP Open, our operating platform and the application of bespoke AI, is a great example of this. We’re using it alongside our approach to business transformation. It will be a game changer for us and our clients.

In terms of KPIs, unsurprisingly, the overriding metric is growth. But you can't have growth without the culture being right. And even then, it’s not that simple, as you need to layer that onto your connectivity with clients.

We're in the business of always maximising our value to our clients. But the way to do that, especially when you’re working through something that can be disruptive - like a merger - is to make sure we have the right talent and that our work is exceptional.

An example of how we do this is the appointment of Mel Routhier. She’s not from a traditional health background, although she’s extremely health literate. She’s laser-focused on helping us to deliver exceptional creative – not just exceptional when it’s judged within health, but exceptional when it’s benchmarked against any other sector. [Routhier was recently promoted to global chief creative officer, health. She joined VMLY&R in 2020 to serve as chief creative officer of Chicago].

And all of this can’t possibly stand alone, because at the end of the day, our work is ultimately about creativity and problem solving. We've really doubled down on this in the last two years. Now we’re seeing the fruits of that labour.

So that’s a lot to think about – transformation and growth!

But, for me personally, my own KPI and vision will always come back to equity. The world is full of shocking health inequalities – on all dimensions, from economic to ethnicity. It’s what brings me to work every day, and I know that my teams feel exactly the same. The purpose that unites us all is the idea that everyone should have access to essential healthcare. Communications, and the way we use talent, creativity, tech and data to change behaviours, will play a big part in helping us achieve that.

In the late 1990s, you set up one of the first health consultancies to specialise in market access, with an objective to accelerate access to healthcare and medical innovation. How does your work as CEO of VML Health align with that goal?

Well, it’s always been my north star, so it's very easy for me. In the last five years, governments and big corporations have been driving that agenda well – they're putting targets in place and focusing minds on what needs to be done. But I don't think anyone goes into health unless they've got that need to do good. At one end, there's huge progress around data and AI, while at the other there's an explosion of shiny apps and interfaces to help people engage with their health. The real challenge is bringing everything together. I believe we need a more strategic approach to connect these two things and, in the process, realise the potential tech offers to drive access to healthcare – as long as the data is robust and the evidence is gold standard.

Clients are increasingly asking us: how do we make AI work for us safely? They’re coming to us because they know their data is going to be represented accurately, objectively. The main thing that they're focused on is how we optimise processes to get drugs to market faster. If we can crack this – and use our work to help health systems secure access for more people – equity follows.

Throughout your career, you’ve been a tireless advocate for breast cancer and gender equality. How does that translate in your day job, with the pressures of leading a business that also needs to align with shareholders’ needs and values?

I’ve always been interested in tackling the women’s health gap. Women’s health is often at odds with advances in medicine. Women spend 25 per cent more of their lives in ‘poor health’ compared to men, and the numbers get even worse when we layer on common disparities in access to health services. In the UK, for example, life expectancy for girls born in the most deprived areas is almost 20 years less than those born in the least deprived. These inequities are happening everywhere, and it’s on all of us to do something about it. Thankfully, nowadays we’ve got the tools and – more importantly – the will to address those gaps and drive gender equality. These aren’t just personal ambitions, they’re shared goals – and they’re fully aligned with the needs and values of our clients and shareholders. We’re working closely with them to drive change for the better.

So how are we doing it? First, we’ve redefined our focus. Think ‘women’s health’ and your mind will probably leap to all the obvious topics – menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, etc. However, as much as these issues are critical, women’s health is much more than that, so to limit our focus to those areas only under-represents the health challenges we face.

Communications can play a role in driving change, shining a light on disparity and reinforcing the value of lives reshaped by disease. Our initiative with Europa Donna – The Cancer Currency – does exactly that. The campaign helped get metastatic breast cancer (MBC) included in the European Cancer Directive, and helped women with MBC get access to the support they need and deserve. That’s the power of the work we do.

Alongside my teams, I’ve been lucky enough to have taken part in many campaigns for breast cancer over the years. Some of our best work has also changed laws to help patients access life-extending treatments, as well as bridging the gaps in data and knowledge so that physicians and patients can better advocate for progress.

Ultimately, shareholder value and business transformation will only be achieved by understanding the patient. So that’s how we set up. The pharma industry’s always trying to find a market for their drugs, and to do that they need to work alongside patients and patient groups. This objective fits in nicely with the passion that drives many in our agency. Our teams want to help patients enjoy better outcomes. So together we are aligned. We’re always thinking about how we can get medicines to the people who need them, as quickly, efficiently and fairly as possible. It’s a privilege to be able help close some of the obvious healthcare gaps we see every day.

This year's Clio Health Awards saw VML Health secure a total of 34 accolades, including 2 Grand Prix, 9 Gold, 13 Silver, 6 Bronze, and 4 Shortlist awards. How important is the role of awards to you as a talent magnet?

Yes, we’ve had a great year in terms of winning awards (and those that directly link to client work), with a number of ‘Agency of the Year’ awards and a continued rise up the rankings. So we’re very happy and proud to be recognised. But really, it’s about much more than that. The breadth of the work that we do as an agency, and the impact we can make, that’s what inspires us most. Our culture of collaboration – where teams co-create with patient communities – is transforming creativity and helping to change lives. It’s why VML Health has become one of the most awarded creative agencies in health. You only need look at the work we did during COVID to understand why the scale of our business is so important. I remember, early in the pandemic, being on a call with the World Health Organisation and being able to tell them that WPP could create materials today that could be in 47 different territories tomorrow. That totally blew their minds. It was a great demonstration of what VML Health can do.