David Shen makes U-turn back to McCann Health after six months

In an expansion of his prior role, Shen will now be developing and strengthening McCann Health’s integrated offering across a broader footprint that is Greater China, as opposed to his remit for just the mainland before he left the agency half a year ago to join local hospital-based advertising provider China Health Media as its CEO. 

Earlier, Shen said what interested him to make the move to China Health Media (CHM) was the "great opportunity to transform CHM into a patient education platform" leveraging its in-hospital network of 32,800 LCD panels.

One of the attractions that prompted the return to MH, he said, is the business growth via geographic expansion. It is still unknown where Hammond, who took over as president of McCann Health China in May 2011, will move to but he confirmed he will be staying in the local healthcare industry.

He will work closely with Jesse Lin, CEO of McCann Greater China, and Amar Urhekar, president of McCann Japan cum EVP of McCann Health Asia Pacific, to lead three specialised business segments: Healthcare, Humancare and Complete Medical.

“I’m confident that David will be able to quickly step in his new Greater China role and drive our company offerings, specifically in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taiwan," Lin told Campaign Asia-Pacific.

MH's Healthcare unit is involved in advertising and promotional activities for the healthcare professional community. The Humancare practice is staffed with health and wellness experts with general consumer expertise. The Complete Medical division provides medical education and communications solutions across pharmaceuticals, medical devices & diagnostics and public health.

In addition to his responsibilities for driving new business growth for the above, Shen will also oversee clients including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Commenting on the agency's strategy, Urhekar said as more regional healthcare clients move their bases to China, he aims for Shen to build an internationally competent team to launch regional and global campaigns from China for these clients.

Public health marketing and patient communications will also be an increasing focus for McCann Health, ever since its tie-up with Tsinghua University in a best-practice sharing platform, he added.