Publicis Health names Stephen Farquhar as CEO

Publicis Groupe promoted Stephen Farquhar to CEO of Publicis Health, effective February 1, 2024.

Farquhar, who previously served as chief marketing officer at Publicis Media and worked across numerous verticals in addition to pharma, will be tasked with overseeing Publicis Health’s day-to-day business operations in the U.S. 

Under his purview will be notable healthcare creative agencies and 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honorees like Heartbeat, Digitas Health, Razorfish Health as well as Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness. Farquhar will also manage a host of healthcare specialty agencies, including Insagic, which was launched earlier this year.

As part of Farquhar’s elevation, Publicis announced that Alexandra von Plato, who has served as CEO of Publicis Health since 2018, will become chairman of the outfit. This role will allow her to support Farquhar in an advisory capacity.

Both von Plato and Farquhar will report to Arthur Sadoun, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, who championed the leadership changes in a press release Wednesday morning.

“I’m extremely grateful to Alex for her outstanding leadership and ongoing commitment to Publicis, our clients, and our people. I’d like to thank her for everything she has helped us accomplish over the years, and for everything we will continue to achieve together,” Sadoun said in a statement. “Stephen’s depth of experience across healthcare and CPG marketing and media mean he is ideally placed to lead our teams in addressing the business needs of healthcare and pharma marketers today, and take Publicis Health to the next level,” Sadoun added.

In addition to the changes at the top, Publicis Health unveiled two other executive moves as well.

Eric Muller, who serves as president of Digitas Health, is taking on the additional role of chief operating officer of Publicis Health. He will stay based in Philadelphia and report to Farquhar.

Meanwhile, Public Health added Tracey O’Brien to the newly created role of chief client officer. O’Brien most recently served as global client lead at IPG Health and has prior leadership experience from stints at Havas Health, ConcentricLife (now part of Accenture Song), Medicus and Digitas Health. She will be based in New York and report to Farquhar.