Chemistry we Create
Healthcare PR first, and last week brought news that The Mission Group, the listed marcomms group that owns agencies including Mongoose, has launched a healthcare PR consultancy.
Mission agencies Solaris Health and Speed Communications have collaborated to launch a new consultancy – Chemistry we Create. The aim is for it to work on complex health, brand and disease briefs for pharmaceutical companies.
According to the holding company, Chemistry we Create will tap into Mission’s team of health practitioners at Solaris Health and Speed to create campaigns in pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech.
The agency will be led by Solaris Health chief executive Claire Dobbs and Speed Communications head of health Laura Murphy, alongside three healthcare specialists.
Said Dobbs: “We identified a significant opportunity in the healthcare sector for a consultancy that leverages the unique expertise of Solaris Health and Speed. Chemistry we Create merges the best of prescription health expertise and disease area knowledge with cutting-edge PR. Chemistry we Create will operate independently, complementing our existing roles within Solaris Health and Speed. Our agile team of experts will expand and grow in line with our ambitious plans for Chemistry we Create – this marks the beginning of an exciting journey.”
How far will the journey take the new entity?
Ogilvy PR
There was interesting news from Ogilvy last week. The agency has introduced an offer called Influence Shield, a global risk management service aiming to increase brand safety in influencer marketing.
It includes campaign risk assessment, enhanced influencer vetting, 24/7 issue monitoring, rapid crisis response, and influencer onboarding and handling. It is led jointly by Ogilvy PR’s global head of crisis and risk, Toby Conlon, and global head of influence Rahul Titus.
Conlon said brands are “finding out the hard way” how much influencer marketing has become a “new frontier for brand reputation”.
Few would deny that’s the case, and PRWeek is interested to see how the offer is taken up by increasingly risk-averse clients.
Ranieri Agency
Has this tech PR shop found the solution to cashflow challenges at a time when some clients are increasingly dragging their heels?
Ranieri has a new funding facility that uses invoices as the main asset for securing money. It has secured an invoice finance facility from Optimum Finance, a company that specialises in this type of arrangement.
Under the deal, Optimum Finance pays Ranieri Agency an agreed percentage of the invoice value as soon as it is submitted, with the balance payable when the invoice is settled in full. The idea is to give the agency immediate access to liquidity, rather than being held to sometimes lengthy payment terms.
Ranieri Agency founder Pietro Ranieri said: “We needed a funding facility that offered us breathing room in an industry increasingly leaning towards paid media campaigns and influencers which often require upfront payment for their services. This meant that we needed to pay out while waiting to be paid, placing our cashflow under pressure from the get-go.
“Optimum understood this challenge and tailored a funding solution that bridged the gap, with what is essentially our own money. Now we can be flexible in our approach with projects that can scale up and down as the business continues to grow, with funding to match.”
Could this financing model prove successful, and will others follow suit? Stay tuned.