Red Havas Health names Nicole Phillips as new client services director, other hires

Australia – Red Havas Health, the PR healthcare arm of Red Havas, has appointed Nicole Phillips, former associate partner at communications consultancy SenateSHJ, to be its new client services director.

In her new role, Phillips will be leading client accounts, identifying new business opportunities in the health technology and health services sectors, and acting as a senior contact in the Havas Health & You network. She will be reporting to Sue Cook, practice head at Red Havas Health, reuniting the healthcare peers who previously worked together for a decade. Their already strong working relationship is set to significantly benefit the agency, the team, and its clients.

Phillips brings over 25 years of experience as a communication, reputation, and engagement advisor specialising in healthcare and specialist medical services in consulting and in-house roles. She spent 16 years leading the global public affairs and marketing team for ASX-listed Virtus Health, working across its fertility, diagnostics, and day hospital operations. Moreover, Phillips has worked for patient advocacy organisations and represented healthcare professional organisations, private and public health services, and many pharmaceutical clients. 

Commenting on her appointment, Phillips said, “The energy at Red Havas is infectious (pardon the pun) and the ability to deliver integrated communications strategies working with our Village colleagues across social, experiential, corporate and public affairs to communicate the human stories behind the science is an exciting prospect.”

Meanwhile, Cook shared that she is excited to be working with Phillips given their history of working together, both as colleagues and in client/consultancy relationships.

She added, “With Nic’s expertise, we will be looking to expand our remit in health technology and health services, whilst continuing our focus on our core sectors of pharmaceuticals and consumer health which have grown significantly since I joined Red Havas in late 2018. In addition, our patient advocacy work continues with a key ongoing partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, a passion project for our agency as this cause touches so many of us.”

In a further boost to Red Havas Health, the agency also announced the appointments of Alice Cullam, the new senior account manager, and Daisy Bartlett, the new account manager. Cullam is an experienced healthcare communicator having spent 12 years working across COVID-19, diabetes, heart disease, ophthalmology, oncology, and mental health projects locally and overseas. While Bartlett has been working with the team since the start of this year and now joins them from Scotland.

Steve Fontanot, managing director at Red Havas, said, “With Red Havas’ global approach to health communications, the team is playing an important role in communicating the human stories behind the science. We’re grateful to Sue for her stewardship here in Australia over the years, as well as to the wider team for the important role that they play within society. I think we can all agree that these last few years have been a particularly busy and crucial time in health communications. Additionally, we’re so very glad that Nicole, Alice, and Daisy have joined the team – their impacts have been immediate and impressive.”