The PM Society today announces the addition of two new fixed term positions to the Board. The Agency Partner and Pharma Partner roles will be focussed on how the PM Society can best shape its services and activities for the benefit of the member organisations, both pharma and agency side. The roles will be held by Frankie Everson and Mark Wheeler.
This coincides with the end of the three-year incumbency of current Chair Dom Marchant. Dom has led the PM Society Board through significant change, developing the Advancing Standards positioning, leading the PM Awards into its 40th year, and continuing to oversee the Creativity for Good initiative, which saw a record total donation of £40,000 this year from participating agencies for charity You Okay Doc?
“It has been a privilege to be part of something that is doing such good work through all of its initiatives – the Advancing Standards mantra is more than just a strap line,” said Dom. “The last three years has seen considerable change within the industry, and we have challenged ourselves in our work and our activities to remain fit for purpose. I am confident that the PM Society will continue to evolve and build upon the trust and reputation it has earned through this honest course correction. I will continue to lead on Creativity for Good – every year I am amazed and delighted by the enthusiasm and effort the agency world shows for it.”
The PM Society Board will continue to be run by Directors Rachel Farrow and Carwyn Jones with Board Members Colin Williams, Stephen Page, and Jenny Claridge. The Chair responsibilities are absorbed by the Board and, with these two newly-formed roles, the Society will continue to drive the industry forward.
Frankie Everson, Co-Founder and Head of Strategy at independent agency Matter, takes up the Agency Partner role. Frankie has played a key role in shaping and elevating some of the world’s most renowned Pharma brands, her focus having been on harnessing the transformative power of creativity and storytelling to drive brand growth.
Frankie will bring her agency leadership experience, her knowledge of the healthcare agency sector and her passion for creativity to help drive the PM Society forward. She will also sit on the PM Awards Steering Group.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the Board of the PM Society as Agency Partner. Our industry is at its best when agencies, clients and partners come together with openness, curiosity and a shared ambition to make a difference. I’m really looking forward to listening to members, championing the agency perspective and helping ensure the Society continues to feel relevant, supportive and valuable to everyone it represents.”
Mark Wheeler, Omnichannel Strategy Director at Kyowa Kirin, joins the Board as Pharma Partner in addition to his role within the Industry-Agency Relationships Interest Group. Mark has a background in client services and strategy within a range of healthcare agencies so brings both an agency and a pharma perspective to the role
Mark has been a member of the PM Society for over twenty years and has 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing, most recently as Head of Strategy at Open Health, before moving to the pharma world where he is currently Omnichannel Strategy Director at Kyowa Kirin International. His expertise spans brand strategy, customer engagement and omnichannel.
Mark says;
“The PM Society has been part of my professional landscape for twenty years. First as someone in the awards audience, occasionally on the way up to collect one, and more recently as part of the judging panel, part of the IARIG (Industry/Agency Relationships Interest Group) and driving the new initiative, Pharmony. That association makes me believe even more strongly about what the Society stands for – a shared idea of what good looks like. Joining the Board as Pharma Partner feels like a natural next step from that long relationship, and an opportunity to contribute rather than just benefit. I want to bring a perspective that sits at the junction of agency and client experience, and use it to help advance the standards the Society was built around, particularly as the industry navigates questions about AI, the future of marketing, and what excellence actually means, when everything keeps shifting.”