McCann Health taps North American exec as first global strategy officer

McCann Health’s Hilary Gentile is going global—with her job, that is. The McCann Health chief strategy officer for North America is taking on the global CSO role as the agency adds the worldwide title for the first time.

Gentile, a 20-year McCann Health veteran, has led strategy in North America since 2015 and will report to McCann Health's global CEO, John Cahill.

"Hilary becomes the galvanizer of McCann Health’s strategic and creative product globally and will be responsible for creating and upholding the standards of strategic and leadership excellence across the entire agency," Cahill said in a news release.

McCann Health is coming off big accolades at Cannes Lions Health this summer, winning the Grand Prix awards both in pharma for a GlaxoSmithKline COPD campaign in China, and in health and wellness for Ikea. It also nabbed the top Lions Health prizes for agency of the year and network of the year.  

Gentile joins other new executives named at McCann Health in the past year, including chief creative officer Matt Eastwood, who moved from a non-healthcare agency role as worldwide chief creative officer at J. Walter Thompson, and Sam Taylor, who took over the agency’s GSK pharma and consumer business.

McCann Health describes Gentile as one of healthcare marketing's leading strategists and a "trusted advisor to some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the ​North American region."

Gentile said, "I am dedicated to applying smart, human-centered thinking to the creation of authentic connections globally: across our people, our products, our processes, our places and our promotions."