Havas siblings Havas Health & You and Republica Havas have teamed to launch Republica Havas Health, the organizations announced Wednesday. The new unit will be led by Republica Havas co-founder, chairman and CEO Jorge Plasencia.
Havas acquired its stake in Republica in 2018. Plasencia said the two companies have been engaged in conversations in recent years about formalizing a partnership around multicultural healthcare marketing communications.
“We have an important journey ahead in regard to closing the divide in culture and marketing communications to multicultural communities,” he said.
Republica Havas Health will focus on “diversity in clinical research, culturally relevant health and wellness marketing, multicultural competence in healthcare, and concrete action to address health inequities,” per a company statement. The new division will also seek to promote “deep cultural fluency” in health and wellness communications among Hispanic, Black, Asian American and LGBTQIA+ patients and consumers.
Plasencia added that Republica Havas Health will address the lack of affordable and accessible healthcare services for communities of color. He views the agency’s role as a conduit that dispenses important medical information.
“A big part of our focus will be education in healthcare and preventative care — making sure that people get tested, have a mammogram or get a colonoscopy,” Plasencia said. “We want to make sure that all of these facets of healthcare and information are getting out there.”
Other Republica Havas Health goals include support for brands involved in grassroots activism and influencers seeking to effectively message in local communities, he added.
Republica Havas has worked with numerous significant health and wellness brands over the years, including Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck and Amgen.
Havas Health & You, for its part, recently saw its CEO Donna Murphy add Havas Creative Group to her purview and promoted Elizabeth Egan to CEO of HH&Y Europe.
