Digital marketing and communications agency CG Life tapped David Ormesher, lead independent director of the board of directors, to serve as CEO Wednesday morning.
Erik Clausen and Steve Johnson, who previously led CG Life as managing partners, will continue in their roles overseeing strategic and day-to-day aspects of the 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree and report to the CEO.
Ormesher arrives at CG Life with more than three decades of industry leadership experience, having led the biopharmaceutical digital marketing firm Closerlook, inc. through its acquisition by another 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, Fishawack Health, in 2021. In his most recent role, he served as president of U.S./global marketing at the agency.
In addition to serving as lead independent director at CG Life, Ormesher serves as board chair for global healthcare startup incubator Matter. He is also a board member for Lyric Opera and Bigger Future, a Rwanda-based non-profit working with high-potential entrepreneurs.
“CG Life is a company I truly respect,” Ormesher said in a statement. “CG Life’s mission is to understand science and translate it into compelling communication that makes an impact. As a board member, I deeply admired this team’s capabilities, culture, and passion for making a difference in patients’ lives. I look forward to contributing my experience in building growth-oriented teams and influencing outcomes.”
A new leader at the helm continues the active pace of change that CG Life has embraced over the past year.
Founded more than two decades ago, CG Life entered into a strategic and investment partnership with private equity firm Shore Capital Partners at the end of 2022.
Over the course of the year, the agency saw its revenue grow 13% to $14.6 million, according to the MM+M Agency 100 revenue chart, while its headcount increased to 69 full-time staffers.
In an interview with MM+M earlier this year, Clausen attributed much of CG Life’s recent growth to opportunities in cell and gene therapy. Integrated campaigns for the launch of Illumina’s multiomics analysis approach and Vizgen’s Merscope genomics platform attest to CG Life’s strengths in that space.
“We realized that we actually have quite a bit of experience with companies supporting cell and gene therapy and manufacturing and some other services,” he said at the time. “We looked around and thought, ‘Well, there are all these companies in this space, and we understand the therapeutic part.’ So it became a concerted effort to showcase our knowledge and subject matter expertise.”
For a January 2024 article on CG Life’s brand refresh, click here.
