Veteran account manager Cheryl Fielding has left Havas Health & You to join Inizio’s Evoke as chief client officer, the agency announced Thursday.
In the newly created role, Fielding’s tasked with overseeing Evoke’s strategic account management team and client services capability, with a focus on ensuring a consistent and integrated experience across the platform, Evoke said in a statement.
Fielding reports to Reid Connolly, CEO and founder of Evoke, and will partner closely with all of the agency’s business leads.
In a statement, Connolly praised her extensive experience in building high-functioning teams and instilling trust in client relationships. “I’m thrilled to have her join the leadership team,” he told MM+M.
Most recently, Fielding served as group president at HH&Y. Prior to her nearly six-year stint with Havas, she spent three years at Palio as EVP, director of client services, and before that logged more than a decade with the Sudler & Hennessey network on the accounts side.
Elevating the accounts role to a C-suite function “reflects our focus on putting clients at the center of our business,” Connolly added.
“It’s not about us but them. We are a client services organization and want to reflect that in our decision-making and how we bring solutions to the market,” he stated.
Formalizing the CCO position, he said, also brings to fruition the 18-month process of operationalizing Evoke’s combined offering. The merged organization was formed by the unification of Evoke parent Huntsworth with Ashfield Health parent UDG Healthcare, both of which were acquired by PE firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
The two came together under the Inizio banner last summer. One of the group’s most recent acquisitions was that of digital innovation firm Evolution Road in December. Collective North American revenue for the firm rose 15% to $304.4 million in 2021, according to MM+M’s June Agency 100 issue.
“I’ve spent most of my career with some larger networks, and what’s being built [here] and the speed with which it’s being built is attractive,” Fielding said, when asked what drew her to the role. “Evoke is assembling a purpose-built group of companies that we consider best of the best.”
She’ll look to contribute what she does best: helping integrate teams and form integrated agencies, which she said characterizes the last half of her two-decade career.
“That’s kind of my bread and butter,” she said. “I love forming a narrative and helping others understand how an offering can be delivered in a seamless, frictionless manner.”
That’s a challenge for any large organization.
“Evoke as part of Inizio is one of most scaled healthcare marketing organizations in the world,” said Connolly. “Our goal is to show that big can be agile.”
Retaining that entrepreneurial spirit within the account management team, as she works to continue to integrate teams and bring offerings to clients in as clear a way as possible, will be a major part of Fielding’s remit.
“Clients don’t have to just go shopping for what’s available in the form that it’s available,” she said. “We can create solutions around the client based on what they need and don’t need. And that’s an interesting way to think about being client-focused.”
This story has been updated.
