Healthcare Communications Firms Join Forces to Launch Watershed Bridges™ LLC

Micro-network brings together industry thought-leaders to share resources and offer clients a wider array of services around the world

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Watershed Bridges, LLC

Dec 12, 2016, 12:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly a dozen firms specializing in healthcare communications announced today that they are forming a "micro-network" operating under the brand name, Watershed Bridges, LLC. The network offers clients the opportunity to tap into leading thinkers in the fields of patient behavior, medical education, public affairs, communication science, experiential marketing, digital/social media, advertising, healthcare branding, corporate communications, reputation management, narrative development and storytelling, as well as patient engagement.

Watershed Bridges member companies are led by seasoned healthcare and marketing executives and noted entrepreneurs who, very early in their careers, made it their professional mission to enrich the relationship between healthcare providers, their patients and interested consumers. The body of work each brings to Watershed Bridges makes for a very compelling buying proposition for clients who value the benefit of such deep experience. Each member company within Watershed Bridges shares its resources and pledges to support each member's business. The intent is to be geographically diverse and offer clients a wider array of services — significantly more than any one of these independent companies could do on their own.

Spearheading the breakthrough business model is healthcare PR veteran Bob Chandler, former President of inVentiv Health Communications and co-founder of Chandler Chicco Companies. Chandler has also just announced his new venture, MaxAscent™ LLC, a communications consultancy aiming to work with industry-leading healthcare companies to ensure, engage and facilitate productive conversations with their consumers and patients.

"I've been in healthcare my entire life and it's endlessly fascinating but also uniquely demanding," said Chandler. "We believe our value (and uniqueness) in launching Watershed Bridges is being able to link together senior-level talent on a moment's notice. Each entrepreneur-owner has decades of relevant experience and, in addition to embracing the practical advantages of this arrangement, each member has signed on philosophically to follow an agreed upon conduct of business and a rational sharing of client successes."

Michel Dubery, a partner at London-based wethepeople ® and member of Watershed Bridges said, "I'm proud to be a founding member of this boutique-like network, with global reach. Clients come to agencies to get thinking that is different than their own, but with today's corporate network agencies more and more resembling their clients, it has become increasingly hard to deliver. That's why we exist. In wethepeople, we treasure and nourish different ways of thinking and in Watershed Bridges, we have found a group that treasures it too."

In addition to MaxAscent, inaugural members of Watershed Bridges include:

wethepeople ® - a brand experience agency centered on the latest thinking about how our minds and brains have evolved to function and how people actually think, decide and act led by Michel Dubery, partner, strategy and human science.
PatientWisdom™ - an innovative digital platform that efficiently captures, curates, segments, and shares patient perspectives to improve the experience and delivery of care led by Gregory Makoul, founder and CEO.
Brandforming™ - a multidisciplinary creative organization with expertise in design, campaign, and digital works, dedicated to the strategic creation and transformation of brands for a connected world led by Guy Mastrion, founder and Chief Creative Officer.
Publick House - a consultancy specializing in integrated public affairs – the point where policy, communication, advocacy, and government relations intersect operating primarily in biopharmaceuticals and health care and led by principal Dan McIntyre.
Rothenberg Communication LLC - a communication consultancy that provides senior level strategic counsel and support to business and communication leaders across all types of organizations led by Craig Rothenberg, founder and CEO. Areas of focus include leadership coaching, narrative development, storytelling and strategic planning and implementation.
HealthTalker - specializing in grassroots, word of mouth marketing for the pharmaceutical, public policy and provider sectors of the healthcare industry and led by Steve Simcox, managing partner.
Sawtooth - a full-service creative agency with services that span creative, media and content generation and distribution led by Kristi Bridges, president and Chief Creative Officer. Sawtooth has deep expertise in the food and beverage industry with a real passion around the health and wellness space.
Parry Branding Group, -a full-service healthcare branding consultancy led by Vince Parry, president and Chief Branding Officer, which he launched in November 2012.
Midnight Media Group, Inc. - a video production company led by partner Dave Emmerling, that has focused on the pharmaceutical industry for the past 35 years.
BK Digital - specializing in the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical digital/social media space, including strategy and guidance/support in ongoing implementation, execution and analytics and led by Bryan Kaye, CEO & Digital/Social Media Strategy Consultant, Pharma/Healthcare.