WCG Hires Jeff Yates as Creative Director to Strengthen Service Offering in Growing New York Office

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- WCG, a global communications company offering integrated creative, interactive and marketing communications services primarily for healthcare clients, today announced it hired Jeff Yates as Creative Director in its New York office to better serve the growing digital, creative and interactive needs of its clients. Yates joins WCG from DraftFCB Healthcare where he spent the last eight years as Vice President and Associate Creative Director.  He will report to WCG's Chief Creative Officer Paulo Simas.

"Jeff is a proven and respected 25-year veteran who has built several brands into category leaders. He will play a key role in positioning WCG as an integrated strategic partner and agency of record to our clients," said Simas. "His diverse talents and ability to flow seamlessly between consumer and professional marketing and advertising and online and offline promotion will help our clients build an effective bridge between traditional and new media in a rapidly changing landscape.  From start-ups to established global companies, Jeff's expertise aligns with WCG's BrandEminence® approach to seamlessly create a unified brand experience that communicates powerful messages and images with maximum impact across multiple channels."

While at DraftFCB, Yates created the new corporate identity for ENDO Pharmaceuticals and launched several pharmaceuticals and medical devices, including GlaxoSmithKline's Wellbutrin XL for depression and Valtrex for cold sores and genital herpes; a new indication for Merck's Cozaar/Hyzaar for stroke risk reduction; and Abbott's and Medtronic's continuous glucose monitors. Most recently he worked on the product launch campaign for Johnson & Johnson's Stelara for psoriasis.

Prior to DraftFCB, Yates was Vice President and Associate Creative Director for Lowe McAdams Healthcare where he oversaw the professional and direct-to-consumer (DTC) communications for Roche Pharmaceutical, Schering Plough and Braun.  Before transitioning to healthcare communications, Yates spent more than a decade at the advertising agencies J. Walter Thompson, DMB&B and Grey, where he worked on such leading consumer brands as Barilla, M&M Mars, P&G, Kraft, Miller and Northern Telecom.

Yates' love of fine arts continues to influence his award-winning design style.  Yates and his teams have been recognized with such awards as an Rx Gold & Gold CLIO in 2009 for Johnson and Johnson's Stelara launch campaign, Rx Merit Awards in 2006 and 2007 for Novartis Oncology's Glivec; Doctors' Choice Awards for Valtrex campaigns in 2003 and 2005, and a National Communication Gold Award for the Accutane DTC campaign in 2001. He is an honors graduate of Syracuse University.

About WCG

Led by Chairman and CEO Jim Weiss, WCG is creating the positive future of communications by focusing on the corporate and product marketing and communications needs of the world's leading companies.

Serving clients in offices in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin and London, WCG's seasoned professionals specialize in branding, design, digital, interactive, social and traditional marketing, corporate and product PR, media, investor and advocacy relations, clinical trial recruitment and grassroots direct-to-patient communications campaigns. For more information, please visit www.wcgworld.com.

SOURCE WCG