Former Ogilvy and Edelman executive Michael Sloan has joined JPA Health Communications as COO.
Sloan started in the newly created role this month. He is reporting to JPA founder and principal Carrie Jones, whom Sloan worked with at Ogilvy. He is based in JPA’s Washington, DC, office.
Sloan briefly consulted for JPA this year before taking on this role. His goal as COO is to support the agency as it grows.
"[JPA is] getting to that level where it’s not a small firm anymore; it’s moving into a midsize firm," Sloan said. "[Jones] wants to build the company to create great opportunities for the staff. She wants to grow a bigger footprint in the U.S., which creates more opportunities for many people in Boston, London or Washington DC. It’s better for clients, for patients and for the team if they have a bigger footprint."
Previously, Sloan was CFO and COO at consulting firm Dynamis Strategic Advisors; CFO at Coyne; VP of finance at Taylor; U.S. operations CFO at Edelman; and chief client financial officer at Ogilvy PR.
JPA is the first health-focused agency Sloan has worked at, but he has experience in the sector from his time at other firms.
"It’s great to work on gigantic clients doing openings for major brands, but at this point, knowing that you’re actually seeing that effect on patients and that we work with nonprofits is huge to me," he said. "The fact that I can work for an agency where part of the goal is patient engagement and advocacy, I feel good about that. I can actually see something good come from it."
JPA hired Julien Jarreau this spring as EVP and creative director, another newly created position. In 2018, the firm earned $10.1 million in revenue and had 47 staffers.
This story first appeared on mmm-online.com.
