The Brand Union CEO Rob Scalea Delineates on the Consequences of a Sound Brand Strategy

Co-Hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe interview Robert Scalea, Chief Executive Officer of The Brand Union North America. The Brand Union is a part of WPP, where Rob spearheads innovative approaches to delivering effective brand management solutions for clients. Rob was previously president and CEO of Brouillard, a boutique global agency specializing in healthcare, financial services and technology industries. Rob also worked a six-year tenure at fellow WPP agency JWT as Chief Strategy Officer where he developed a business and marketing strategy practice that helped clients grow their revenue and profit through increased understanding of their target audiences: new product development, distribution strategies, repositioning exercises, improved marketing ROI and strategic business planning. Rob has been actively involved with clients in complex often volatile industries, such as health care, financial services and technology. His work ranges from major brands to more future-focused, entrepreneurial assignments. Major assignments in health care include projects for Pfizer, Humana Health Care, Harvard Medical School, Fox Chase Cancer Institute, and the Whitehead Institute/ MIT. In the financial services area, he has worked on major initiatives for Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, John Hancock and ITT Hartford. Prior to joining JWT, Rob worked in Boston as Executive Vice President of Hill Holliday, where he ran an in-house marketing consultancy for seven years, as well as managing the media, research and analytical resources of the agency. Rob’s analytical background bolsters his advertising and consulting career. He graduated from MIT, where he studied molecular biology and electrical engineering. He was awarded a grant from the National Institution of Health, which he used to continue his studies at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France. In addition, Rob served as a faculty member at Harvard University’s Radcliffe College for ten years, where he taught a course in marketing management. He has spoken at conferences for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) and the British American Business Institute; authored several articles in professional and scientific journals; and, serves on the boards of several companies in health related-industries.