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New EVP, Managing Director for Saatchi

Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness has named Ned Russell as executive vice president, managing director. He succeeds Jim Joseph, who left the agency to become a partner and president of Lippe Taylor.

Russell was previously the executive vice president, director of client services at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness and also "played a significant role on the agency's executive team in building business and relationships with existing clients," said president Sam Welch. Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, which is a unit of the Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare Communications Group and a division of the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, began a transformation back in 2007 from a healthcare focus to a fully integrated wellness agency. Its clients include Nexium, Ambien CR, Plavix, Durex, Frontline and Transitions, among others.

Meanwhile, Joseph left Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness to join Lippe Taylor, a New York-based full-service agency focusing on women in the areas of health/wellness, beauty/fashion, lifestyle, as well as multicultural and corporate social responsibility campaigns. The majority of his agency career has been with the Publicis Groupe. He started his own agency, CPPartners, which was bought by Publicis and merged to form Arc-NY. He then moved to Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness to help lead the company in its transformation from traditional to diversified marketing. He has worked for such clients and brands as: Kellogg's, Kraft, Cadillac, Tylenol, Clean & Clear, Aveeno, Durex, AFLAC, Ambien CR, and Wal-Mart.