CommonHealth's Thomas Ferguson Associates Unit Names Chief Creative Officer and Managing Director, Strengthening Leadership Profile.

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 1999--

Spetrino and Parks Recognized for "Significant Contributions"

Thomas Ferguson Associates (TFA) today announced it has named John Spetrino and Peter Parks to the positions of executive vice president, chief creative officer; and executive vice president, managing director, respectively.

Spetrino and Parks are longtime members of the leadership team at TFA: Spetrino most recently as executive vice president, creative director; and Parks as senior vice president, management supervisor.

Thomas Ferguson Associates is the founding full-service advertising agency of CommonHealth, the world's largest healthcare-communications resource and a WPP Group (LSE:WPPL.L; NASDAQ/ADR:WPPGY) company.

"John Spetrino and Peter Parks have made significant contributions to the creative and strategic capital here at TFA," said TFA President Phil Brady. "John's insights have been critical to much of the creative recognition TFA has received recently, which includes several high-profile awards."

Brady continued, "For his part, Peter has that all-too-rare ability to make the arcane accessible, among other talents. And he is simply tireless in pursuit of what is best, not only for our clients, but for medicine as a whole."

Spetrino arrived at Thomas Ferguson Associates in 1990 as a group art director. He later became creative group supervisor and group creative director before being named executive vice president, creative director, in 1994. His years of experience in healthcare advertising are enriched by his previous work in other areas of design, including decorative arts such as textile design.

With experience in almost every therapeutic category, from analgesic to respiratory, Spetrino was a key driver behind TFA's recent, successful launch of its "Ensoulment" branding concept, which articulates the TFA belief that a brand is not a brand until it has a "soul." His previous experience includes tenures at Trunk Shea & McCaffrey of Montclair, New Jersey; Sieber & McIntyre in Chicago; Montgomery Ward/Dan River, Inc.; and Westgate Graphic Design of Chicago.

Spetrino holds a BFA degree from Ohio's Miami University.

TFA is the latest CommonHealth unit to appoint a chief creative officer. This week, Adient, CommonHealth's full-service advertising agency based in Wayne, N.J., announced the appointment of Rich Norman as its chief creative officer. In May 1998, The Quantum Group named Kathy Jenkins to the same position.

Peter Parks heads TFA's oncology/immunology division, which includes the nephrology and surgery treatment categories. He joined Thomas Ferguson Associates in 1994 from William Douglas McAdams Inc., where he was president of Helix, the agency's biotechnology division, for 3 years.

Parks brings to his new position of executive vice president, managing director, more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing and publishing, including education, sales training, promotion and advertising. A hands-on leader with experience in introducing several important therapeutic advances, Parks has been a principal architect of TFA's work on behalf of Procrit, Ortho Biotech's $1 billion drug for anemic patients undergoing surgery and myelosuppressive drug therapy.

In addition to William Douglas McAdams, Parks worked previously at Muir Cornelious Moore Inc., and Landi & Handler. He was managing editor at BMI's Drug Therapy, and editor of medical/nursing books at Appleton Century Crofts. He holds a BA degree from George Washington University and an MAT from Harvard.

CommonHealth comprises Thomas Ferguson Associates, Adient, CommonHealth Australia, CommonHealth Consulting, CommonHealth Direct, CommonHealth Europe, CommonHealth Kyowa, Gowers Advertising, Health Learning Systems, the Hill and Knowlton Health and Pharmaceutical Practice, the OZM Group and a partnership in China with the Ogilvy Healthcare Network, ProCom International and The Quantum Group.

For five consecutive years, CommonHealth was named by its peers the nation's "most admired" healthcare-communications resource, as reported in Med Ad News.