Introducing Emota: A New Inizio Engage Agency
Ashfield Event Experiences and WRG merge in an effort to better serve the healthcare industry.
Inizio Engage, a strategic, commercial, and creative engagement partner that specializes in healthcare, is launching a new global experiential agency, Emota, thereby combining Ashfield Event Experiences (AEE) and WRG.1 The resulting agency is expected to provide a full portfolio of services and capabilities that serve the healthcare industry and global brands.
In the form of end-to-end strategic and creative capabilities, the agency offers a plethora of services surrounding meetings congresses/conventions, event experiences, exhibitions and brand experiences that impact the film, digital, behavioral science, and scientific areas.
According to the 2024 C&IT Top 50 agencies ranking,2 the AEE-WRG merger unites two top 5 ranking agencies. Combined, the agencies having decades of experience in both the experiential sector and healthcare events. Emota reportedly works with 19 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies.
The new agency lies in the experience design (XD) specialist area of Inizio Engage, assisting clients by pulling from the strategic, consulting knowledge across the employee engagement and learning and capability services of XD. Emota even utilizes the know-how of Inizio Engage’s commercial, medical affairs and patient solutions.
Mark Jackson will serve as the Emota’s global managing director, reporting into Russ Lidstone, president of Inizio Engage XD and CMO of Inizio Engage. The rest of the leadership team will include:
- Simon Davenport, global head of exhibitions and environments
- Katie Streten, global head of creative strategy
- Mark Gass, group chief creative officer
- Katie Coleman, head of meetings & events, US
- Tripp Mahan, head of live production, US
- Dan Walker, head of meetings & events, UK
- Saira Dickinson, head of live production, UK
“I've had the pleasure of working alongside our newly formed leadership team to combine the unparalleled experience and talent of our two legacy brands into something truly special,” said Jackson. “We’re already helping clients tackle their business challenges, demonstrate ROI, and better connect with their audiences. It’s a really exciting time to be in the world of experiences.”
This development provides plenty of enthusiasm for the possibilities that await.
“We believe that businesses and brands are increasingly defined by the experiences that they create for their stakeholders,” noted Lidstone. “So now is the right time to combine our two pre-eminent event brands into Emota, one powerful, global offer. I’m truly excited to be able to offer our clients scale, creativity, innovation and delivery excellence for our clients in healthcare and beyond.”
Similar to Emota—as it is also a part of the XD specialist area—Inizio Engage also launched Nazaré late last year,3 a learning and capability brand. Nazaré draws on the rest of Inizio Engage XD’s in-house creative and executional capabilities in live events, environments, film, digital, and immersive technologies, as well as considering learning experience design more holistically alongside employee engagement.
It also unites Axiom, Cormis, Logicearth Learning Services, and Ashfield Excellence Academy under one brand to support global organizations with various learning and capability programs, with knowledge in end-to-end life sciences learning support for pharmaceutical and biotech companies across the product lifecycle.
“Business leaders need evidence-based learning strategies and programs that inspire real behavior change,” commented Lidstone. “Nazaré provides a unique combination of learning, capability development, technology, creativity, and behavioral science to create learning that delivers real-world results.”
References
1. Ashfield Event Experiences and WRG combine to create the new global experiential agency, Emota. Inizio Engage. June 5, 2024. Accessed June 6, 2024. https://inizioengage.com/insights/ashfield-event-experiences-and-wrg-combine-to-create-the-new-global-experiential-agency-emota/
2. Flach C. Top 50 Agencies 2024 announced. C&IT. May 17, 2024. Accessed June 6, 2024. https://www.cit-world.com/at-last-top-50-agencies-2024-announced
3. Inizio Engage Introduces New Learning Brand. Pharmaceutical Commerce. October 19, 2023. Accessed June 6, 2024. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/inizio-engage-introduces-new-learning-brand
