Chimney Vigor Group Appoints Laura Romeu as Chief Growth Officer

Chimney Vigor Group (CVG) today announce the hire of Laura Romeu as chief growth officer to their new Health and Wellness vertical, operating from the New York office.

For more than 25 years, Chimney has utilised production, editorial and visual effects to communicate complex content in an engaging way. The company’s expansion into Health and Wellness aims to apply this to the communications of deep science by exploring new and innovative ways to communicate while staying within the guidelines of regulatory authorities and Laura Romeu is the company’s first hire against the new vertical.

With over 20 years of marketing experience, both on the client and the agency side, Laura has worked across global pharmaceutical companies, medical and scientific communications agencies, technology-driven big data companies, and tech-enabled patient support service providers. She has knowledge in strategic marketing, communications, brand management and planning, product launch, customer engagement, business development/diversification, account management/development, and market research.

A Stanford political science major, Laura started her career at Merck & Co. as a Professional Sales Representative and later moved into marketing. For the almost 10 years she was with the company she occupied the roles of Marketing and Product Manager and Manager of Government Relations Programs. During her job tenure at Merck, she spent three years in Spain, working with cardiovascular brands, focused on launches and line extensions, before moving back to the US. It was then that she realised she was interested in market research, customer insights and the communication and messaging for brands, which led her to her next position at Saatchi and Saatchi Wellness. Since then, Laura has held executive positions at Cline Davis and Mann (CDM), Digitas Health Lifebrands (DHLB), IMS Health, and ConnectiveRx. She has also started her own consultancy - Brand Strategy Consulting - and worked as an independent marketing strategist for different agencies. 

In her new role, Laura will lead the business development and strategic partnerships for category brands and companies focusing on Chimney’s end-to-end content strategy, production, distribution, and analytical services.

Marcelo Gandola, CEO for the Americas, says: “Marketing in the Health & Wellness sector requires a specific understanding of the healthcare ecosystem and its unique way of working. We have great creative talent within the Chimney organization, but this offering goes beyond traditional production and post. It was important that we hired the right person to lead us, strategically, in this space. Laura’s background and passion for the category, partnered with her appreciation of creativity, made her the perfect choice.”

Laura Romeu, chief growth officer, CVG, adds: “Chimney’s ability to create visual and emotional representations of brands, within a highly regulated space, highlights the value of creativity and is what attracted me to the organisation. Their creation of meaningful and engaging content, done by world-class talent that understands healthcare and its regulatory guardrails, leads to impactful messaging that ultimately drives behaviors leading to better health.”