Jennifer Matthews
Managing Partner
The Bloc
Growing from Good to Great
What qualities make for a transformational leader? For the The Bloc’s Jennifer Matthews, these include an uncanny ability to spot what’s around the corner—and five years out. Despite the dramatic and disruptive change in healthcare environment, she sees only opportunity. Her visionary leadership inspires a fundamentally different way of thinking that has primed the company to meet the rapidly evolving needs of clients and customers.
With deep roots in digital and relationship marketing, strong consumer experience with flagship brands across multiple verticals and 15 years in healthcare, Jennifer is a well-rounded, formidable and respected leader. As a powerful role model, she encourages women to take risks and thrive as leaders. No less than 75% of partners at The Bloc are female, while women make up 71% of the SVP leadership team. Additionally, 66% of the creative leaders on Jennifer’s team are women, compared to the 3% industry average.
She also encourages growth and accomplishment regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation and led the development of two key talent initiatives: Building Bloc’ers, a performance management program centered on collaborative, action-oriented goal setting towards individual success metrics and Cementorship, which matches employees with mentors to support partnership and mutual growth.
Thanks to Jennifer’s relentless drive for exceptional work and support for creative excellence and innovation, The Bloc has brought home more accolades and honors than ever in its history, becoming the most awarded agency in the U.S. “Good is the enemy of great,” in Jennifer’s words—an underlying philosophy that constantly pushes the limits.
Another strong suit: Building deep and lasting client relationships. Jennifer understands their opportunities, feels their pain, and always operates with transparency—and they know it. Under her leadership, The Bloc team drove the continued expansion of the agency’s core business in 2015. Partnerships also grew with AstraZeneca, Merck, Zoetis, Novartis, and BMS—and most new client partnerships were based on personal recommendations and reputation. In all, The Bloc won 33 new assignments across existing and new client partners. During Jennifer’s tenure, the organization’s revenue has grown 264%, with the digital capability she established accounting for 50% of revenue in 2015. That’s not only transformational—it’s also exceptional.
