The Wegovy Brand Team
Novo Nordisk
Agency Partner: Concentric Health Experience
Novo Nordisk Global Team Members:
Sandra Disse, Vice President, Obesity Marketing
Adam Jones, Associate Director, Obesity Marketing
Laura Nilsen, Global Product Lead, Obesity Marketing
Nana Lou Isbye, Senior Global Product Manager, Obesity Marketing
Jette Lundin, Senior Global Product Manager
Alison MacPherson, Product Manager, Obesity Marketing
Lydia Tan, Senior Global Product Manager, Obesity Marketing
Maria Bæksted Petersen, Senior Global Product Manager, Obesity Marketing
Morteza Sinaei, Associate Global Marketing Director, Obesity Marketing
Maximilian Jonathan Krawinkel, Global Product Lead, Obesity Marketing MCE
Novo Nordisk U.S. HCP Team Members:
Aneil Batra, Vice President, Obesity Commercial Lead, Cardiometabolic Marketing
Anne Feilberg McCaughan, Senior Brand Director, HCP Promotion, Obesity Marketing
John Addrizzo, Director, HCP Non-Personal Promotion, Obesity Marketing
Liz Noumoff, Associate Brand Director, Obesity Marketing
Bobby Cipolla, Associate Brand Director, Obesity Marketing
Shipra Pandya, Associate Brand Director, HCP Promotion, Obesity Marketing
Gabrielle Leach, Brand Manager, Personal Promotion, Obesity Marketing
Shannon Kelly, Brand Manager, Non-Personal Promotion
Kyla Williams, Brand Manager, Non-Personal Promotion, Obesity Marketing
Jessica Golden, Sr. Manager, Non-Personal Promotion, Obesity
Novo Nordisk U.S. Consumer Team Members:
Mark Materacky, Vice President, Consumer Marketing
Christine Szymanski, Consumer Marketing Lead, Obesity Marketing
Yvonne Bryant, Cardiometabolic Market Development and Partnership Lead, Consumer Marketing
Allison Harper, Director Obesity Consumer Marketing
Zipporah Herzig, Sr. Brand Manager, Patient Experience
Caroline Gargiulo, Associate Director Brand Marketing, Obesity Marketing
Keli Rising, Associate Director, Cardiometabolic Market Development
The Wegovy Marketing Team comprised of Novo Nordisk and Concentric Health Experience experts, has put together a visionary campaign for the product that took the healthcare community by storm. The “Finally, Real Change” campaign brings both healthcare providers and patients together with a common goal of helping more people living with obesity than ever before with Wegovy.
As a product, Wegovy is the first and only once-weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist for chronic weight management. In 2021, Wegovy became the fastest, most successful, and most robust launch from Novo Nordisk by hitting 120% of its original product supply forecast just three months after launch. The success of Wegovy’s launch has been fueled by the determination and grit of the Novo Nordisk marketing team, and the effectiveness of Wegovy as an obesity treatment.
The Wegovy marketing team was pivotal in executing numerous global workstreams and effectively building a global campaign that prioritizes and reaches people across differing cultural backgrounds. Of course, the pandemic created a unique challenge for the marketing team, who gracefully pivoted to full virtual collaboration only a few months into their launch efforts.
The current pandemic has highlighted that obesity increases the risk for severe illness and hospitalization due to COVID-19 and other related diseases such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease. The global increase in the prevalence of obesity is also a public health issue that has severe cost implications to healthcare systems. Approximately 650 million adults are estimated to live with obesity worldwide. Novo Nordisk has been a pioneer in their pursuit of making obesity a healthcare priority, and this team has been committed to helping improve the lives of people with obesity by changing how the world sees, prevents, and treats obesity.
An incredible amount of market demand existed for this medication long before it even had a brand name, which prompted expedited approval that cut planning time by six full months. The team kept charging forward—meeting challenges head-on and working through roadblocks with diligence. The Wegovy team successfully delivered 17 custom-built campaigns for global markets, 30+ assets for market localization, 40+ tactics for the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), and in just five calendar days after approval, 21 key launch pieces. But according to the team, their greatest pride comes not from their incredible accomplishment, but from realizing that “none of us are as great as all of us.”
