Agency Kickstarts Next Phase of Strategic Growth with Four New Hires
South Norwalk, CT – April 2, 2025 – Scrum50 (S50) is a digital agency that has built its reputation on creating innovative and bold marketing solutions for clients. Those solutions come from a unique, highly adaptive approach that places client needs and budget first – while delivering maximum results.
And today, as the agency experiences unprecedented growth, S50 is announcing the addition of four industry leaders to its expanding health team. Known individually for their impact in big-name health and pharma marketing, Howard Courtemanche, Michael Fox, James Buonantuono, and Laura Bzdek are bringing their deep expertise to an already strong and nimble, client-first team.
Dedicated to the idea that “better work happens with fewer barriers,” the S50 Health team collaborate with clients to create award-winning marketing strategies and content for a wide range of consumer and health brands including AbbVie, Bayer, Myriad Genetics, Amgen, Acadia Pharmaceuticals and more. They are primed to build on recent accolades including an Ad Age Modern Healthcare Marketing Impact Award, and recognition from the OMMA Awards and MM+M Awards.
S50’s team brings a powerful “FLEX” strategy to each client – expanding, contracting and adapting to fit their specific needs and budget. The result: the right people at the right time – with the best and boldest ideas. And after years of perfecting its approach and creating powerful advertising strategies for healthcare brands, S50 Health is ready to expand.
“Over the years, we have perfected and proven our approach with consumer clients, and we find that experience to be a huge strategic benefit as we partner with more health clients,” said Michael LeBeau, Founder and Managing Partner of S50. “Our collective experience gives us more depth and more insight than a typical pharma-only agency. And as we lean into healthcare, we are bringing in great, new, talent to help us innovate and deliver even better results.”
Four highly experienced industry veterans will be joining the S50 Health team:
Howard Courtemanche, Executive Advisor
With decades of experience in the advertising world and within health marketing, Howard has served as a founder and leader for health divisions of WPP agencies as CEO of J. Walter Thompson Health and President of VMLY&R Health. Client accounts Howard has led include Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Astra Zeneca, Bristol Myers, Merck, Bayer, Genentech, Amgen and PhRMA. His experience covers every health agency discipline from consumer to HCP to medical education/affairs, over the counter, health systems, and virtually every therapeutic category in healthcare.
Michael Fox, Senior Vice President, Head of Health Marketing
Michael runs S50’s health portfolio including pharma, health tech, health systems and over-the-counter products and services. He is a purpose-driven media and marketing executive with extensive DTC and HCP experience in the healthcare industry across a diverse range of therapeutic areas including Oncology, MS, Cardiovascular, Primary Care, Specialty Care, Vaccines, Gene Therapy, Infant Nutrition and Patient-Centric Technology Solutions. He has led cross-functional agency teams delivering client solutions that include digital, social, mobile, TV, print, direct mail/email, experiential, radio and sales.
James Buonantuono, Senior Vice President, Head of Creative
With 20 years of advertising experience, James has led award-winning campaigns within the health, pharma, consumer products and tech industries. He has served in key roles at multiple agencies including Area 23, /Prompt, Weber Shandwick, Saatchi&Saatchi and McCann. James helped build the creative department at /Prompt – growing it from a staff of three to 35 in four years.
Laura Bzdek, Senior Vice President, Growth
Laura is a seasoned client relationship and business development leader with deep health experience including wellness, pharmaceutical, omnichannel, digital, social media, experiential, environmental and integrated marketing solutions that drive increased ROI and distinction. She specializes in creating accessible solutions for brands and their consumers.
“I’m thrilled to join an agency that’s redefining what success looks like in this business,” said Howard Courtemanche, S50 Health’s new executive advisor. “There’s no red tape at S50 — just smart, flexible people working to deliver great work. They truly listen, adapt, and bring together the right talent to make an impact. This is the way it should be.”
About S50
S50 is an award-winning, customer-obsessed marketing agency. Our mission is to marry world-class strategic creative with an innovative approach to deliver deeper brand-to-consumer connections. We focus on three competency areas for clients: agency services, eBusiness and digital transformation. The agency is based in South Norwalk, CT with a hybrid team based across the US and Canada.
Scrum50 brings a decade of barrier-free, consumer-connecting expertise to enhance BGB’s expanding capabilities
New York City, NY – February 1, 2024 – BGB Group (BGB), an award-winning healthcare commercialization and communications company headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington DC, Boston, and London, today announced a strategic partnership with Scrum50 (S50), a dynamic, agile-first creative agency based in South Norwalk, CT. This collaboration marks a transformative alliance, the next phase of BGB’s expertise enhancement aimed at remaining ahead of biopharma’s biggest challenges. The teams are set to redefine creativity and impact in the healthcare sector.
S50 will continue to operate independently across all industry sectors.
“We are excited to formalize our partnership with S50,” noted Greg Passaretti, Founding Partner of BGB Group. “We’ve been working together for nearly a year, and we realized that there’s much more that we can accomplish for a marketplace in need of broader creative and engagement solutions.”
BGB Group, known for its deep clinical expertise, has been enhancing its ability to forge valuable connections with healthcare consumers. “S50 is great at breaking down complexities, approaching marketing challenges from new angles and getting great new ideas implemented quicky,” noted Brendon Phalen, Founding Partner of BGB Group. “Their work has captured attention in our sector because of their fresh, authentic approach to creating connections.”
S50 has delivered results for a broad range of consumer and healthcare organizations from Mondelēz, American Express, Subway and Jägermeister to AbbVie, Gilead, and Myriad Genetics. “S50 has a team that is exceptional at creating meaningful customer connections on a personal level,” noted Michael LeBeau, Founder and Managing Partner of S50. “We’ve become the perfect home for free-spirited, risk-taking creative problem solvers.”
Chris Parker, Founder and Managing Partner of S50, notes that pharmaceutical clients have been very receptive to new ways to establish critical customer connections. “We know non-branded search across healthcare continues to climb. Audiences are searching and our job is to align what customers care about with opportunities for brands to provide relevant expertise.”
“Our collaboration has been outstanding,” noted Jen Miller, Executive Creative Director and Managing Partner of S50. “BGB has unmatched expertise in scientific content and that gives us a tremendous advantage as we develop new ways to connect with consumers
to deliver information they can trust. Together we’re bringing a totally new approach in a sector that is known for contrived and overused communication formulas.”
“This partnership enhances our ability to apply the science of consumer marketing to the pharmaceutical space,” said Teresa Day, President of BGB Group, “and opens the door for clients to tap into the expanded and interconnected marketing expertise at BGB.”
The strategic partnership between BGB and S50 is poised to usher in a new era of creativity and impact in healthcare. Together, these leaders are committed to delivering innovative solutions that resonate with consumers.
About S50:
S50 is an award-winning, customer-obsessed marketing agency. Our mission is to marry world-class strategic creative with an innovative approach to deliver deeper brand-to-consumer connections. We focus on three competency areas for clients: Agency services, eBusiness and Digital Transformation. www.s50.agency
About BGB Group:
At BGB Group, the brightest minds in healthcare are merging science and creativity to deliver the best in specialized services including healthcare advertising, medical education, strategic consulting, and payer marketing. BGB seamlessly integrates medical expertise into each piece of business, bringing an unmatched level of insight, perspective, and scientific sophistication to every assignment, for every client. www.bgbgroup.com
Media Contact:
BGB
Amanda Eckel
aeckel@bgbgroup.com
S50
Katie Coleman
katie.coleman@s50agency.com
Yes! Scrum50 is #14 on the Ad Age Best Places to Work list. We’re honored and proud. It means our culture of doing isn’t just productive, but it’s fulfilling for our employees too.
The Ad Age list is based on survey results from both employers and employees. It take all the usual stuff into account – compensation, perks, etc. – but also opportunities for advancement, diversity, responsiveness to issues…all those things that make people feel good about where they work.
We started from scratch – 2 guys and an idea for a marketing agency that just might be crazy enough to work. So we started the first born-Agile marketing agency back in 2014. Now we’re growing…and fast.
From our renovated factory space in South Norwalk, CT, we’re changing the way digital marketing agencies work. Our philosophy is faster better brilliance. It means we like to bring great ideas to life and test them in-market (instead of letting them fade due to over-discussion and over-crafting). Our teams are lean, and made up of multi-talented, multi-faceted polymaths who are encouraged to work beyond their titles.
Getting on this list proves that we haven’t just built a company, but a culture that lets our employees feel free to show off their unique talents, make an impact, and go to work in a great space with great people.
Want to come work with us? Let’s talk.
Scrum50 is thrilled to announce that Founder and Managing Partner, Mike LeBeau will judge the 2018 NY Festivals® Advertising Awards as part of the show’s prestigious Grand Jury.
New York Festivals International Advertising Awards® honors advertising excellence through 20 competitions in all media from 80+ countries and represents the full spectrum of today’s advertising communications: Activation/Engagement, Audio, Avant-Garde/Innovation, Branded Entertainment, Creative Marketing Effectiveness, Design, Digital, Direct & Collateral, Film & Film Craft, Integrated Media Campaign, Media, Mobile, Outdoor /Out of Home, Package & Product Design, Print, Public & Media Relations, Public Service Announcements, Sports and Student.
The NYF International Advertising Awards has the largest, most creative international jury and judging system in the world. The Grand Jury, conducted online, evaluates all entries to determine the Finalists. The Finalists are then judged by the Executive Jury, known as the “Dream Team” – an exclusive group of prominent worldwide Chief Creative Officers from the world’s top advertising agencies. This elite group comes together for five days of live judging to determine the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Place Winners, the Grand Winners, as well as the one entry worthy of being named the Best of Show.
The 2018 New York Show℠ will be held at the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
New York Festivals® celebrates the World’s Best Creative Communications. Our internationally renowned award-winning judges review submissions in the most current and relevant categories to award creativity across all media.
SOUTH NORWALK, Conn., July 15, 2015 — Scrum50 has hired Jennifer Miller as executive creative director, a new role for the agency.
Throughout her career, Miller has been on the forefront of reshaping traditional advertising. In her new role as Executive Creative Director at Scrum50, she is an early adopter of lean management and agile marketing. With her partners she has restructured the agency model and is helping clients compete “at the speed of life.” (more…)
Scrum50 Mantra: “Do Things Twice as Good in Half the Time”
SOUTH NORWALK, Conn., May 11, 2015 — Founded in March 2015 by digital marketing and “360-degree thinking” advertising agency veterans, Scrum50 is a new agency that is powered by “agile marketing” thinking and practices. “Our mission,” Scrum50 CEO & Managing Partner Michael LeBeau explained, “is to do smart work that is twice as good in half the time.” (more…)