Stuart Black: The niche that led to an 18-year success story

In an industry obsessed with reinvention, success often hinges on finding your edge, and sticking with it. For Stuart Black (pictured above), CEO of The Ward Marketing Group, that edge was healthcare. Here, Black charts the journey from a single Surry Hills office with six green Bunnings chairs to a multi-brand marketing group with purpose at its core.

I remember it clearly. London, twenty-five years ago. Standing on Charlotte Street, the thick bustle of the city rushing past, when someone approached me with an offer to move to the healthcare arm of the global agency I worked for. At the time, I thought healthcare advertising a narrow path leading nowhere. A niche among niches, a back alley from which I might never re-emerge. Yet, over the following decades, I discovered it was far more than that—healthcare became the branch of communication I valued most, a place where each message had real, palpable consequence.

Much has been made lately about “purpose.” It’s the current watchword for brands and agencies alike, a rallying cry that can sometimes feel as thin as a desert breeze. In healthcare, though, we never wrestled to define our purpose. We knew it from the get-go: the work we do supports people’s well-being. That’s not a slogan; it’s the truth. And there’s a certain quiet thrill in watching your words and ideas ripple out into the world, actually helping people live better lives.

In April 2007, the groundwork was laid. Six of us, perched on six bright-green plastic chairs purchased from Bunnings, launched a Surry Hills-based agency called Ward6. Why? Because we were young, headstrong, maybe a little foolhardy, but convinced we could outshine the competition. Our focus has always been the work: no diversions, no excuses. If you signed on with Ward6, you learned pretty fast that we were serious—some said obsessive—about that focus.

Before long, the agency picked up pace. In 2011, after a tap on the shoulder from one of Asia’s largest pharmaceutical companies, we set up shop in Singapore. Roll on 2017. We acquire McCann Health Australia, then McCann Health Singapore the following year. We ran them as affiliates of IPG, our Ward6 offices sitting companionably alongside. Five fruitful years ticked by, and we learned volumes from this grand, global confluence. Then in 2023, IPG had its own internal restructure, which prompted us to go our separate ways. We stopped operating the McCann Health businesses in Australia and Singapore. Enter Ward7, the sister brand to Ward6—vital for conflict management, vital for our sanity. We braced ourselves for aftershocks, but it all went smoothly. Two years on, Ward6 and Ward7 stride confidently forward, stronger than ever.

At the end of 2023, we had another surprise. A major pharmaceutical company requesting we pitch for their media business. The Engagement Ward was born—a new name to wield in the ring. We won the pitch. Meanwhile, we had also conceived 66south, our strategy and research arm, and suddenly found ourselves with four agency brands. It was time to gather them together. Enter The Ward Marketing Group—our newly formed umbrella, sheltering Ward6, Ward7, The Engagement Ward, and 66south, all lined up like siblings in a family portrait.

It works because each branch nourishes the others, sharing ideas and talent like water coursing through a network of roots. We believe in constant adaptation, stand still too long and the ground shifts beneath you. In advertising, there’s always an unknown adversary at the door, brandishing a shiny new offering. Paranoia, in small doses, can be sustaining. It keeps us watchful and awake.

Where next? We’ll do what we’ve done since Day One. Aim higher, dream bigger and remain convinced we’re still that scrappy start-up, scouring the horizon for the next piece of brilliance. Yes, we’ve been at it for 18 years, but we’re still hungry, still anxious and still thrilled by the work. Because, in healthcare marketing, you can’t afford to stand still. You’ve got lives to change, if not save—and that niche, once upon a time so narrow and forbidding, turned out to be just the spot where we could stretch out our arms and attempt to soar.

Image 2 (L-R): Elizabeth Ritchie; Hugh Fitzhardinge; Paul Whitehead; Daniela Rocca; Stuart Black; Grant Foster