P rofessional A dvertising T oday Lyons Lavey Nickel Swift (now Lyon Heart) was established by combining Dorritie Lyons & Nickel and Lavey Wolf Swift. Gross Townsend Frank Hoffman evolved into the Grey Healthcare Group. In 2003 the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group consolidated 14 agencies including Klemtner Advertising, Nelson Communications (now Brand Pharm), and Bcom3, which included Medicus Advertising. In 2004 Corbett merged with another Omnicom agency, Accel, to form Corbett Accel. And in 1997 Vox Medica Inc. was formed from Ted Thomas Associates. Through acquisition and merger, many of the leading healthcare agency names of the 1970s and 80s— such as Robert A. Becker, Kallir Philips Ross, William Douglas McAdams, and Vicom—now no longer exist. To date, more than 66 agencies have been acquired by, or evolved or assimilated into, six major holding companies: Havas, Interpublic, InVentiv Health, Omnicom, Publicis, and WPP. InVentiv Health is a typical example of how agencies evolved in the 1990s. Beginning its life as Gerbig, Snell/Weisheimer & Associates, the agency acquired Creative Healthcare Solutions (CHS) and Next Generation Advertising (NGDA) Digital in the Midwest, launched Palio Communications in Saratoga Springs, changed the name of agency operations to InChord, and opened its first ex-US office in the UK—all before being acquired by the sales and marketing services company, Ventiv, which changed its structure into that of a holding company. Another innovative strategy was that devised by Steve Girgenti, head of Girgenti, Hughes, Butler & McDowell. While many agencies merged or were acquired by large consumer holding companies during this time, Girgenti acquired several smaller shops and was the first independent healthcare agency to go public with a 87
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