Weber Shandwick announced major strides in the healthcare arena this morning with its acquisition of Nashville-based ReviveHealth, one of the largest independent healthcare PR and marketing communications agencies in the country.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ReviveHealth, which holds additional offices in Minneapolis and Santa Barbara, was founded in 2009 and staffs about 50. It was ranked sixth largest healthcare agency in the country this year by O’Dwyer’s, reporting 2014 healthcare net fees of $8.78 million.
The deal effectively joins Weber Shandwick’s science and pharma expertise with ReviveHealth’s nuanced insight into the B2B world of healthcare systems and services. Interpublic unit Weber Shandwick, which is headquartered in New York and has operations in 78 cities across 34 countries, has seen healthcare become one of the agency’s fastest growing practice areas in recent years. The agency now staffs a specialized Scientific Communications team comprised of MDs, science writers, medical editors and 14 full-time PhDs who translate data and complex healthcare-related issues into formats that can educate and engage stakeholders and consumers.
Laura Schoen, president of Weber Shandwick’s Global Healthcare Practice, said combining Weber Shandwick’s global reach and pharma communications expertise with ReviveHealth’s insight into complex B2B issues will create “a powerful consumer-and-business-facing healthcare offering for our clients.”
“We saw a unique opportunity with ReviveHealth to combine capabilities and provide strategic, integrated communications that influence stakeholders at every point of the healthcare ecosystem,” Schoen said in a statement.
ReviveHealth staff will become part of the Weber Shandwick network. A Weber Shandwick spokesperson told O'Dwyer's that ReviveHealth CEO Brandon Edwards will remain in his current position and will report to Schoen. No further staffing changes were reported.
ReviveHealth's Minneapolis staff will move into Weber Shandwick's offices in that city at a later date, according to a Weber Shandwick spokesperson. ReviveHealth's Nashville and Santa Barbara locations will remain.
Edwards in a statement posited that recent, historic changes in the U.S. healthcare landscape have resulted in a renewed urgency among healthcare communicators to offer clients updated offerings and specialized expertise.
“Consolidations in the hospital health plan and pharmaceutical sectors are driving massive change in the industry, and the convergence of healthcare financing and healthcare delivery has accelerated since the Affordable Care Act became law. Bigger and more sophisticated healthcare companies require more sophisticated marketing communication strategies, combined with the expertise to navigate the intersection of regulation, business, mission and social change,” Edwards said. “Joining the Weber Shandwick family accelerates our agency transformation and brings capabilities into the mix that increase our value to our clients. Branding, digital strategy, content marketing, public affairs and other deep capabilities that Weber Shandwick has invested in will be hugely important to our current and future clients.”
Lo Isidro, senior director at Real Chemistry with more than a decade of strategic communications and PA experience, has joined Narrative Strategies.
Nelson Fernandez, former North American chair of APCO Worldwide and managing director of Burson-Marsteller, has joined Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires as director of communications and PA.
Lilit Bargar, who was most recently an EVP in the healthcare practice at Weber Shandwick, comes on board at GCI Health as EVP, corporate practice lead.
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