Carmichael Lynch Relate president Julie Batliner explained that "Relate" reflects the firm's goal to bring together people and brands, clients and stakeholders, and influencers and the media. The firms is a division of Interpublic Group's Carmichael Lynch.

Carmichael Lynch RelateCarmichael Lynch and Carmichael Lynch Relate remain stand-alone agencies, but can "snap together" to provide an integrated solution, according to Batliner.

Doug Spong, who started Carmichael Lynch Spong, stepped down as president emeritus in late 2015.

The firm has been known as Spong since 2014.

"While that made sense at the time, the way that we are working, this name better reflects who we are," Batliner said.