Omnicom Health hasn’t reorganised its ad agencies yet

Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG has closed, but nearly a week later, the dust isn’t close to settling for the new Omnicom Health. 

Unlike Omnicom’s plan for its creative and media agencies, the plan for its dozens of health agencies hasn’t been publicly revealed. The company did reveal that Dana Maiman, the former CEO of IPG Health, will lead Omnicom Health as CEO, reporting up to Michael Larson, CEO of Diversified Agency Services, which includes Health, Branding and Precision Marketing. 

As part of the acquisition, Omnicom began laying off 4,000 workers Monday, which follows 6,000-plus layoffs executed by Omnicom and IPG this year in the lead-up to the merger. 

It is not clear how many Omnicom Health employees were let go, but sources told MM+M that more than 200 people were on a mass-firing call for FCB Health New York. Additional layoffs happened at Neon, Snow and many other agencies within the health network.

Sources told MM+M that layoffs were conducted on a single call for each agency, with invitations coming from the agency leader with the subject line “Important Business Update.”

Layoffs didn’t impact just back-office roles due to duplication across merging agencies, but sources told MM+M that creatives and strategists were caught up in the firings as well.

Multiple sources who were laid off explained that they haven’t received severance packages yet, and some are being kept on for several weeks during the transition period. One document shared with MM+M showed that employees will receive one week of severance for each year employed, but it is capped at 12 weeks of severance. 

Omnicom didn’t answer MM+M’s questions about whether layoffs will continue this week. 

Those who remain employed have been left in the dark regarding return-to-office mandates, which are stricter at Omnicom than they were at IPG. 

Agency restructuring

It is not clear yet how Omnicom Health will be restructured. The company revealed some information in an email that went out to employees on Monday morning.

An excerpt from the email reveals a streamlined framework for Omnicom Health:

“We’re joining our health networks into a single, connected structure designed to accelerate growth, facilitate collaboration, and deepen the impact for clients and our employees. Omnicom Health will be organised by key specialities, each led by experienced leaders who will guide our agencies and teams within their respective specialities.”

As part of this structure, the email listed several networks and leaders:

• Consumer and Healthcare Professional will be led by Deb Deaver.
• FCB Health New York will be led by Linda Bennet.
• Area 23 will be led by Julie Pilon.
• DDB Health will be led by Jennie Fischette.
• Neon will be led by Mardene Miller.
• Propeller will be led by Charlie Flax.
• Biolumina will be led by Kirsten Kantak.
• Omnicom Managed Markets will be led by Dina Steinfurth. 
• Snow Companies will be led by Blake Shewey. 
• Adelphi Real World Evidence will be led by Maria Karavali.
• Omnicom Health Medical Communications will be led by Ariel Buda Levin.

After Omnicom retired the FCB and DDB creative agency brands, FCB Health and DDB Health will be rebranded; however Omnicom has not revealed what those names will be. 

One source told MM+M that after TBWA\WorldHealth was rolled into Purpose Group that Purpose Group would now become part of DDB Health.

It is not clear yet whether Omnicom Health has a plan for all of its smaller speciality agencies. Omnicom declined to explain whether its dozens of smaller shops have been told what their futures are.

Omnicom also didn’t answer MM+M’s inquiry into why Omnicom creative and media shops were reorganised and announced on Monday, when there was no finalised plan for Omnicom Health.

This story first appeared on MM+M.