Interpublic Group of Cos. is launching its own health network called IPG Health, which realigns FCB Health and McCann Health under one umbrella led by a senior management team from both networks. The agency brands, which have worked together for years on certain clients, will now have a single P&L but continue to go to market independently. The combination will allow combined services for clients.

Dana Maiman, who was named Ad Age’s 2021 executive of the year, becomes CEO of the new IPG offering, while maintaining her status as president and CEO of FCB Health. John Cahill becomes executive chairman, retaining his position as global CEO of McCann Health. Raj Singhal takes on the chief operating and chief financial officer roles after most recently serving as CFO and acting CEO of Huge.

Rounding out the team are Mike Guarino, chief commercial officer, who keeps his role as chief commercial officer of FCB Health; Charlie Buckwell, chief medical communications officer, who maintains his role as president of McCann Health Global Scientific Council; and Lisa Dujat chief talent officer, who previously served as CTO of FCB Health.

Combining 2020’s U.S. revenues for the two practices brings the new IPG Health entity up to $649 million in revenue, according to Ad Age’s 2021 agency report. This makes IPG the third-largest health network behind Publicis Health ($659 million) and Omnicom Health Group ($935 million). According to Maiman and Philippe Krakoswky, CEO of IPG, the move was not a reaction to competitors, but rather a strategy to capitalize on the strength of its two networks.

“We never look to our left, to our right, or behind us in terms of competition,” Maiman told Ad Age. “This is not about following or looking at the competition or what the other holding companies have done, because frankly, we don't think they've done it particularly well.”

IPG Health will also have a creative council, led currently by Kathleen Nanda, chief creative officer at FCB Health New York; Tim Hawkey, chief creative officer at Area 23; and Matt Eastwood, global chief creative officer at McCann Health. The council will focus on sharing the best work coming from all parts of the world, as well talent development. The council will also rotate its leaders quarterly and will include executive creative leads from across both networks.

According to Krakowsky, the two agencies are stronger as one because it creates synergy between the networks for existing and prospective clients while having one management team at the helm. The new network will allow the agency to better handle clients’ needs as the pandemic has made healthcare companies focus more on data and analytics as well as digital. One IPG agency that will be crucial for both networks moving forward is healthcare data and media agency Solved.

The 150-person healthcare data and media agency currently works with IPG's data platform Kinesso and its first-party data management firm Acxiom to supplement its own offering, but will now provide the data and media foundation across all of IPG Health, according to a spokesman for IPG.

Another advantage of the new network, IPG says, has to do with global opportunity.

“McCann Health has had a phenomenal expansive global footprint over the years and FCB Health has had a significant footprint, but really hasn't been able to penetrate and really thrive in Asia-Pacific, Greater China, Hong Kong, and also Japan,” Maiman continues. “Well, McCann Health has that, so it's so much easier to expand off such a powerful footprint."

It’s no surprise that the healthcare industry saw a boost because of the pandemic, and it was one of the few bright spots for holding companies as they navigated tough waters. While the decision for the launch of this network was in the making for years, Maiman sees much more opportunity in the pharmaceutical and healthcare space thanks in part to the COVID-19 crisis.

“One could argue a pandemic accelerates innovation,” Maiman says. “None of our clients had their timelines slowed in any way. When you see the acceleration that occurred with the development of vaccines, we're really excited because that type of innovation acceleration is going to be the expected norm now. So, if anything, everybody's going to be clamoring, ‘Well, you invented a vaccine in six months.”’

The two networks have pulled off some significant award wins this year. FCB Health won Healthcare Network of the Year awards at the Clios and Cannes. FCB’s Area 23 also won Healthcare Agency of the Year as well as a Cannes Grand Prix for its “Sick Beats” work for Woojer. McCann Health also took home some hardware, winning Agency of the Year at the Clio Health Awards and a Grand Clio for its work from McCann New York, on the campaign “Boring Heroes” for client Reckitt.

While this is Krakowsky’s first major strategic move since being named CEO in January he has had a significant role in growing the holding company since joining as strategic lead in 2002. He played a key role in designing and implementing the firm’s Open Architecture model that’s designed to provide clients integrated solutions from across the holding company. He was also the prime architect of the company’s massive deal to acquire Acxiom in 2018 and then managing the significant task of integrating the data firm within IPG’s own operations. Part of that integration involved the development of new platforms like Kinesso and Matterkind that enable IPG units to tap into and activate Acxiom’s data trove.

“As health and wellness continue to be a top concern for individuals, governments, and companies around the world, we’ve seen an increased need for healthcare information to be delivered at speed, in ways that are highly personal, culturally relevant, as well as respectful of privacy,” Krakowsky said in a statement. “By uniting two of the industry’s outstanding healthcare marketing specialty agencies within a single entity, led by a dynamic leadership team, we believe that IPG Health will be able to further focus investment to help clients succeed."