Barry Loughrane, one of the co-founders of Omnicom Group, died at age 89 on Dec. 11 from heart failure, according to his obituary issued by the company. 

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Loughrane was one of the co-founders of Omnicom in 1986, a move that shook the industry and was known as "The Big Bang." Omnicom was created by combining BBDO, Doyle Dane Bernbach and Needham Harper & Steers. At the time Loughrane was CEO of DDB; Allen Rosenshine was CEO of BBDO; and Keith Reinhard was CEO of Needham Harper. The three joined forces to combine the shops into Omnicom, and Loughrane later became CEO of Diversified Agency Services, one of the divisions under the new holding company. 

Loughrane had been a part of the advertising world for over four decades and worked alongside industry luminaries like David Ogilvy and Bill Bernbach.  Rosenshine said he “always had a smile on his face and was very optimistic,” adding that the company came together in a short eight weeks leading to many problems to work through, but Loughrane “was not a complainer and he was not someone who had a negative side to things.”

Not only did Loughrane work early in his career at Ogilvy, he was director of advertising for C.F. Hathaway (for which Ogilvy created the now legendary "Man in the Hathaway shirt" campaign) and later joined DDB where he ultimately became chairman and CEO. He retired in 1990.

According to his obituary, Loughrane was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His mother was a prima ballerina and his father, who was a CBS radio producer for programs including "Amos & Andy," died when Loughrane was 16, prompting him to move to New York to seek a new future. After he retired, Loughrane became an avid investor in hydroponic food initiatives, sustainable fish farming, educational advancements and the hospitality industry. 

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“I always found him to be intelligent and insightful and a business person,” Rosenshine said. “He certainly understood the mechanics of the agency, certainly understood what was involved in the creation of the merger and we had a good work relationship. It would have been really quite impossible to have formed Omnicom if we didn’t.”