Two of medical marketing’s largest and best-regarded health agency brands were united on Tuesday when WPP announced plans to merge venerable ad shops Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R. The merged organization will be known as VML.
Per the 2023 MM+M Agency 100, VMLY&R Health and Wunderman Thompson Health ranked as the 10th and 12th biggest medical marketing agencies, respectively, based on their 2022 North American revenue. VMLY&R Health generated $249.9 million in 2022, up 23% over the year prior. Wunderman Thompson Health brought in an MM+M-estimated $225.8 million, an increase of 5%.
Neither organization is a stranger to mega-mergers. VMLY&R Health was formed in 2018 in the wake of the unification of parent shops VML and Y&R. Wunderman Thompson Health was created around the same time when WPP fused health-centric WPP siblings Wunderman Health, GHG and J. Walter Thompson Health.
This story will be updated.