Harrison Young Pesonen & Newell of Toronto has inked a deal that will see the Toronto media management company become part of the Omnicom Group by Dec. 1.
hypn, which has been in business since 1979, expects its 1997 media billings to reach $300 million.
Omnicom is the parent of independent agency networks BBDO Worldwide, including McKim Media Group in Canada; DDB Needham Worldwide; and TBWA International, which includes Toronto’s TBWA Chiat/ Day.
David Harrison, hypn president, says the company will continue to operate autonomously. He says it will not be part of any of the three agency networks and will report directly to Omnicom.
Harrison says the merger with Omnicom was necessary for hypn to continue to grow because without an international connection the business would eventually plateau and stumble.
Unlike WPP Group agencies Ogilvy & Mather and J. Walter Thompson that have formed a media alliance in the u.s. and will be merging some other media operations by the end of 1998, Harrison says he doesn’t foresee any combining of Omnicom’s Canadian media operations.
He does say, however, that he’s hoping there will be a way to leverage the combined $750-million media buying clout of the sister agencies.
He also says it is possible that hypn could expand beyond Canada as a separate division of Omnicom.
