Dentsu’s broader agency integration strategy has taken another step forward in Canada as it is merging Antibody into its global health marketing arm.

The move brings Antibody into the larger, integrated offering Dentsu Health, which launched in April last year. Collette Douaihy, the agency’s CCO, tells strategy that no layoffs will result from the merger and workflow will remain the same – “Canadian clients will continue to be serviced in the same way they always have been.” The merger has been taking place over the past few months and is the result of strong growth within the global unit, she says.

The move is part of a larger consolidation strategy that has seen Dentsu paring down its more than 160 international agencies into six distinct leadership brands. Those six leadership brands are Carat, Dentsu, DentsuMcgarrybowen, Iprospect, Isobar and Merkle. Antibody, which was founded in 2003, had stood alone after the strategy was announced last year, but now is being integrated into the broader global network in a way familiar to other Dentsu entities, such as Grip, which became part of the DentsuOne network in February of last year.

The merger will give clients of Antibody access to the more than 2,000 healthcare experts across the global network, and with its global executive team. 

“Across Dentsu, we have always had significant, world-class health and wellness business globally and, while not necessarily known for it, are actually among the top players in the vertical,” said Stephen Kiely, CEO of Dentsu Canada. “The launch of Dentsu Health in Canada is deeply rooted in our mission to connect health and wellness brands with their most important stakeholders through trust and empathy, radical collaboration and connected intelligence.”

Matt McNally, global president of Dentsu Health, says the unprecedented “velocity of change” in health and wellness requires a more modern approach.

“Antibody has a strong legacy of having a deep medical and science bench,” he says. “Layering on our strong digital, social and influencer capabilities will continue to make us an unstoppable force for good within the health and wellness sector.”