Merger Creates Largest Independent Healthcare Cross-Cultural Marketing Firm

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two tenured cross-cultural marketing leaders are joining forces to create the largest independently-owned healthcare marketing agency that focuses on reaching US Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American, LGBT, and other diverse US populations. Global Advertising Strategies, led by Givi Topchishvili, has announced the acquisition of Prime Access, led by multicultural advertising veteran Howard Buford. The newly-formed agency will fuse together healthcare marketing capabilities of both shops and will operate as Prime Access, becoming the only cross-cultural agency able to provide counsel across 18 cultures and in 35 languages.

“The need for cultural competency in delivering healthcare messages is critical. Bringing together these two leaders in healthcare marketing and cross-cultural outreach answers an expanding industry need, now and into the future”

“The cross-cultural marketplace represents over 100 million US consumers that are currently under-reached by traditional communications resulting in promotional inefficiencies and healthcare disparities,” said Topchishvili, President and CEO of Global Advertising Strategies. “As the healthcare industry shifts from a mass market to a more targeted, customer tailored promotional model, engaging with cross-cultural audiences is critical for the success of the healthcare industry and the overall health of the nation. Such unparalleled depth of perspective enables us to craft comprehensive, balanced cross-cultural strategies and programs that truly reflect marketplace realities.”

Recipients of 16 industry awards in the last three years alone, Global and Prime Access have developed best-in-class marketing initiatives for over 30 pharmaceutical products across leading therapeutic categories and some of the world’s largest global brands. The combined teams have also worked with retail drug chains, consumer healthcare programs, hospital chains, and health plans.

“No other agency has a comparable breadth of experience and professional network, particularly in the cross-cultural healthcare arena,” said Howard Buford, Founder of Prime Access who will continue his leadership role on the Board of Directors at the newly-formed agency. “The company’s professionals make valuable strategic partners for clients, based on their insights of the healthcare industry dynamics and clinical and behavioral cultural nuances across diverse audiences.”

The two agencies bring an unprecedented value to the changing healthcare market. Their multi-faceted offering includes cross-cultural capability building across healthcare stakeholders including consumers and healthcare professionals (HCPs). In addition to an award-winning media planning and buying department that boasts proprietary digital, mobile, and traditional media tools, other core competencies also include patient education, community outreach and advocacy, experiential marketing, DTC awareness and acquisition, Rx to OTC conversion programs, CRM analysis, and HCP cultural competency. Clients of Global Advertising Strategies outside the healthcare arena will also benefit from the expanded strategic planning and media planning/buying resources of the new firm.

“The need for cultural competency in delivering healthcare messages is critical. Bringing together these two leaders in healthcare marketing and cross-cultural outreach answers an expanding industry need, now and into the future,” said Charlotte McKines, Vice President of Global Marketing Communications & Channel Strategy for Merck & Co., Inc.

About Prime Access

Prime Access is a full-service marketing and advertising agency that creates customized marketing programs targeted to the multicultural consumers and social networks of the New American Marketplace, inclusive of Hispanic, African-American and GLBT consumers. This includes the creation and execution of messaging for its clients' brands, across traditional, digital and other new media. Prime Access and its award-winning campaigns have been featured on CNBC Business News and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Advertising Age. For more information, please visit the company website at: www.prime-access.com.

About Global Advertising Strategies

Global Advertising Strategies is a full-service cross-cultural and international marketing and communications agency headquartered in New York. Its client base consists of some of the world’s leading brands in the pharmaceutical, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, financial, and media industries. With over a decade of experience in cultivating and executing successful campaigns within cross-cultural and international markets, Global knows what it takes to establish and build a brand identity across the many diverse cultural groups within the US, and in unique markets around the world. For more information, please visit Global’s website at: www.global-ny.com. To download one of Global’s white papers, click here.