B'ham Agencies Merge to Form Intermark Gillis

Intermark Group and Gillis Advertising & Public Relations have merged, creating a
$50 million agency to be called Intermark Gillis.
The merger of the two Birmingham, Ala., shops combines agencies with different specialties into one entity “with some real competitive advantages,” said chief executive officer Billy Harvill.
“[Intermark’s] history is retail, [Gillis] is more business-to-business,” he said. “[Intermark] has interactive, [Gillis] has the extensive public relations . . . It makes sense from just about every perspective that you look at it.”
Agency president Wayne Gillis said the merger would lead to bigger account wins.
“With today’s trend toward fully integrating public relations services into the marketing mix, merging the agencies will help ensure that we can provide all of the
services necessary
to attract major accounts,” he said.
Intermark has been maneuvering to reposition itself since last year, when it was one of more than 60 U.S.