HSR, Gyro form new agency

By John Eckberg

HSR Business to Business LLC has a new name – GyroHSR – and a new global footprint

The Sharonville-based company, which started as a three-man advertising agency in a house in Hamilton, has merged with Gyro International Ltd. of London to create a global giant.

The international integrated marketing agency will have 17 offices worldwide and annual revenues of $100 million.

Terms of the deal were not released but Segal said both companies shared a major investor, which smoothed the way for the merger.

The North American headquarters remains in Sharonville, said Rick Segal, chief executive North American/global practice leader. The digital and business-to-business groups will also remain there.

“We are an integrated marketing agency dedicated to creating powerful ideas that build deep, meaningful relationships,” Segal said. “Cincinnati will become a very important center in this large global company.”

Focusing solely on business-to-business commerce, the company will offer direct marketing, digital development, public relations, media and relationship marketing to client companies.

The company has 17 offices in 15 cities in nine countries across Europe, North America and the Middle East. GyroHSR employs 600 people.

HSR co-founder Segal also becomes GyroHSR’s global practice leader for business-to-business.

HSR had grown to become an international force and this next step was inevitable, said Robert K. Riggsbee, founder of Inside Media, an Anderson Township-based media strategy and buying firm.

“They have a global reputation,” said Riggsbee. “Their expertise is reaching out through digital and other strategies for client businesses to other businesses via one-to-one marketing channels.”

Gyro clients include American Express, Audi, First Data, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Hobart Corp., John Deere, Johns Manville, Nokia Siemens Networks, Pitney Bowes, Shell, Sony, T-Mobile, USG and Virgin Atlantic.

The former HSR lists as clients John Deere, Nucor Steel, Motorola, Pitney Bowes and Potash Corp.

Companies in Brazil, India, China and Russia will be the focus of the GyroHSR in the months and years to come, Segal said.

“We started out as a three-man shop in the back of a house on Dayton Street in Hamilton,” Segal said. “This is a very big career milestone for me personally and a huge career milestone for everybody here.”