EPR Editorial Team5 min read
Originally published December 2011. Updated June 15, 2026.
Part of PR Agency Q&A Profiles · See also: Rick French, French/West/Vaughan (2011) · Jim Weiss: The Founder Who Built Real Chemistry
Everything-PR News' series interviewing industry leaders continues with Jim Weiss, then Chairman & CEO of WCG — today the founder and chairman of Real Chemistry, the largest healthcare-focused communications firm in the United States.
WCG at the time sat 6th on O'Dwyer's list of independent PR firms with earnings above $37 million and year-over-year growth just below 38% — outpacing every other major player. The firm specialized in healthcare, consumer products, and technology. Clients included P&G, CVS Health, Cephalon, Allergan, and HP. The firm had offices in San Francisco, New York, Austin, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, and London — nearly 500 employees across four entities.
Weiss was named a Top 25 Innovator in Communications in 2014 and ranks among the top 500 most important people in global PR (2015). He started his corporate career at Genentech in South San Francisco in the early 1990s — sales, investor relations, marketing, communications.
EPR: Jim, in doing background for this interview I ran across your Common Sense blog, where you use the phrase "Age of Integrated Communication." How important is integrated messaging to your company?
Jim Weiss: Integrated is more than a buzzword at WCG companies. We see it as an essential conversation to be having with our clients, many of whom still operate in silos — not because they consciously want it that way, but because their companies are organized that way. With communications and information so accessible on the internet, integrated "one voice" communication is more critical than ever. We are constantly reorganizing our firm and adding diverse talent so that integration becomes a fact of life rather than happenstance.
EPR: Why did so many traditional companies take so long to engage the Web 2.0 realm?
Jim Weiss: Most companies become victims of their own success and don't want to fix what they don't perceive as broken. Change can be hard, disruptive, and expensive. Look at how long it took the media and newspaper industry to realize digital, social, and online engagement would decimate and ultimately transform their industry. The lesson from The Social Network — timing, speed, and constant change are essential for survival. The trend will evolve rather than die. Things will never be the same again, so why fight it?
EPR: Your agency was named Digital Agency of the Year by the Holmes Report. Forty percent of your staff is in digital. Vision for the next five years?
Jim Weiss: Forget the next five years. In less than three years we won't be writing or designing for the printed world first — we'll be designing for the digital world. If it doesn't work online, communications won't work, period. Brands and companies will become their own media and commercial outlets. Technology, strategy, and engagement will trump traditional creative. Clear business and financial impact will be the primary measurement tool.
EPR: WCG's CTO and Chief Media Officer, Bob Pearson, just released Pre-Commerce. Are we on the edge of real truth in advertising, engagement, and client-customer cooperation?
Jim Weiss: Yes. Consumers spend 99% of their time researching before a purchasing decision and just 1% of their time online making the actual purchase. Brands have a greater opportunity than ever to reach out and help direct the buying decision. Integrated customer engagement and service will differentiate successful companies — Amazon, Dell Direct, Apple iTunes, Zappos. Those who figure out how to elegantly integrate social commerce and online commerce will win big.
EPR: Google+ versus Facebook?
Jim Weiss: Competition is always good. Google had to do this. Will Facebook become more like Google, or Google more like Facebook? Could they merge like Time-Warner? Possible. The most exciting times are yet to come in the media business.
EPR: Is there an entity WCG simply will not represent?
Jim Weiss: Yes, and we have turned down some. Our simplest litmus test is "What would our moms or our kids think if we worked for this client?" That makes it kind of easy to decide.
EPR: Who is your hero?
Jim Weiss: My grandfather on my mother's side. The original Ad and PR Madmen of the 1950s and '60s — Ogilvy, Burson, Golin, Edelman, Ed Meyer. Artists like Cézanne, Picasso, Matisse. The old movie pioneers and agents like Thalberg, Mayer, and Wasserman.
EPR: One piece of advice for the wet-behind-the-ears communicator?
Jim Weiss: Never settle for the status quo or make overly safe choices. Combine speed with thoughtfulness and you cannot go wrong. Read and write a lot. Be curious and a perpetual learner. Surround yourself with smarter people than yourself. Don't be afraid to be embarrassed. Care about others. Be present. Most importantly, take care of your health.
Jim Weiss: Become and remain the best by hiring the best people, doing the best work, working with the best clients, and getting great results. Our independence is a key factor. Many have come here because of it, believing we offer a truly entrepreneurial ecosystem.
WCG operated with a framework — Awareness, Assessment, Action, Ambassador. An extension of the two-way digital conversation. Listen, strategize, engage, listen, expand.
Q: Who is Jim Weiss?
A: Founder and chairman of Real Chemistry (formerly W2O Group, formerly WCG). He started in healthcare communications at Genentech in the early 1990s and built the firm through three rebrands into the #1 healthcare-focused communications firm in the U.S.
Q: What is WCG now called?
A: Real Chemistry. The W2O Group was rebranded to Real Chemistry in 2021 following a 2019 strategic investment from New Mountain Capital.
Q: When was this interview conducted?
A: December 2011, when Weiss was Chairman and CEO of WCG.
Q: What did WCG specialize in?
A: Healthcare, consumer products, and technology. Clients included P&G, CVS Health, Cephalon, Allergan, and HP.
Q: Where can I read the current Jim Weiss founder profile?
A: See Jim Weiss: The Founder Who Built Real Chemistry into the Largest Healthcare PR Firm in America.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
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