Maslansky + Partners Names Keith Yazmir

Maslansky + partners, the Omnicom Public Relations consultancy behind Language Strategy, has named founding partner Keith Yazmir president and added five leaders to its senior ranks, a realignment aimed at its healthcare practice and its CHORUS synthetic research platform.

Why did maslansky + partners name Keith Yazmir president?

Keith Yazmir has worked at maslansky + partners since 2006, advising clients across pharmaceuticals, technology, travel and automotive. In his new role as president, he will lead the firm's growth initiatives and its integration across Omnicom Public Relations and the wider Omnicom network, according to O'Dwyer's PR News.

Yazmir said the deal-making around him raised the stakes for the firm's client base. "Omnicom's acquisition of IPG creates unprecedented opportunities to help even more clients," he said. The appointment caps two decades at the firm, where he built relationships across pharmaceutical, technology and travel accounts.

The move follows a pattern seen across the PR industry in 2026, where founding partners at specialist consultancies increasingly take on president titles as their firms scale inside larger holding-company networks.

Who are the new healthcare partners joining the firm?

Katherine Hettrich and Amanda Kealey join maslansky + partners as partners, both with backgrounds in healthcare research and consulting. Hettrich spent more than 20 years at ZS Associates, Ogilvy and Publicis Healthcare advising pharmaceutical clients on how new therapies are understood and adopted.

Kealey, a trained anthropologist, previously led global health and science teams at Hall & Partners, Brado and Shapiro+Raj. Both appointments deepen a healthcare and life sciences bench the firm has built around pharmaceutical clients for two decades.

The additions follow a broader trend of PR firms staffing up around pharma and biotech accounts as that sector's marketing budgets expand in 2026. Healthcare PR specialists remain among the fastest-hiring categories across agency networks this year.

How does CHORUS expand under Jaime Hodges?

Jaime Hodges, PhD, becomes senior vice president and head of research and innovation, combining the firm's quantitative research work with CHORUS, its synthetic research platform. Hodges previously led development of the firm's Persuasive Strength and Creative Strength methodologies.

Synthetic research uses AI models to simulate audience response at a scale and speed traditional focus groups cannot match, a capability agencies across the sector have raced to build out in 2026. maslansky + partners frames CHORUS as an extension of its core Language Strategy discipline rather than a replacement for human research panels, pairing the platform's speed with the firm's two decades of message-testing methodology.

Hodges also gets credit internally for the firm's Receptographics research, a methodology the firm uses to visualize how audiences process language, according to CEO Michael Maslansky.

What changed for Catherine Farr and the language strategy team?

Catherine Farr moves from senior vice president to executive vice president, taking on expanded responsibility for client relationships and the firm's core language strategy work. Farr, based in Washington, D.C., has spent 12 years advising pharmaceutical, energy, financial services and technology clients at the firm.

Her promotion keeps the firm's language strategist bench under a single senior leader as client demand grows across its four core practice areas: healthcare, energy, financial services and technology.

Leader	New role	Focus area
Keith Yazmir	President	Firm growth, Omnicom integration
Katherine Hettrich	Partner	Healthcare and life sciences
Amanda Kealey	Partner	Healthcare and life sciences
Jaime Hodges	SVP, Head of Research & Innovation	CHORUS synthetic research
Catherine Farr	Executive Vice President	Language strategy, client relationships

Why is this happening as Omnicom integrates IPG?

Omnicom closed its acquisition of IPG in 2026, folding a second global holding company's agency network into Omnicom Public Relations' roster. maslansky + partners operates inside that network as a specialist Language Strategy consultancy, and its leadership additions arrive as OPR agencies look for ways to cross-refer clients across a larger combined roster.

CEO Michael Maslansky framed the moves as tied to client demand rather than restructuring for its own sake. "These moves aren't just recognition of great people," he said.

The changes place maslansky + partners among a wave of PR firms strengthening healthcare benches and AI-driven research capacity in 2026, a pattern visible across holding-company networks as pharmaceutical and life sciences work becomes a larger share of agency revenue.

Where does maslansky + partners sit among Omnicom's PR consultancies?

maslansky + partners is one of several specialist consultancies operating under Omnicom Public Relations, distinguished by its Language Strategy methodology and its focus on message testing rather than traditional media relations. The firm's four practice areas, healthcare, energy, financial services and technology, now carry senior leaders promoted or hired within the same announcement, a rare concentration of moves for a consultancy of its size.