OMNICOM-IPG: BIG AGENCY, HAZY FUTURE?

The giant advertising networks have merged to survive. What does that mean for their agencies in India?

- Soumya Gupta

Tony Harradine, now chief executive officer (CEO) of Omnicom Media Asia Pacific, is often travelling to India from the company’s regional headquarters in Australia. India is just that crucial a market to Omnicom Media's international operations, he says.

Harradine, along with Omnicom Media India CEO Kartik Sharma, is overseeing the fusion of the local arms of Omnicom and Interpublic Group (IPG), two of the ‘Big Five’ advertising agency networks or holding companies that agreed to merge last November. The Big Five refers to WPP, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, IPG and Dentsu Group.

Before the merger, Omnicom Group had over 1,500 agencies within its fold, offering advertising, public relations (PR), media planning and other services to thousands of clients globally. The New York-headquartered group, which was founded in 1986, has a presence in more than 50 countries worldwide. Omnicom Media’s agencies include OMD and PHD. Its creative agencies include iconic names such as TBWA, BBDO and DDB.

Like Omnicom, IPG, founded in 1961 and also headquartered in New York City, was a holding company for ad and media agencies. Among its biggest names are media agencies Kinesso and UM, creative agencies McCann, FCB, MullenLowe, and many others. Now, as part of Omnicom, IPG has ceased to exist separately and has delisted from the stock exchanges. With that, the ‘Big Five’ of marketing and advertising have become the ‘Big Four.’

Although labelled a $13.25 billion merger, the deal is playing out as an acquiition, where Omnicom digests overlapping agencies (DDB, FCB and MullenLowe will cease to exist), tech products and roles into a single post-merger company. The combined entity has become the world’s largest media and marketing services holding company, with $25 billion in annual revenue. It now beats new-age upstarts such as Accenture Song, the marketing services arm of consulting and professional services firm Accenture, in revenue.