On the heels of Publicis Groupe reporting its poor third-quarter earnings early last week, Omnicom’s results for the period are out. (Publicis and Omnicom also happened to be the two big winners of the Disney media review this week.)
For the third quarter, Omnicom reports earnings of $1.32 a share, beating Zacks Investment Research analysts’ expectations for earnings of $1.30 a share. For the same period last year, Omnicom reported earnings of $1.24 a share. Omnicom’s third-quarter revenue of $3.62 billion is down from the $3.71 billion it reported for the same period last year. Omnicom’s third-quarter organic growth (where Publicis showed signs of pressure) was up 2.2 percent.
On an earnings call, Omnicom Chairman-CEO John Wren says growth was up 2.7 percent in the U.S. with healthcare and advertising and media driving that, rising 9.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, in the third quarter. Public relations, down 3.8 percent in the quarter, was the weak spot for Omnicom. Wren says Omnicom continues to invest in CRM and data, integrating those capabilities into the creative process through its Omni platform.
“Our investment in Omni [was] made for the purpose of servicing the specific needs of our agencies and clients,” Wren says, while adding a bit of a dig at rival holding companies (ahem, Publicis). “It cannot be achieved simply by buying legacy data platforms that weren’t built with the flexibility required to meet the rapidly changing demands of today’s marketers.”
U.S. Army to target Gen Z in upcoming spot from DDB
Omnicom’s DDB teases its first campaign for The U.S. Army after winning the creative account from Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann last November. None of the assets were shared on the campaign which is expected to debut sometime in November, but DDB says it will aim to reverse a declining pool of qualified recruits by targeting Generation Z. It will be called “What’s Your Warrior?” and will highlight some of the ways youth can use their “unique skills and talents” in the army, according to DDB. The agency says this will include distributing real stories from soldiers that will run across broadcast, print and digital. “We know today’s young men and women want more than just a job,” says Ryan D. McCarthy, secretary of the Army. “They desire a powerful sense of identity and to be part of something larger than themselves.”
Former Arnold CEO joins new creative network
Pam Hamlin, who stepped down as CEO from Havas-owned Arnold Worldwide last year, will be helping to launch a new creative network called York Creative Collective. Founded by CEO of marketing agency GYK Antler, Travis York, the collective is comprised of various independent creative companies. York says the entities are “very different with a range of business models with marketing services at the core to accelerate growth across the portfolio.” He adds that he started assembling the ventures (which now includes GYK Antler, production shop Big Brick Productions and publishing hub Iron & Air, among others) in late 2012. Hamlin and York are joined by Mark Battista, former EVP of brand experience at Arnold Worldwide, to launch York Creative Collective. Hamlin says she met York in March 2018, while they were both judging the Effies, a few months before she left Arnold in September of last year. “We had a really engaging conversation about the changes going on in the broader marketing industry,” Hamlin recalls. “I was intrigued and inspired by his vision and the foundation of this entrepreneurial model.”
When Hamlin left Arnold last year, former Brookstone CMO Kiran Smith was named as her successor. This week, only 18 months after taking the helm, Havas confirmed Smith has left Arnold.
