Omnicom and Publicis led media new business wins in 2024

Omnicom Media Group and Publicis Media topped global media new business wins last year, according to data from COMvergence’s latest Global New Business Barometer. COMvergence found that $39 billion in media spending was reviewed globally in 2024—and said that Publicis Media and OMG collectively accounted for nearly one-third of the total. Retaining clients The report tracked more than 3,900 account moves and retentions across 48 countries, which was up 11% from the prior year. OMG led all media groups with $7.7 billion in total new business value, which combines new business wins and retentions subtracted by losses. OMD’s strong year is due to large account wins such as Amazon in the U.S. ($1.2 billion in billings) and Gap ($600 million in billings), as well as $4 billion in retained billings. More than half of the $4 billion came from Omnicom’s retention of Volkswagen, which totaled $2.6 billion in billings and was retained by PHD, which led all media agencies in total new business tallied in the report. Retention is where Omnicom shined the most. The average retention rate across all the agencies tracked in the COMvergence report was 32%. OMG’s retention rate was 74%, the highest among media groups. Publicis Media came in second with nearly $6.5 billion total in new business including retentions and WPP's GroupM came in third with over $4.5 billion, thanks to its retention of Unilever’s global business and its Johnson & Johnson account win. Net new business rankings Publicis Media led all the groups in net new business, which COMvergence measures as wins excluding retentions. Publicis Media posted $5.8 million in incremental billings. Key wins for Publicis included Hershey in the U.S., Yum Brands and Nestlé in China, and global accounts such as Spotify and Lego. From a net new business perspective, Publicis' Starcom and Zenith led the way, followed by Omnicom's OMD, Publicis' Spark Foundry and Dentsu’s iProspect. While Dentsu didn’t crack the top three globally in COMvergence's total new business for last year, it had a strong showing in terms of net new business. Dentsu ranked third globally and in the U.S. due to 23 new client wins that included Ferrero ($200 million in billings), Ikea ($160 million in billings) and eBay ($145 million in billings.). GroupM missed the top three net new business ranking since it lost slightly more in media billings than it won, which puts into perspective how massive the retention of its Unilever account was for the media giant. Noticeably absent from the top rankings was IPG Mediabrands. The report cited Initiative’s Amazon loss as a key factor. The only IPG agency mentioned in the report was Mediahub, which ranked fifth in net new business in the U.S.

Omnicom and Publicis led media new business wins in 2024

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