During a time of ongoing economic pressures and consumer volatility, Omnicom Media Group agency OMD Worldwide is here to reassure its clients: We create what’s next.
Earlier this week, the global media agency network introduced its fresh new positioning to 14,000 OMD employees across more than 100 countries during a global town hall hosted by OMD CEO George Manas. OMD Worldwide is the leading global media agency network by volume, with $25.9 billion in global billings (increasing 8% YoY), as reported in the Global & Regional Billings Projected 2024 report published in December 2024 by COMvergence. The repositioning follows a year-long process that involved key stakeholders from all parts of the OMD ecosystem that was created “bottom up” versus “top-down.”
The livestream was a global effort, seeing representation by OMD leaders across the globe: USA CEO Chrissie Hanson, Canada CEO Cathy Collier, EMEA CEO Blake Cuthbert, APAC CEO Charlotte Lee and LATAM CEO Juan Nino.
The global presentation was prefaced with Manas reflecting on the agency’s success over the past few years, citing OMD’s innovation in media and tech offerings along with strong new business performance. The network earned $1.8 billion in total new business (wins minus losses, including retentions) in 2024, and added brands such as Gap Inc., Michelin, AliExpress and Turkish Airlines to its existing client roster that already includes Bacardi, Burberry, L’Oréal and more.
Along with a more modern, brighter visual identity of the existing logo and color palette, the brand refresh and repositioning is OMD’s reinforcement of three core principles: client-first, data-fueled and people-powered.
“There’s never been a better moment than now, given the level of strategic investment we’ve made into new and next capabilities in the media group,” Manas told Campaign, citing the evolution of Omni as a leading global data platform and Omnicom’s 2023 acquisition of [digital commerce business] Flywheel. “A lot of the engagements we’re doing [is] on retail — integrating commerce and retail media for example,” shared Manas. “For one client, OMD and Flywheel are coming together in really innovative ways to help [the brand] better connect their sales and marketing activities so that they can get more value out of every dollar spent and out of their retail relationships and deliver better consumer experiences.”
Another key business move this year came from OMD’s holding company as Omnicom shook the industry with its announcement that it will be merging with Interpublic Group (IPG) in 2025, an acquisition that will undoubtedly cause a ripple effect of changes for the advertising landscape as a whole. On that newsfront, Omnicom shared in its earnings call that also took place earlier this week that the holding company saw 5.2% organic growth in 2024, with revenue of $15.7 billion and net income of $1.48 billion. Organic growth for the year was 0.2% above the top end of Omnicom’s guidance range for the quarter, which CFO Phil Angelastro attributed to the performance of Omnicom’s media business, performance marketing and PR. During the townhall, Manas emphasized the need “to fully leverage the breadth and depth of talent and capability from across the Omnicom network.”
Overall, the repositioning marks an exciting new chapter for OMD as it cements its stake in the media offerings, along with touting the endless potential in innovation that will stem from the merger. “We have a responsibility to lead the charge on what’s next,” Manas told Campaign. “That was the call to action that I gave to the organization [at the town hall]. With this new branding release, our clients — and the industry — look to us to really define what’s next.”
Editor’s Note: The article has been updated to clarify the $1.8B in new business was for 2024 alone and to clarify Flywheel was aquired by Omnicom.
