In the last year or so, advertising agency holding groups have found themselves in a bit of a crisis. As the traditional holding group model is coming under threat, each of the ‘Big Six’ agencies are pursuing radically different strategies, from streamlining their structure to investing more in data and technology.
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WPP
WPP is a global company that works in communications, experience and commerce. Its network includes advertising agencies Ogilvy, VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, as well as media networks Mindshare, Mediacom and Wavemaker.
The company also provides marketing and brand services and public relations. Its Global Integrated Agencies segment offers creative services and specialist, targeted services to clients across all media channels.
The 73-year-old founder Sir Martin Sorrell made a career out of acquiring advertising agencies and transforming them into giants. But now he’s leaving the group.
Omnicom
Omnicom is a marketing services company that provides advertising, media planning and buying, customer relationship management, and public relations. Its network of agencies includes BBDO Worldwide, DDB Needham, TBWA, Ogilvy, PHD, Ketchum and FleishmanHillard.
The company was founded in New York City in 1926. It has a long history of creative marketing and innovation.
The company’s parent, Omnicom Group, was formed in 1986 by the merger of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) and Needham Harper Worldwide. The company has grown and become the second-largest advertising agency holding company.
Publicis
Publicis Groupe is one of the world’s oldest and largest advertising agency groups. Its agencies provide digital and traditional social media marketing Atlanta, media, and marketing services (SAMS) to national and multinational clients.
Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet founded the company in 1926 with the goal of turning advertising into a profession that embodied social value and was framed by precise methodology and ethics. That mission has never changed and continues to drive the Paris-based group.
The holding company’s data marketing arm, Epsilon, is factoring into nearly every new business win as clients crave tools to use data to build personal relationships with consumers. In 2021, Publicis’s data arm partnered with The Trade Desk to make their user identifier products interoperable, showing that it isn’t giving up on user-level cross domain tracking.
Dentsu
The Big 6 marketing agencies (WPP, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic Group, Dentsu, and Havas) have dominated the industry for decades. However, as the industry changes, the Big Six are facing challenges.
The Japanese company, Dentsu, is a major international advertising agency with 11,000 clients in 145 countries worldwide. It was founded by Hoshiro Mitsunaga in 1906.
Kepler Media
Kepler Media was spun out of demand-side platform MediaMath as an independent agency in 2012. Its revenue model is a hybrid of percentage of media spend (for media clients) and professional services fees (for consulting clients).
The company manages cross-channel customer marketing and nearly $300 million in media spend. It works for clients including American Express, Bed Bath & Beyond, J.Crew, Fidelity and 1-800 Contacts.
Kepler also specializes in data-driven digital marketing, helping businesses transform their marketing and forge more personalized consumer connections. It helps companies overcome the challenges of cross-organization communication, siloed reporting and disconnected tactics, by integrating marketing systems and delivering custom multichannel dashboards and algorithmic campaign recommendations.
MSQ Partners
MSQ Partners is an international marketing group, providing integrated marketing communication services across advertising, design, brand strategy, public relations, direct and digital marketing and research. It has offices in 12 global cities and supports major blue chip brands.
MSQ’s acquisition of Be Heard Partnership last year saw it join up digital media and data insight capabilities, adding a new level of depth to its offer. Its wider group offering, MSQ North America, is built from the best experts in the business, creating bespoke teams to help clients solve complex business challenges and get closer to their customers.
The group has also pushed the boundaries of what can be done in the digital world, launching a new CXM agency, MBAstack, and a series of dynamic content delivery products.