February 8, 2019 – AdNews — GroupM has consolidated its reporting and analysis of its commercial and business development data with global independent research firm COMvergence. The appointment ends GroupM’s partnership with RECMA, which previously was the only global research firm that provided quarterly reports and benchmarks on media agencies’ client billings.
The move comes as media agencies try to be more transparent about their practices GroupM has worked with COMvergence as a data source for more than three years, each year adding additional markets to consolidate its data reporting. Locally, in 2017 GroupM had a market share of 32.1%.
Per the terms of the new global agreement, COMvergence will ensure the accuracy of its methodologies and reporting with annual third-party auditing by an accredited auditing firm.
GroupM global business chief growth officer Elizabeth McCune said COMvergence has the “most accurate and validated view of the size and scope of our business and competitive set across the globe. Our industry truly needs a focus on accuracy and transparency in this area,” she said.
The release outlines GroupM’s “global number one” ranking market share of 28.8%, with billings of US$45bn globally, using the latest full year figures available. In 2017 in Australia, COMvergence ranked the market share of Wavemaker as 11.5%, MediaCom as 9.3% and
Mindshare as 7.3%.
Feeding COMvergence’s analysis and reports is data from independent, third-parties like Kantar and Nielsen, as well as other research firms, agency performance evaluation companies, and financial analysts.
