IN THE NEWS.
Wieden+Kennedy and TBWA\Chiat\Day Lead COMvergence’s 2021 US Creative New Business Rankings
New business opportunities for U.S. creative agencies accelerated in 2021, as clients held 155 reviews representing $4.8 billion in media spend, compared to 92 reviews in 2020.
Publicis Media, GroupM Lead COMvergence’s 2021 Media Agency Global New Business Ranking
Global research firm COMvergence released its New Business Barometer for the FY 2021. COMvergence reports, which are released on a quarterly basis, highlight which media agencies won and retained the most business.
Report: Accenture Is Top Agency Acquirer For 2021
Marketing and communications agency acquisitions were up sharply in 2021 after declining for several years but still below the level reached five years ago, according to a new study from COMvergence.
COMvergence Worldwide appoints Priyanka Mehra as Regional Director – South Asia
Priyanka Mehra joins COMvergence Worldwide as Regional Director – South Asia. Prior to her new role, she was with Havas Group India as Chief Marketing Officer, where she worked closely with the senior leadership across India, APAC, and the global offices.
Starcom Is First Half’s Global Pitch King
Publicis Groupe’s Starcom is the top global media agency in net new business activity for the first half of 2021 according to a new analysis from agency research firm COMvergence. The net new business figures cited below are billings numbers and include retentions and also factor in business that was lost.
The Paradox Report: new research on Irish marketing and media
Today marks the official launch of The Paradox Report, a research study on the big themes that affect the Irish media and marketing sector.
OMD tops global and EMEA media agency ranking
In the latest report from leading independent and international research company COMvergence, Omnicom Media Group Agency OMD has been ranked the number one global and EMEA media agency based on annual billings.
Following a Year That Rocked the Industry, OMD USA Retains Number One Ranking, Drives Deeper into Digital
In the 2020 COMvergence Media Agencies Billings and Ranking Report published today, Omnicom Media Group Agency OMD again topped the list of the 29 US media agencies evaluated in the annual accounting. This marks the fourth consecutive number one ranking for OMD USA since the COMvergence published its first US billings report in 2017.
The Incredible Shrinking Madison Avenue Media-Buying Clout
Madison Avenue's biggest media buyers saw their total media billings volume erode in 2020, but not at the rate of the overall marketplace, making the U.S.'s "Big 3" -Publicis Media, GroupM and Omnicom Media Group- bigger fish in a shrinking pond.
In A Down Year For Most Agencies, OMD Remained Biggest US Media Shop By Billings In 2020
Omnicom's OMD remained the top-ranked U.S. media agency by billings for full-year 2020, according to a new report from agency tracker COMvergence. Publicis Media was the top-ranked media agency group for the same period according to the report.
New Research Reveals That Marketers Prefer Best-Of-Class Agencies And Reject Arranged Marriages
Research firm COMvergence conducted a survey about the make-up of pitches within a 24-month time frame, in 2019 and 2020. It involved participation from U.S. creative and/or media and digital agencies. Of 570 agency changes, only 13 advertisers, just 2%, selected agencies from the same holding company when choosing multiple agencies.
COMvergence’s Analysis Shows Nearly A Quarter Of Pitches Done As Integrated Media/Creative Reviews
Major U.S. marketers appear to be streamlining their agency reviews, moving from an "unbundled" approach to consolidated media and creative account pitches, according to an analysis by advertising accounts research firm COMvergence.
Top 3 Global Media Reviews of 2020 Managed by MediaSense, COMvergence Report Confirms
COMvergence has released its annual review of Global Media Pitches – recorded and assessed through its benchmark studies and analysis over 2020.
COMvergence: Global New Business Barometer For Q1-Q3 2020 Reveals Top Media Agency Winners
According to the latest global media agency study “New Business Barometer for Q1-Q3 2020” published by COMvergence, Wavemaker came out as the top global media agency in new business results with a Total New Business Value of $1.1B (including $370M of retentions) during the first nine months of 2020.
GroupM Agencies Dominate New Business Through First Nine Months Of 2020
It’s win, place and show for GroupM agencies in the global new business department according to an analysis of media agencies by COMvergence for the first nine months of the year.
‘It’s more transformational’: For the third time in five years, advertisers will launch a mediapalooza of account reviews
So far this year, 950 advertisers have concluded media reviews worth $10 billion in ad spending, while another 75 are underway that represent $5 billion, according to research firm COMvergence.
GroupM Tops Q1 2020 Net New Business Gains: Havas, Dentsu Both Go Negative
WPP's GroupM was the big winner in terms of net new business gains during the first quarter of 2020, according to a just-released compilation by COMvergence.
New Media Business Volume Falls 51% In Q1 2020, Slowdown Cited
Like much of the rest of the global economy, new business activity slowed precipitously for the media services industry during the first quarter of 2020.
Conversation with Olivier Gauthier, founder and CEO of COMvergence
In the past year or two, the data provided by COMvergence has continuously appeared in industry information and reports. At the beginning of 2019, GroupM, a global media investment management group under WPP Dabang Group, announced that it will use COMvergence's operational and business development analysis reports. As a benchmark, the two parties have reached global cooperation.
The top global media agencies by new business wins in 2019
Omnicom's OMD came out on top for new business wins by a media agency in 2019 with a total of $US2.27 billion, including $US1.268 billion in retentions. Notable wins include the $US1 billion Disney North American account, of which $US700 million was retained, according to the 2019 media agency New Business Barometer by Marcom research house COMvergence.
OMD named global agency of the year for the second year in a row by COMvergence
The agency also led the industry in retention, successfully defending more than $1.2b in business that had been in play in 2019 – approximately a half billion more than its closest competitor.
OMD tops COMvergence Media Agency New Business Barometer report with $2.02 Billion net new business values
Omnicom Media Group agency OMD had the best net new business performance of any global media network in 2019 as reported by COMvergence, the international independent research company.
Agency M&A Market Stalls: 2019 Was Half What It Was Just A Couple Years Ago
Madison Avenue's acquisitions marketplace has slowed down dramatically over the past few years, turning in just 51 deals among the major agency holding companies and management consultants in 2019, according to the latest annual tally from consultant COMvergence.
These Were the Most Significant Moments for Media Agencies in 2019
COMvergence founder and CEO Olivier Gauthier characterised 2019 as “another busy and challenging year for media agencies,” explaining that of the $24 billion of global media spend monitored by COMvergence through media pitches, only around $6 billion (25%) remained with incumbent agencies.
Could 2020 Prove to Be the Golden Age for Independent Agencies?
Despite the high-profile closings and acquisitions in 2019, 2020 could be a great year for independent agencies. Industry trends, including clients moving to project-based relationships and new capabilities leading to the democratization of data, are cutting down on scale-based advantages of global networks, allowing independent agencies to thrive.
GroupM Closes 2019 With Billings Surpassing $50 Billion For The First Time According To COMVergence
GroupM will close 2019 with more than $50B in annual billings for the first time, and three GroupM agencies in the top five of global media agency networks based on billings, according to COMvergence’s projection.
OMD retains top global media agency title for 2019
OMD has retained its title as the world's biggest media agency, securing the top spot by projected billings in the COMvergence 2019 global billings rankings report.
Global Media Agency OMD Leads Category, Outpaces Industry As It Expands Billings And Market Share
Omnicom Media Group Agency OMD Worldwide tops the latest COMvergence global billings ranking report based on projected 2019 media agency and group billings.
Carat tops ‘New Business Barometer’ for Canada
Thirty-eight media planning and buying assignments worth a combined US$264 million (all figures in U.S. dollars) were reviewed in Canada in the first half of the year, according to a new report from French marcom research firm COMvergence.
Carat Tops COMvergence’s Media Agency Global New Business Ranking for First Half of 2019
Last week, data consultancy COMvergence published its “New Business Barometer for H1 2019” report for media agencies, which found that Carat topped the list for agencies with a new business value of $2 billion, including retentions.
Retail is dominant sector for U.S. creative reviews in first half of 2019
Retailers have been the most represented category when it comes to creative reviews in the first half of this year, new research by COMvergence has found.
Pace Of M&A Deals Slows To A Crawl
The pace of M&A deals by holding companies and consultancies for the first half of the year slowed considerably, compared to the last couple of years, according to a new analysis by COMvergence.
Check out the top global advertisers and media agencies
According to the new Global Advertising Ranking Report from COMvergence, the top 34 advertisers have a global media spend of more than $1 billion, representing 60 percent of the world’s top 175 advertisers.
OMD Ranks No.1 In 2018 Billings
With billings estimated at $18.5 billion, and an industry market share of 7.1%, Omnicom’s OMD is 2018’s top-ranked global media agency network.
COMvergence ranks dentsu X as No.1 media agency
COMvergence has recognized dentsu X India as the No.1 media agency on New Business Barometer 2018.
COMvergence Studies Integrated Agency Pitches In The U.S.
The agency tracker found that over that time (January 2017-December 2018) 62 advertisers placed both their creative and media accounts in review and that about one-third of them (20 clients) conducted a single search for an integrated agency partnership and selected creative and media agencies from the same holding company.
MediaCom Named The World’s Most Successful Agency Network By COMvergence
MediaCom has been named as the world’s most successful agency network of 2018 in the COMvergence New Business Barometer Full Year 2018 report.
30 of the Biggest U.S. Ad Spenders Placed Their Creative Accounts in Review in 2018
Among the holding company-owned agencies, Publicis Groupe's Publicis creative network and Havas were both on top with the highest number of account wins in 2018 (six).
GroupM replaces RECMA with new data benchmarking partnership
GroupM has consolidated its reporting and analysis of its commercial and business development data with global independent research firm COMvergence.
IPG Dominates 2018 In M&A Deal Value, Dentsu In Activity
In the last two years now, there has been a slowdown in acquisitions, COMvergence notes in its report, adding that there were 87 in 2017, which was down from 116 in 2016.
Report Ranks OMD as Top Media
Globally, COMvergence estimated that OMD collected $18.3 billion in billings for 2018 and has a market share of 6.3 percent. In the U.S., the network gained an estimated $7.9 billion in media buying billings and a market share of 6.1 percent, according to the study.
Publicis’s Blue 449 tops media agencies for performance in H1 2018
Publicis Groupe's Blue 449 was the top-performing media agency in first half 2018, according to a new COMvergence report provided to Marketing Dive. Blue 449's ranking was due to the company retaining its T-Mobile offline account, worth an estimated $940 million. However, Blue 449 lost T-Mobile's digital planning and buying business, estimated to be worth $50 million, to GroupM's Essence.
U.S. Media Agency Report Names Publicis and IPG as 2018’s Current Biggest Winners
COMvergence released its report of the best-performing media agencies through the first half of 2018, revealing Publicis Groupe’s Blue 449 as the top shop in terms of new billings due to its retention of T- Mobile’s offline account, which is estimated to be worth $940 million.
Independent agencies poised to win larger advertisers amid media transparency fallout
The last 12 months have seen a steady flow of media budgets into independent agencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Of the £11 billion ($14.7 billion) of media billings tracked by research firm COMvergence across 21 markets including the U.S., Germany and India over the first nine months of the year, around £2.1 billion ($2.8 billion) was assigned to independent media agencies.
New Agency Tracker In Town: COMvergence
A former research and business development director at RECMA, Olivier Gauthier is now giving the media agency tracker some competition with a company of his own called COMvergence.