MxMIndia

Tag: John Wren

  • BBDO, Omnicom, Burger King & P&G top WARC ‘Best of the Best’

    By A Correspondent

    WARC has released the results of its first-ever ‘Best of the Best’ global index of excellence, to showcase the best all-round agencies and brands by aggregating results from across all three recently released WARC Rankings – Creative 100, Effective 100 and Media 100. No Indian agency or brand features in the Top 10.

    The WARC Rankings, successor to the Gunn Report and WARC 100, are annual rankings providing a global benchmark for campaign, agency, network, holding company, brand and advertisers’ success.

    The Best of the Best 2019 has been calculated by combining the 2018 results of the most prestigious and rigorous global and regional creative, effectiveness and media awards shows and competitions as determined by the industry following a worldwide survey and consultation.

    Said David Tiltman, Head of Content, WARC: “The culmination of the WARC Rankings is the newly launched ‘Best of the Best’. This identifies the best-performing companies across our three benchmarks of marketing excellence – creativity, effectiveness and media excellence.”

    BBDO New York and BBDO Worldwide are the best agency and network respectively across the WARC Rankings. BBDO New York performed strongly in both creativity and effectiveness, and its parent network, BBDO Worldwide, had a total of 59 offices contribute to its winning network total.

    Commenting on their success, Andrew Robertson, President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide, said: “‘The ‘Best of the Best.’ It literally can’t get better than that when it comes to public recognition of BBDO Worldwide. I am proud of, and grateful to, our clients and all of the people in our agencies who made this happen. Having four agencies from four regions all ranked in the Top Ten, including BBDO New York at No.1, demonstrates the breadth of talent in the network.”

    Omnicom Group tops the Best of the Best holding company ranking. BBDO Worldwide’s strong performance was supported by top 10 ranks for DDB Worldwide, PHD Worldwide and TBWA Worldwide.

    “It’s a proud moment to see Omnicom and its agencies topping the ‘Best of the Best’ list as the #1 network, #1 and #2 agency, and #1 holding company,” said John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom Group. “Employees across the globe come to work every day ready to deliver world-class services for our clients, and that shines through as they’re recognized by WARC for their creativity, marketing effectiveness and media excellence. Congratulations to all our people who can take great pride in these accomplishments.”

    Burger King tops the Best of the Best brands, with placings in the top 50 in all three rankings, and in first place in the Creative 100. The retail brand had 23 award-winning campaigns across all three rankings.

    Procter & Gamble topped the advertiser ranking by less than a point, as the two leading FMCG players continue to produce highly successful work, particularly in effectiveness and media. However, neither had a brand in the top 10. Instead, both had multiple successful brands throughout the depth of the rankings.

    The top companies in WARC’s Best of the Best 2019 are:

    The world’s top 10 agencies across the WARC Rankings

    RankAgencyLocationPoints
    1BBDONew York, USA489.8
    2adam&eveDDBLondon, UK466.7
    3McCannNew York, USA413.1
    4AMV BBDOLondon, UK410.8
    5MediaComLondon, UK390.8
    6Colenso BBDOAuckland, New Zealand351.8
    7LOLA MullenLoweMadrid, Spain343.1
    8McCannLondon, UK316.6
    9Host/HavasSydney, Australia288.3
    10AlmapBBDOSão Paulo, Brazil281.0

    The world’s top 10 agency networks across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1BBDO Worldwide3207.1
    2McCann Worldgroup2912.0
    3Ogilvy2006.7
    4DDB Worldwide1746.7
    5MediaCom1511.2
    6IPG Mediabrands1430.9
    7PHD Worldwide1395.2
    8TBWA Worldwide1315.0
    9Dentsu Aegis Network1298.2
    10Mindshare Worldwide1174.2

    The world’s top 10 agency holding companies across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1Omnicom Group8926.6
    2WPP8556.4
    3Interpublic Group5772.1
    4Publicis Groupe2714.6
    5Dentsu1398.5
    6Havas Group1151.5
    7Accenture260.3
    8Hakuhodo DY Group259.3
    9MDC Partners189.8
    10BlueFocus152.7

    The world’s top 10 brands across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1Burger King593.2
    2McDonald’s465.0
    3IKEA339.0
    4Coca-Cola327.9
    5Pedigree321.0
    6KFC299.6
    7Greenpeace260.4
    8Skittles260.3
    9Palau Legacy Project258.0
    10Nike257.8

    The world’s top 10 advertisers across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1Procter & Gamble969.8
    2Unilever969.1
    3Mars963.3
    4Restaurant Brands International593.2
    5Anheuser-Busch InBev567.6
    6Volkswagen Group553.8
    7McDonald’s573.5
    8The Coca-Cola Company469.5
    9Heineken382.3
    10PepsiCo347.3

    The Best of the Best ranking aggregates points across the three rankings. To ensure performance in each ranking has equal weight in the Best of the Best tables, a weighting for the effectiveness and media rankings has been calculated that inflates their scores versus the creative rankings. For this reason, points in the Best of the Best are not simply the total of the three individual rankings.

    An annual survey will be held to ensure that the WARC Rankings remain independent and the competitions tracked reflect the opinion of the industry.

  • The giants have announced their decision to terminate the proposed mega-merger of the advertising and marketing services giants

    It’s final. Publicis and Omnicom will not merge

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    There’s one man who must be guffawing at this piece of news. Publicis and Omnicom have agreed to terminate the proposed merger of equals.

     

    The much awaited merger of the two advertising and marketing services giants isn’t happening. A news release that MxMIndia received around dawn today gave a very clear message:

     

    “Publicis Groupe S.A. and Omnicom Group Inc jointly announced that they have terminated their proposed merger of equals by mutual agreement, in view of difficulties in completing the transaction within a reasonable timeframe. The parties have released each other from all obligations with respect to the proposed transaction, and no termination fees will be payable by either party. This decision was unanimously approved by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Publicis Groupe and the Board of Directors of Omnicom.”

     

    Maurice Lévy

    John Wren

    In a joint statement, Maurice Lévy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe, and John Wren, President and Chief Executive Officer of Omnicom Group, stated: “The challenges that still remained to be overcome, in addition to the slow pace of progress, created a level of uncertainty detrimental to the interests of both groups and their employees, clients and shareholders. We have thus jointly decided to proceed along our independent paths. We, of course, remain competitors, but maintain a great respect for one another.”

     

    When Mr Levy was in India in December 2013, he seemed very bullish about the merger. It had been cleared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and was awaiting similar clearances from the European Union, China and Columbia, Mr Levy said. He indicated that the merger should happen around the second quarter of 2014 and made light of the comments of arch rival and WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell on the merger as “part of his job”.

     

    When asked whether the Publicis group was on course of its target of doubling revenues by end-2014, Mr Levy said post the merger with Omnicom, it will be more than a doubling.

     

    Meanwhile, in an interview to Adveristing Age, Sir Sorrell said he wasn’t too surprised at the eventuality. When asked why they (Publicis and Omnicom) made the decision in the first place, he said: “I think it was an emotional decision. Wren and Levy wanted to knock WPP off its perches. Any deal was doomed to fail. Secondly, it was Gallic charm. Wren was charmed by Levy into believing Levy would ride off into the sunset. That clearly was not the case if you look at the structure. The third thing: Their eyes were bigger than their tummy. On the quarterly earning calls for Q1, both made the case for separate [companies] being as good as they are together, which begs the question, why did they put the deal together in the first place, if they’re as well off separately as they were before.”

     

    And what does this mean for WPP, Adage asked. Sir Sorrell said: “We obviously made hay while the sun was shining. [On new business] we won Marks and Spencer, Vodafone, E-Trade. There will be further opportunities as a result [of the collapse]. I’m sure there will be repercussions.”

     

    Evidently the last hasn’t been heard on the tu tu main main between the three. As for the various Publicis and Omnicom group agencies in India, it’s going to be business as usual. “For the last year-odd, things have been in a bit of a limbo and we weren’t sure of how we would be going in the months to come,” said a CEO of one of the group companies, requesting for anonymity.

     

  • 'Merger of equals' to create Publicis Omnicom Group, with combined 2012 revenue of $22.7 billion and a combined market capitalization of $35.1 billion

    It’s a done deal. Omnicom & Publicis to merge

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Omnicom Group Inc and Publicis Groupe SA announced on Sunday evening India time that they  have signed a definitive agreement for a merger of equals, creating the world’s leading company in communications, advertising, marketing and digital services, with combined 2012 revenue of $22.7 billion / €17.7 billion. Based on closing prices on July 26, 2013, Publicis Omnicom Group will have a combined equity market  capitalization of approximately $35.1 billion / €26.5 billion.

     

    The merged group of more than 130,000 employees will be exceptionally well positioned to serve clients’ evolving needs, helping them to build their brands and grow their businesses in the  rapidly changing communications landscape, notes a communiqué.

     

    The combination, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, brings together leading agency brands as BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, Leo Burnett, TBWA, Razorfish, Publicis Worldwide, Fleishman Hillard, DigitasLBi, Ketchum, StarcomMediaVest, OMD, BBH, Interbrand, MSLGROUP, RAPP, Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), Proximity, Rosetta, CDM, ZenithOptimedia and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners amongst others.

     

    Said Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, said: “The communication and marketing landscape has undergone dramatic changes in recent years including the exponential development of new media giants, the explosion of Big Data, blurring of the roles of all players and profound changes in consumer behaviour. This evolution has created both great challenges and tremendous opportunities for clients. John and I have conceived this merger to benefit our clients by bringing together the most comprehensive offering of analogue and digital services. Equally important, it will offer our talented people new avenues for growth and success at the crossroads of strategic intelligence, creativity, science and technology.”

     

    And this is what John Wren, CEO of Omnicom, said: “Both Maurice and I believe this new company reflects our vision of  retaining the best talent, attracting an incredible roster of clients and leading innovation. Omnicom and Publicis Groupe are reshaping the industry by setting a new standard for supporting clients with integrated messaging across marketing disciplines and geographies. This combination will enable us to leverage the skills of our exceptionally talented people,our broad product offering, enhanced global footprint, and tremendous roster of global and local clients. In short, we believe this is a merger that will set our new company on a path to accelerated growth, with long-term benefits for clients, employees and shareholders.”

     

    Messrs Wren and Lévy said jointly: “For many years, we have had great respect for one another as well as for the companies we each lead. This respect has grown in the past few months as we have worked to make this combination a reality. We look forward to co-leading the combined company and are excited about what our people can achieve together for our clients and our shareholders.”

     

    Publicis Omnicom Group has been structured with balanced corporate governance consistent with the spirit  of a merger of equals. Publicis Groupe and Omnicom’s CEOs will lead the company as co-CEOs through an  initial integration and development period of 30 months, following which Mr. Lévy will become non-executive Chairman and Mr. Wren will continue as CEO. The company will have a single-tier board with 16 members, consisting of the two co-CEOs and seven non-executive directors from each company.

     

    For the first year following the closing of the transaction, Bruce Crawford, currently Omnicom Chairman, will be the non-executive Chairman of Publicis Omnicom Group. He will be succeeded by the current Publicis Groupe Chairperson, Elisabeth Badinter, as non-executive Chairperson for the second year following the closing of the transaction.

     

    According to the communiqué, the future scalability and internal synergies of the combined company are expected to generate efficiencies of $500 million / €377 million. The transaction is a cross-border merger of equals under a holding company, Publicis Omnicom Group, in The Netherlands. The Group’s operational head offices will continue to be based in Paris and New York.

     

    The transaction is subject to approval by the shareholders of both companies as well as numerous  regulatory approvals. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.