Wavemaker has taken the title of top global media agency network in new business results, according to the New Business Barometer (NBB) for H1 2023 published by COMvergence.
The global media agency study highlighted Wavemaker has a total new business value of +$1.2B, including US $ 818M in retentions from Huawei China (US $ 315M) and Adobe US (US $140M), among others.
Zenith ranked second by scoring a total new business value of US +$581M, including the multi-market win of Adobe (US $150m) and the retention of L’Oréal in Iberia ($130M).
Initiative holds the third position (+$555M) thanks to the major win of Constellation Brands in the US ($534M). Meanwhile, OMG’s media networks, Hearts & Science and OMD, follow very closely behind the top three.
Olivier Gauthier, COMvergence founder and CEO said: “in terms of net new business balance – excluding retentions – the top three agency networks are ranked differently. Initiative shows the highest incremental billings with +$538M, followed by Hearts & Science at +$510M and Wavemaker with $392M.”
At the group level, Publicis Media ranks first with a total new business value of +$3.3B due to the global win of Pfizer ($1.5B), LVMH in N.A. ($360M), and Signet Jewelers and Walgreens in the US ($475M). Mediabrands takes the 2nd place with a net billings gain of +$1.7B.
GroupM ranked 3rd with the largest total retained billings ($1.1B).
Between January and June 2023, COMvergence assessed 1,771 media account moves and retentions (1,200 advertisers in total) across 46 countries totalling $14.4B (+10% vs. H1 2022).
The US accounts for 45% of the total spend reviewed globally.
Gauthier added: “Local pitches continue to represent a major part of the total reviewed spends amounting to $9.5B (66% of the total), whilst the average retention rate dropped to 21% (vs. 27% in H1 2022). The is the lowest rate since 2016.”
Global and multi-country reviews concluded in H1 2023 resulted in a total of $4.9B.
Among the major ones (announced since the beginning of July and set to be assessed for the next edition of the report – Q1-Q3 2023 – in November):
• Allwyn Entertainment (UK / $150M): won by Hearts & Science
• Electrolux (Global / $80M): retained by Zenith
• Beiersdorf (N.A-Europe / $585M): won by OMD
• Carlsberg (Global / $250M): won by iProspect
• Grupo Bimbo (Global / $150M): won by PHD
• HSBC (Global / $150M): won by PHD
• Kraft Heinz (USA / $192M): won by Carat
• Miele (Global / $80M): won by Publicis Media
• Nestlé (EMEA / $660M): won by OpenMind (GroupM)
• Shell (Global / $240M): won by Havas Media
• Under Armour (Global / $145M): won by OMD
• Unilever (AUZ / $30M): won by Mindshare