OMD has taken the top spot among the top media agencies in the COMvergence global new business barometer from January to September of 2023.
OMD outranked other agencies with a total new business value of +$1.4 billion, as a result of its largest number of new client wins ($1.5 billion), including Beiersdorf, Bimbo, Uber, and Under Armour.
In second place is Wavemaker, with a total new business value of +$1.3 billion after successfully retaining about $1 billion in billings from marketers such as China’s Huawei and Xiaomi, and Adobe in the US).
Following in third are PHD and Hearts & Science, with a total new business value of $964 million and $913 million, respectively.
Olivier Gauthier, COMvergence founder and CEO, said: “In terms of net new business balance – excluding retentions – OMD, PHD and Hearts & Science, had the highest incremental billings growth among global media agency networks during the first three quarters of 2023; marking the first time that any media group had all of its agency brands topping the agency network ranking since the Media Agency New Business Barometer was first published in 2017.”
Meanwhile, at the Group level OMG and Publicis Media both ranked first with a new business value of +$3.3 billion (including retentions) and +2.5 billion in net billings gain.
Mediabrands took 3rd place as a result of strong results in the US, particularly following the wins of Geico, Constellation Brands, and Bristol Myers Squibb.
The COMvergence report also assessed 2,250 media account moves and retentions from January and September 2023, across 47 countries and found it totalled $23.1 billion, 39% of which totalled $23.1 billion spent globally.
Gauthier said: “During this period the average retention rate was only 21% (vs. 34% in Q1-Q3 2022). It is the lowest rate since 2016.
“Hearts & Science and Wavemaker have been the most successful agency networks to retain their client relationships over this period, whilst OMG scored the best retention rate among the ‘Big 6’ groups (44%),” he added.