Top 50 media agencies 2009
campaignlive.co.uk, Friday, 27 February 2009 12:00AM
When recession strikes, creative agencies would be expected to suffer first as new projects are deferred or abandoned.
Carat won several accounts in 2008, rounding the year off with the European consolidated Kellogg account
Media spend will have a momentum of its own for a short while - relying if necessary on old campaigns - but budget cuts will not be avoided forever.
This delayed response may help to explain why media billings fell by a smaller percentage than creative billings last year. But fall they did, contrary to predictions.
In the circumstances, Aegis' agencies Carat and Vizeum must be feeling very pleased with themselves as aggregate billings climbed by nearly 8 per cent. MPG did even better with a 16.7 per cent increase.
As the economic climate worsens, clients are likely to place more emphasis on short-term, measurable and actionable response campaigns, directing more of their diminished budget towards direct marketing and digital channels.
To add insult to injury, the virtually invisible rate of bank interest that can currently be earned on cash balances will remove a traditional boost to media agencies' profits.
How holding companies are measuring up
Share of media:
| Rank 2008 | Rank 2007 | Holding company | Billings 2008 (£m) | Billings 2007 (£m) | % change |
| 1 | 1 | WPP | 2,266.60 | 2,200.60 | 3 |
| 2 | 2 | Publicis Groupe | 1,151.10 | 1,352.70 | -15 |
| 3 | 3 | Omnicom | 1,056.50 | 1,179.20 | -10.4 |
| 4 | 4 | Aegis | 944.4 | 880.3 | 7.3 |
| 5 | 5 | Interpublic | 400.1 | 498.1 | -19.7 |
| 6 | 6 | Havas | 238 | 229.2 | 3.9 |
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
Additional Information
Campaign Jobs
- Digital Account Director - Creative Agency - London Sphere Digital 50-70k +bonus +benefits, London, South East
- Managing Director - Equity potential DU Group £120,000 - £150,000, South Oxfordshire
- Senior Account Director or Group Account Director, Social / Digital, £60k - £70k, Old Street Agency MODA consult up to £70k + excellent benefits, Central London, Old Street
- Agency Candidates Required Michael Page Digital GBP25000 - GBP50000 per annum, Guildford
- SEO Manager Michael Page Digital GBP30000 - GBP40000 per annum, Manchester
Most viewed
- Blippar connects disjointed families, says MEC executive
- Campaign Viral Chart: Samsung scores hat-trick in tech-heavy chart
- Heinz brings back invisible bottle of tomato ketchup
- Polycell gets cheeky in crack-filler campaign
- Initiative scoops Amazon global media business
- Marks & Spencer loses AdWords battle to Interflora
Most commented
-
Forget the digital cluster bomb – be more like Bob
It’s said that the average person is exposed to 30,000 marketing messages a day. To me that’s worrying news for us marketers – especially if it’s your job is to build marketing relationships with consumers.
