Media Buying Briefing: What the holding companies’ H1 results indicate for the rest of 2024

By Michael Bürgi  •  August 12, 2024  •

Ivy Liu

First half of 2024 earnings results for the main company holding companies are in, attach for Dentsu, which announces this week, and it appears to be like the prosperous defend getting richer whereas the remaining defend attempting to search out their footing to grow better than 1-3%.

The prosperous, in this case, are Publicis Groupe, which is followed closely by Omnicom, every of which posted robust six-month performances — and more importantly, inquire of valid mid-single digit natural progress in the 2d half of of 2024. Their progress is basically attributable to the media aspect of the alternate, fragment of which accommodates the blending of information and tech (with machine finding out and more contemporary kinds of AI the very distinguished factors of that mix).

Then again, in this massively unsure world we stay in, anything else can occur. Political upheaval, the chance of a recession in point of fact taking root, fluctuation in ardour rates, the chance of outright warfare across the Middle East, one more pandemic. Someone of these circumstances, or others, could maybe space the total advertising and marketing and marketing and media ecosystem tumbling downward. 

Nonetheless for now, Publicis and Omnicom remain the entrance runners. Autonomous media analyst Brian Wieser, illustrious that media is getting the job completed in his unique examinations of the holdcos. 

For Omnicom, Wieser recently wrote: “Media agencies evidently led the approach because the corporate’s Advertising & Media segment became once up 7.8%, with media outperforming ingenious. As OMG is around half of of this segment’s revenues, implicitly natural progress for that alternate became once perchance around 10%. This stage is an such as the enlargement rates that alternate and Publicis’ media operations salvage posted in unique quarters, and contrasts with powerful weaker progress posted by opponents in conjunction with WPP’s GroupM, Interpublic’s Mediabrands and Dentsu Media.”

Echoed Jay Pattisall, vp and senior company analyst at Forrester: “Folk that are demonstrating the most performance on a quarter-by-quarter basis, the facility is of their media alternate. And one in every of the tools enabling their success of their media companies is the use of belief based utterly programs.”

Indeed, the hotly debated use of valuable media — in which an company invests in media inventory straight away at a steep prick price then re-sells that inventory to customers at some level of markup (ostensibly still beneath market rates) — continues to bring robust results for every entrance-runner holding companies. Then again it’s an edge which will evaporate because the diversified holdcos ramp up its use. 

“It’s more perplexing, truly, that you just need to perchance maybe argue that WPP and Interpublic salvage been less aggressive, equipped that Publicis and Omnicom in particular salvage been moderately aggressive, and it’s been moderately easy to behold,” talked about Wieser.

The two main holding companies additionally gained an edge by organizing and streamlining their information and tech sources in programs that hit nearer to residence for what producers need — especially in the age of cookie deprecation (Google’s unique about-face notwithstanding). Their tech stacks, in the assemble of Publicis’ Core ID and Omnicom’s Omni platforms, salvage delivered at a more a success stage than their opponents, talked about Pattisall.

“Their approach and use of their information and expertise companies as fragment of the media execution … is one more aspect to what’s using the success of their media alternate,” he talked about.

Omnicom CEO John Wren declared as powerful in his feedback on H1 earnings. “To attend our customers with the utterly, most evolved capabilities we continue to strategically align our agencies and make investments in sturdy information and expertise, scaled squawk and manufacturing, e-commerce and retail and performance media – all embedded in our industry-main Omni platform,” talked about Wren.

IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky became once as optimistic about information and tech in his feedback, citing an “industry-main target audience information and a expertise stack that unifies the advertising and marketing and marketing funnel,” nonetheless acknowledging that IPG is having a glimpse at 1% natural progress overall for 2024. 

Meanwhile, Havas has been hit tough in North America in particular, the place something love a 6% tumble in alternate hammered the French-owned holdco. Greg James, Havas Media Network’s North American CEO, thinks he can turn these fortunes around, nonetheless the outlet dug in all equity deep. A 400 million euro funding in a tech and information stack it’s calling Converged within Havas could perchance just defend guardian company Vivendi in the company sport for some time, no matter chronic rumors it will just hump off Havas. 

The outlier holding company is Stagwell, which is dwarfed in dimension by the Big Six, nonetheless has shown better progress than most of its greater opponents, on diagram to generate 5-7% natural income progress. 

Designate Penn, Stagwell’s CEO, talked about he sees robust 2d-half of doable for Stagwell, which landed heaps of unique customers (largely on the ingenious aspect of the alternate) in first half of. 

“With the pile up of [client] wins that got right here in starting on the terminate of the 2d quarter that are coming online for the third quarter, we more and more are considered as a longtime player with a with a challenger mindset,” talked about Penn. “Behold at how powerful of our performance media is weighted to the help half of of the year, and then you definately glimpse on the political season that’s weighted to the help half of of the year. I impart we now salvage got a in point of fact neatly suited chance of finishing number 1 by the terminate of the year.” 

It appears to be like Penn hopes to be the Seabiscuit of the holdco world. Whether that pans out remains to be considered. 

Color by numbers

The holidays seem distant, nonetheless Experian is already noting shifts in client spending and behaviors going into the season. On-line buying and CTV engagement are anticipated to continue growing, and gross sales durations could perchance just salvage longer. Right here’s more on its peek of 1,000 customers, compared to the old year’s holiday season. — Antoinette Siu

• On-line buying will legend for approximately one-third of all holiday spending – especially amongst younger purchasers between 30-39 (38% of their holiday buying became once online).
• CTV is the tip engagement channel, with better than two-thirds of the U.S. inhabitants the use of CTV. The frequent time spent is additionally anticipated to surpass 2 hours per day in 2024. Digital newspapers, love WSJ.com or CNN.com, and cell are the next two, respectively.
• 35% of holiday buying became once completed last December. December will still be the tip month for holiday buys, with the greatest gross sales happening all over Cyber Week and the week earlier than Christmas.
• 64% of coupon users salvage adolescents, making family a huge affect on non-public choices.

Takeoff & touchdown

• Swedish vehicle stamp Volvo has launched a evaluation of its world media alternate, striking GroupM’s Mindshare in jeopardy of shedding it after 25 years of engaged on it. Volvo is reported to enlighten honest beneath $450 million in media every year. 
• Stagwell continues to assemble out its world attain and grow in dimension, with its most unique acquisition of Consulum, a pan-Middle East/North Africa authorities advisory consultancy. Individually, Stagwell’s Assembly MENA picked up search engine optimization, web Analytics and UX/UI company of myth responsibilities  for Al-Futtaim Automotive. 
• Other legend wins: In better news for GroupM, EssenceMediacom picked up media responsibilities for optical retailer Specsavers in Australia, adding to its existent work in New Zealand … Havas Media Network in North America landed media company of myth responsibilities for grocery chain proprietor Ahold Delaize … Omnicom’s PHD gained Current Beijing Resort’s media AOR alternate in China … Dentsu’s Carat in Western Australia landed media responsibilities for meals stamp Harvest Avenue Personnel. 

Declare quotes

“This day is a unhappy day for the industry … Lets hope the industry doesn’t retreat help into the gloomy ages the place every placement, no matter the harmful squawk adjacency, is believed of ninety 9.9% stamp protected. That’s an such as ‘replace facts.’”

— Well off Raddon, Zefr, co-founder and co-CEO

“Is this in actuality a boycott, or merely an ongoing decline in funding from entrepreneurs as X continues to face stamp security points? … Marketers’ perceptions of X are that it’s neither in particular honest nor modern; two hurdles it needs to overcome to salvage help media enlighten from advertisers.”

— Jane Ostler, evp of thought leadership at Kantar. 
Both were reacting to the news that the Global Alliance for Responsible Media is shutting down in the wake of X’s legal actions against it. 

Budge studying

• Marty Swant examined the implications of the newest Adalytics myth that questioned the efficacy of fashionable stamp security tools, with some doubt that more contemporary tools the use of AI to sniff out adjacency to questionable online squawk isn’t working as promised. 
• Antoinette Siu talked with Digitas’ chief media officer Megan Jones about how AI is serving to to slump the company’s determining and use of social media for customers. 
• Kimeko McCoy dug into the outcomes, if any, of Google’s partial switch of heart on cookie deprecation on the burgeoning retail media community location. She followed that up with a deep dive on that identical switch’s assemble on Uber’s $1 billion ad alternate. 

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