Omnicom Debuts Post Acquisition Leadership and Agency Lineup

357 days after Omnicom announced its $13.5 bn acquisition of rival holding company Interpublic Group, the industry has finally got its first glimpse at what shape this marketing behemoth will take.

From an advertising perspective, the long-awaited answer to the question, which agency brands will survive is finally here. BBDO, McCann and TBWA will be the flagship brands under the Omnicom Advertising Group (OAG) pillar, led by CEO Troy Ruhanen. Aside from these global networks, there will also be a group of agencies under the US Advertising Collective banner.

As reported in the Financial Times, that means that the iconic brands DDB, FCB and MullenLowe will be retired in 2026. The clients and talent will be folded into the surviving brands on a market basis. There will also be an estimated 4,000 redundancies, as reported across the media.

John Wren will continue in his role of CEO and chair of Omnicom. Upon the reveal of the new leadership structure he said: “The expertise and dedication of our leadership team and the promise of our Connected Capabilities make us uniquely positioned to turn this moment into a catalyst for intelligent growth – for our people, our clients and our shareholders.

“I am proud to welcome the people, agencies and clients of Interpublic to Omnicom and create a global community of the best and brightest professionals in the industry, all of whom will have access to the most advanced AI tools and Omni, our advanced intelligence platform. Together, we will be the go-to company that shapes how brands grow, people connect and culture evolves.”

The new-era Omnicom will be structured around core ‘connected capabilities’. These capabilities will be headed up by the following leadership team:

Florian Adamski, CEO, Omnicom Media, including Hearts & Science, Initiative, Mediahub, OMD, PHD, and UM, as well as Acxiom  
Chris Foster, CEO, Omnicom Public Relations, including FleishmanHillard, Golin, Ketchum, Porter Novelli, and Weber Shandwick 
Sergio Lopez, CEO, Omnicom Production, including Content Solutions, Production Management, and Studios
Duncan Painter, CEO, Omni and Flywheel Commerce Network, featuring Omni, the advanced intelligence platform that will power all capabilities, and Flywheel, the market-leading commerce group
Troy Ruhanen, CEO, Omnicom Advertising, including BBDO, McCann, TBWA, and the U.S. Advertising Collective
Michael Larson, CEO, Diversified Agency Services, with reports including:
Dana Maiman, CEO, Omnicom Health,including Healthcare Professional & Consumer, Medical Communications, Patient Engagement, and Managed Markets
Mark O’Brien, CEO, Omnicom Branding, including Interbrand, Siegel+Gale, Sterling Brands, and Wolff Olins
Luke Taylor, CEO, Omnicom Precision Marketing, including Credera, Critical Mass, and RAPP

Sitting above these capability pillars will be Omnicom’s client success leaders (CSLs), led by Jacki Kelley, chief client & business officer, and Andrea Lennon, client experience officer and Omnicom’s Global Growth Team led by George Manas, chief growth and solutions officer.

Core to Omnicom’s new organisational and growth strategy is Acxiom, IPG’s data management infrastructure experts. Acxiom will power Omnicom’s media ecosystem, and “will unify paid, owned, earned, and commerce channels into a seamless system that drives value, precision, and measurable growth in a privacy-first world”. It’s also at the heart of Omnicom’s data strategy, which they see as a unique advantage in the market. Acxiom’s RealID “unifies 2.6 billion verified global IDs, each with hundreds of cultural, media, and commerce signals, giving brands an unparalleled, privacy-first understanding of people worldwide – without relying on third-party cookies”. This takes them toe-to-toe with Publicis Groupe, which this year added Lotame to its data machine Epsilon, claiming access to four billion unique profiles.

Out with data and media, the other key areas that Omnicom claims will give them an advantage in the market are: creating “most influential” content; “connected commerce excellence”; and scaled generative AI capabilities.