Digiday Sunday
—Digiday It was a year-end surprise that had us in full swing last week — Digiday’s team coverage of Omnicom’s proposed acquisition of fellow agency holding company IPG. Over the span of the week (the news of the possible purchase broke last Sunday into Monday) we started with a deep dive news analysis of what the possible sale, which could represent a combined $30 billion in revenue, signals in terms of M&A in the agency sector. Stories following included a look at the floated deal’s biggest winners: Omnicom senior leadership – and losers: Talent and the notion of agency brand and culture, the marketing community’s reaction to a combined Omnicom and IPG and how the deal could impact the client pitches and reviews. And in a signal that this story will be with us well into the coming new year, we broke the news Friday morning that a data licensing lawsuit could be a speed bump for the sale. Stories on developments at Meta and X performed nicely as well. – James Cooper
Story highlights
Michael Burgi wrote the week’s most-read piece that charted what the possible IPG acquisition means for other possible M&A activity for the agency landscape – and whether bigger is better. His analogy of Great White sharks swimming with Meglalodons highlighted in the story was indeed apt. As he reported, ‘The combined entity would become by far the largest holding company in the communications world, with an expected cash flow of more than $30 billion, according to the information provided by the companies. The principals also cite the complementary resources and geographies. But the truth is, both companies needed to do this. Of the six sources reached for this story, all noted that IPG has not had a good stretch the last few years, having lost Amazon, General Motors and several other large and small clients that outweighed its gains. Two sources even said they see Omnicom’s acquisition as a bit of a bailout.
Kristina Monllos had a well-read piece that broke down the biggest potential winners and losers if the IPG purchase comes to fruition. As she reported, ‘the proposed plan to combine Omnicom and IPG has already revealed what will surely be the biggest advertising story heading into 2025 — although surprises do seem to happen often in this industry. While the deal’s official close is still a long way off and there may be regulatory hurdles to clear before the acquisition is complete, it’s still worth charting out who the winners and losers may be if all goes according to plan.' Let’s dig in: The biggest winners? Omnicom and its exec leadership. The biggest losers: Talent and agency culture and brands at large.
Krystal Scanlon had a great daily story that looked at X's attempt to win back advertisers with self-reported video stats. As she reported, ‘Elon Musk’s social media platform X is once again chasing ad dollars around video content — this time armed with some official (though still self-reported) stats. According to internal data from the platform shared with marketers, video views have grown 40% year over year in 2024, surpassing 8.3 billion total views. That’s a slight bump from the 8 billion daily views reported by Digiday in May. Fueling this growth is X’s foray into original content like “The Offseason,” a series spotlighting the National Women’s Soccer League. Per X, the series racked up 2.5 million views within its first 24 hours on the platform.
Seb Joseph had a very sharp news analysis of how memes took over the world and the future of marketing along with it. As he observed, ‘This year, reality bent to the will of the meme … Creators spinning conspiracies about “missing” votes that never existed, a government agency named after cryptocurrency born from internet satire, a woman who rode her viral moment to fame only to launch a meme coin that left wallets lighter – and that’s just the recent highlight reel. The truth is, these moments could’ve erupted at any point this year. Why? Because in 2024, internet culture didn’t just reward controversy – it demanded it.’
Kristina Monllos reported out a smart take on how – as health and wellness brands brace for new ad restrictions on Meta – marketers and advertisers in those categories are seeking more transparency. As she reported, ‘In mid-November, Meta advised advertisers and agencies that it would “begin rolling out additional restrictions on certain categories of websites that are using Meta’s business tools” starting in January 2025, according to an email shared with Digiday. Those restrictions mean that some brands in the health and wellness category would no longer be able to use lower funnel tracking data for conversions. The brands flagged by Meta may be sharing sensitive data – inadvertently or not – from their websites or elsewhere with the platform’s business tools. With this change, the platform is to make sure those companies comply with Meta’s existing terms.'
Marty Swant advanced the Omnicom/IPG story Friday with a news break that reported that a data licensing lawsuit could slow Omnicom’s roll on its planned acquisition of IPG. As he reported, ‘In a case against IPG’s data warehouse Acxiom and performance marketing agency Kinesso, legal filings in recent weeks give a timely glimpse into allegations of the IPG companies allegedly misusing data to build their Real ID identity-resolution product. The lawsuit also underscores potential challenges related to how companies leverage data assets and what ethical challenges or conflicts could emerge from the combined company.
Ronan Shields pulled together a breakdown of some key stats associated with the potential sale of IPG to Omnicom. As he reported, ‘According to official statistics, as of 2023, Omnicom employed over 77,000 individuals worldwide, while IPG employed approximately 57,400 individuals with this headcount likely to be subject to the $750 million in savings. Those familiar with corporate integrations will naturally assume the eventual “over 100,000 expert practitioners” will be some way short of the reputed 134,400 headcount that both companies collectively boasted of in 2023.’
Tim Peterson's edition of the Digiday Podcast featured an interview with Matteo Balzani, Tripadvisior’s senior director of acquisition and retention, in which he discussed his plans to rejigger the company’s programmatic strategy in 2025. “Over time, [to]compete and continue to grow, you need to expand your funnel. Otherwise, you risk [optimizing] yourself to the ground and run out. If you continue to sharpen a pencil, at some point you run out of pencil,” he told Tim. Give a listen here
"Quote" of the week
“I hope you are enjoying being the top dog … In the next two years, Omnicom and IPG will consolidate more of the same to become the largest holding company — the top dog. We, on the other hand, will continue to create a category of one, by further expanding, differentiating and innovating to uniquely partner with our clients in their transformation. It’s not exactly like David and Goliath …”
— Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun, in a video he posted to social media in response to Omnicom’s proposed purchase of IPG.
Here are the Digiday + Briefings for the week
—Media Buying Briefing: How one independent agency CEO sees the advantages she has over holdcos
—Marketing Briefing: The case for and against Omnicom acquiring IPG
—Media Briefing: Efforts to diversify workforces stall for some publishers
—Digiday + Research: Publishers expected Google to keep cookies, but they’re moving on anyway
—Digiday + Research: Agencies are ready to move on from third-party cookies, while brands lag behind
See you next Sunday!