\n<\/p>\n
Omnicom CEO John Wren and IPG\u2019s Philippe Krakowsky haven\u2019t exactly been shy about their stance on the proposed deal between both groups since it was unveiled last December. <\/p>\n
So when the two met with ad consultants for two hours earlier this week (Feb. 19) in New York, the room knew this was their shot at getting some long-awaited clarity on the flurry of questions, concerns and hot takes sparked by Omnicom\u2019s potential acquisition of IPG.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey [Wren and Krakowsky] see us as representatives of advertisers so the meeting was very much about giving us the floor to raise the many questions and concerns they have,\u201d said one exec, who exchanged anonymity for candor on what went down.<\/p>\n
Did they walk away with all the answers? Hardly \u2014 regulators haven\u2019t even stamped their approval yet, which means plenty remains off limits. But they did leave with a clearer picture of what remains unknown \u2014 about as much as they could expect for now. After all, as the go-betweens for the clients keeping Omnicom and IPG in business, these consultants exist to navigate \u2014 and capitalize \u2014 on moments like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not like high-stakes deals come around often. If the deal gets the green light, the ripple effects will reshape the competitive landscape, rattle pricing dynamics and put agency-client relationships under strain. CMOs need to stay ahead of these shifts, no matter where they stand on the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of my clients \u2014 past, current and future of both groups\u00a0\u2014 are all asking questions about the deal but they\u2019re still at the early stages of curiosity,\u201d said another consultant who was in the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But chances are, that curiosity won\u2019t be fully satisfied anytime soon \u2014 not until regulators weigh in. For now, CMOs will have to make do with the morsels of insight they\u2019ve gathered so far, most of which came from that meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One clear takeaway: marketers anxious about losing their favorite agency rep can breathe a little easier. Wren and Krakowsky assured them that job cuts would mainly affect back-office roles, not client-facing teams \u2014 less about slashing costs, more about fueling growth and future M&A.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That long-term view came through elsewhere in the discussion too. Wren told someone in the room that more deals would be inevitable given how much the market will shift between the deal\u2019s announcement and full integration, according to an ad exec who was there.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s why the few comments the CEOs did make about how the mega-agency group would function raised some eyebrows. The plan? Keep all the agency brands \u2014 the ones not already on the chopping block, that is \u2014 and give marketers access to the full portfolio. In other words, they won\u2019t be following the lead of rivals who are consolidating brands left and right.<\/p>\n
How they plan to operationalize that strategy is still a mystery, but for some consultants in the room, it was enough to trigger a deeper realization: the holding company era of agency groups is fading \u2014 and the era of the operating company is beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re really going to operate this new organization as one, big company like Accenture or IBM as opposed to running a bunch of companies separately,\u201d said Matt Ryan, founder of advertising consulting firm Roth Ryan Hayes. \u201cWe\u2019re in the advent of the operating company.\u201d<\/p>\n
With little clarity on what that shift actually means in practice, CMOs will have to settle for one assurance: whatever savings, talent and services they\u2019ve secured with either group so far will carry over to the new company \u2014 at least for now. Naturally, consultants pushed Wren and Krakowsky on that commitment during the meeting and both doubled down.<\/p>\n
In fact, they went a step further, assuring that clients would be able to choose between whichever agency offered the better deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Competitive contracts. Growth not cuts. Strong agency brands. Wren and Krakowsky are hitting all the right notes for marketers. Given the circumstances, it\u2019s hard to imagine what more they could say. And yet, skepticism lingers \u2014 not because marketers and their consultants don\u2019t trust them, but because they\u2019ve heard this kind of pitch before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, they\u2019re already plotting their next move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For those already in business with either group, this is prime time to squeeze out as much intel as possible \u2014 especially with pitch season around the corner. Others, with no ties, are content to stay on the sidelines until the dust settles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One thing\u2019s clear: the biggest headaches are reserved for CMOs entangled with either (or both) giants. Their questions about the deal are piling up faster than the headlines on it. That\u2019s why many of the agency reviews this year won\u2019t just be routine \u2014 they\u2019ll be a stress test. Because this isn\u2019t just about choosing an agency \u2014 its about gaining leverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will that send a wave of CMOs scrambling to run agency reviews? Not necessarily. But it\u2019ll sure light a fire under those already in the pipeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To them, these reviews aren\u2019t just about capabilities \u2014 they\u2019re a window into how Omnicom and IPG plan to navigate the chaos. Some are already weighing up whether to use these meetings to lock in competitive rates, snap up top talent \u2014 and even draft contingency agreements with the group, knowing the agencies are eager to lock in business before the deal goes through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re a CMO coming toward the end of a review later this year then you can\u2019t afford to miss this moment for leverage on things like pricing, tech and talent,\u201d said a consultant who agreed to talk to Digiday anonymously because they\u2019 didn\u2019t want to jeopardize their relationships with marketers.<\/p>\n
And these CMOs know timing is everything. If their reviews stretch into summer, when the deal\u2019s fate should be clearer, they\u2019ll be in prime position to either double down with a merged powerhouse, or cherry-pick the best of both worlds or walk away and explore other options entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Needless to say, there are blunt\u00a0conversations ahead. High stakes. And absolutely no room for frustration.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s doubly true for marketers in the IPG camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to four ad execs with direct knowledge, they\u2019re facing the hardest decisions, mainly because no one can tell them clearly how IPG being owned by Omnicom could impact their accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence is deafening, especially in Europe, where the distance from the U.S. mothership only adds to the confusion. Sure, both CEOs tried to soothe those nerves last month, traveling to London to stress to senior execs from both groups that, for now, both would continue to compete independently in pitches. Marketers will lap up clarity like this all day long. But so far, this deal is a Rolodex of pressure questions with precious few answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To be fair, some questions can\u2019t be answered until the businesses come together \u2014 like the ever-tricky issue of conflicts of interest. It may not be the same landmine it was during the last mega-merger push, but it\u2019s still a real problem. In certain sectors, advertisers simply can\u2019t afford to share a bed with a partner cozying up to their competition. The risks are too steep, and the upside too vague.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where execs like IPG\u2019s chief business officer and chief client officer Jackie Kelley become critical players in the months ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has spoken to clients already and made what guarantees she can even though there\u2019s no guarantee what her influence would be in an Omnicom world,\u201d said the ad exec. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a strong belief that she will be one of the people who will retain a leadership position throughout that because of who she is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, CMOs crave control, and in this merger saga, Kelley is one of a few proxies for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe merger promises increased access to high quality capabilities across the marketing spectrum,\u201d said Donna Sharp, managing director at MediaLink and partner at owner UTA. \u201cIPG has a deep creative bench with agencies still requested by name (FCB, Martin and Deutsch), while Omnicom has made strides with AI-driven personalization and production capabilities and has their leading commerce agency, Flywheel. If you take Omnicom\u2019s existing media and commerce stack, supercharge it with Acxiom\u2019s data, and combine it with IPG\u2019s creative scale, that\u2019s a compelling offering for clients, especially with a focus on optimizing retail and non-retail media more holistically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Granted, this all assumes that the promise of more technology resources in the combined entity can make it happen quickly above pace with the industry, Sharp continued.<\/p>\n
Put it all together, and one thing is clear: this year will be long on noise and short on answers when it comes to where advertisers park their budgets in the wake of this deal. Moves of this size always kick up a fuss before the real picture emerges once the dust settles. CMOs know this, which is why their next moves are all about positioning for the shakeout ahead. Think CMOs extending contracts with agencies for another year vs. pushing for a new one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever it happens these choices will come down to the tools and services these groups have to offer, the talent they have behind all of that and how both parts work in tandem to drive the operational efficiency of the model,\u201d said Ebiquity\u2019s group director Priya Patel. \u201c<\/strong>From what we\u2019re seeing, marketers are more than willing to pay for all of that now.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither Omnicom or IPG provided a comment for this story, but spokespeople for both directed Digiday to official corporate statements on the proposed deal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Omnicom CEO John Wren and IPG\u2019s Philippe Krakowsky haven\u2019t exactly been shy about their stance on the proposed deal between both groups since it was unveiled last December. So when the two met with ad consultants for two hours earlier this week (Feb. 19) in New York, the room knew this was their shot at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[48065,14914,11254,13352,18526,2836,48066,5614],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-104706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-agency-culture","tag-consultants","tag-learned","tag-marketers","tag-meeting","tag-mystery","tag-omnicomipg","tag-whats"],"yoast_head":"\n