Omnicom Group

Omnicom Group is the world's third-largest advertising conglomerate (behind Interpublic and WPP in billings). It has three global agency networks - BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, and TBWA Worldwide - and US agencies such as Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Chiat/Day and GSD&M. Like its competitors it also includes several direct marketing, media buying and public relations units such as Wolf-Olins and has a stake in online services firm AGENCY.COM. source [1]

The group's three global advertising networks are -

BBDO Worldwide - has around 350 offices in 76 countries.

DDB Worldwide (centred on the former Doyle Dane Bernbach Needham) - has 206 offices in 99 countries and as of 2001 was the second largest agency network in the US on the basis of consolidated gross income.

TBWA - has 225 offices in 72 countries

Marketing services and customer relationship management units include major direct marketing businesses such as Rapp Collins, public relations agencies such as Fleishman-Hillard and specialists such as Doremus

Omnicom revenues in 2001 were $6,889 million. The Omnicom Group organises its PR work under the umbrella of The Diversified Agency Services (DAS). DAS comprises over100 companies, which operate through a combination of networks and regional organizations. They serve international and local clients through 600 offices in over 65 countries. DAS includes three of the top seven public relations firms in the world, Fleishman Hillard, Ketchum, and Porter Novelli International, as well as specialist agencies including Brodeur Worldwide, Clark & Weinstock, Gavin Anderson & Company, and Cone. According to the 2001 Omnicom annual report: ‘our agencies have more than 5,000 active client relationships in the aggregate. Our single largest client in 2001 DaimlerChrysler represented 5.4% of worldwide revenue [about $350 million] and no other client represented more than 2.5%. Our 10 largest and 200 largest clients represented 17.0% and 48.0% [average spend of $17 million] of our worldwide revenue, respectively’ (Omnicom, 2001, p. 14)

Subsidiaries

Global Advertising Brands Omnicom Group includes three of the top 10 global advertising brands: BBDO Worldwide BBDO Website Headquartered in New York City, BBDO Worldwide is Omnicom's largest agency network with 345 offices in 76 countries. It develops and executes marketing and communications plans for some of the world's best known brands. BBDO's professional commitment is captured in the agency's operating mantra, The Work. The Work. The Work. Quite simply, in the absence of great work nothing else matters. It is this obsessive focus on the work which helped BBDO earn the distinction of being named "Global Agency of the Year" for 2001 by Ad Age and its sibling publication, Ad Age Global, for an unprecedented second year in a row. Additionally, Adweek chose BBDO Worldwide as their "Global Agency of the Year," giving BBDO a clean sweep of this award from the leading industry trade publications. DDB Worldwide DDB Website 03 2003 DDB Worldwide (www.ddb.com), Adweek's Global Agency Network of the Year for the second year in a row, is one of the leading advertising agency networks in the world with 206 offices in 96 countries. Acknowledged as the industry's most creative multinational network, DDB was named the Most Awarded Agency Network in the World for 2004 by the Gunn Report. The network has won more Grand Prix Awards in the 51-year history of the International Advertising Festival in Cannes than any other agency, and over the last 16 years, has won more awards in Cannes than any other agency network. In 2004, for the fourth year in a row, DDB was named Network Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards and was also named Advertising Age’s Global Agency Network of the Year. TBWA\Worldwide TWBA Website Headquartered in New York City, TBWA Worldwide operates over 237 offices in 75 countries. Major global clients include Absolut, adidas, Apple, Beiersdorf, Häagen-Dazs, Masterfoods, McDonald’s, Nissan and Sony PlayStation. TBWA was recognized in 2003 as the 2nd most awarded network in the world in The Gunn Report with an unprecedented three agencies in the world's top ten: TBWA\Paris in 2nd, TBWA\London in 5th and TBWA\Chiat\Day (San Francisco and Los Angeles) in 9th. TBWA is the first network to have won the Grand EFFIE on two continents in the same year (2003): Grand EFFIE in the U.S. (Embassy Suites Hotels) and EFFIE Grand Prix in Europe (Absolut). TBWA Worldwide expanded its business in 2003/2004 with new and established clients, winning global assignments for Masterfoods (Pedigree and Skittles) as well as winning the Nextel and Sara Lee (Ball Park and Jimmy Dean) accounts in the US.

National Advertising Agencies Omnicom Group's national advertising agencies are renowned for strategic and creative excellence. National agencies include: Arnell Group Arnell Group Website 03 2003 Arnell Group creates and enhances the value of branded assets through innovation and the constructive disruption of conventional thinking. It specializes in designing and fulfilling proprietary strategies, products, content, experiences, environments and communication solutions. Element 79 Partners Element 79 Partners Website A full-service agency, Element 79 is fully committed to helping its clients win by providing better creative solutions in a simpler, faster fashion. Some of the businesses it handles includes Alberto Culver, Children's Memorial Hospital, Dole juice, Frito-Lay Snacks, Gatorade, Lowe's Home Improvement, Propel fitness water, Quaker, Supercuts and Tropicana. With headquarters in Chicago, Element 79 also has an office in New York, through which it handles global assignments for PepsiCo. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Website Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners was named U.S. Agency of the Year by Advertising Age in 1988 and 2000. Its clients include Anheuser-Busch, E*Trade, Goodyear, Hewlett Packard, Saturn, and The Wall Street Journal. GSD&M gsdm_new Based in Austin, Texas, GSD&M is highly regarded for strategic brand-building and inspiring creative work for some of the most successful and respected companies in the U.S., including Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, the U.S. Air Force, Charles Schwab, DreamWorks, Pennzoil/Quaker State and Chili's Grill and Bar. Martin/Williams Martin/Williams Website Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN., Martin/Williams delivers highly creative, fully-integrated communications for clients including Target Stores, Syngenta, L.L. Bean, Polaris and Lincoln Financial Industries. The agency's mission: "Get People to Love our Clients' Brands Quickly." Merkley + Partners Merkley Newman Harty|Partners Website Headquartered in New York City, Merkley + Partners was chosen for Best Agencies in Advertising Age. The agency is regarded for strategic expertise and breakthrough creative for such clients as Mercedes-Benz USA, Pfizer, Citigroup and Fila. Zimmerman Partners Zimmerman Partners Website Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Zimmerman Partners Advertising is the largest agency in the southeastern United States. The agency is known for its "brandtailing" philosophy - the science of building a brand while still retailing products.

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Media Services

Omnicom Media Group (OMG)

• OMD Worldwide
• PHD Network

Media Specialist Solutions

• Novus Print Media
• Icon International
• Full Circle Entertainment

Further reading

• Bob Levenson, Bill Bernbach's Book: A History of the Advertising That Changed the History of Advertising (New York: Villard 1987).

• Mary Wells Lawrence A Big Life In Advertising (New York: Knopf 2002).

• Karen Stabiner, Inventing Desire: Inside Chiat/Day: The Hottest Shop, the Coolest Players, the Big Business of Advertising (New York: Simon & Schuster 1993).