Big media accounts are the current battleground for the ad holding companies, a succession of wins driving Publicis to its current top position.
Next up is Adidas with WPP Media pitching against Publicis and Omnicom. Adidas, worth around $500m globally but worth even more in terms of visibility, moved from Dentsu’s Carat to WPP’s EssenceMediacom in 2018.
Mediacom was the driver of WPP’s then umbrella media organization GroupM for years but was derailed when WPP bought Essence, then Google’s media agency, and plonked it on top. A number of key executives either left or were shown the door.
Defending is never an easy option in big reviews although arguably you have a better chance in media than creative. Much obviously depends on the intermediary. The newly-minted WPP Media, which has perked up recently, and CEO Cindy Rose will be praying the good work continues with Adidas.
