Agencies
State of Play
Revised Nov 1, 2026The moment. The holding companies reported, and the gap between them is the story. Campaign’s Elena Lewis has Omnicom’s organic revenue up 7.2% in Q3, from 6.1% in Q2 and 3.9% in Q1, with core revenue up 7% to $6.01 billion. Adweek’s Alison Weissbrot has WPP’s revenue less pass-through costs down 2.1% to $3.2 billion, narrower than Q2’s 2.8% decline, with WPP Media back to 0.3% growth for the first time in six quarters. Omnicom took Coca-Cola’s North America media account, which leaves Coke and PepsiCo having effectively swapped agencies in that market; WPP Media won Transport for London’s account, worth about fifty million pounds. The executive moves ran the same direction: McCann made Andrés Ordóñez global chairman, Publicis named Scott Hagedorn the first CEO of its Marcel AI platform, and Stagwell bought Freestar and put James Denton-Clark in charge of Europe.
The tension. The holdcos are moving onto the other side of the trade. Digiday’s Ronan Shields reads Stagwell’s Freestar deal as putting buying and selling under one roof, and Publicis now owns LiveRamp under an FTC firewall, so the firms that audit media are increasingly the firms that sell it. The way business is won has fragmented too: Digiday’s Seb Joseph finds no common pitch shape left across the earnings calls. Buyers are pushing Q4 money into social, video and retail media, and Digiday’s Sam Bradley has NBA linear and streaming inventory all but sold out across Peacock, Amazon and Disney for the 2026–27 season, which sends brands toward creators by default rather than by plan.
Who’s moving. Omnicom, at 7.2% organic. WPP, narrowing its decline to 2.1%. Coca-Cola, moving North America to Omnicom. WPP Media, on Transport for London. Stagwell, buying Freestar. James Denton-Clark, to Stagwell Europe. McCann’s Andrés Ordóñez, to global chairman. Publicis’s Scott Hagedorn, to Marcel. Skydance’s Jay Askinasi, on a unified ad organization. Media buyers, on an NBA season all but sold out. The American Entertainment Alliance, backing a 20% federal production incentive as a first step. Walmart, building its Q4 around a Muppets parody.
What the desk is watching. Whether Dentsu lands nearer Omnicom’s 7.2% or WPP’s 2.1%, and whether Stagwell’s clients ask which side of the Freestar trade they are on.
OpenAI’s new enterprise CMO inherits a trust problem marketing can’t fix
Adweek is reporting that Colin Fleming, the Salesforce and ServiceNow veteran now OpenAI’s CMO of Business, takes the job after a chaotic stretch that cost the company its prior CMO, COO and head of product.
Fox pushes agentic ad platform toward the upfront
Adweek’s Bill Bradley reports that Fox is expanding its agentic ad platform, adding more agency partners and extending capabilities from linear toward digital transactions.
WARC: consumer goods firms raise ad-to-sales ratio as tech giants cut theirs
Marketing Dive’s Peter Adams reports that WARC Media found top consumer goods marketers raised ad-to-sales ratios from 11.6% in 2023 to 12.5% in 2025, while tech firms like Alphabet and Meta cut theirs from 13% to 7.4% between 2019 and 2025.
Havas grows in North America but lags elsewhere, CFO signals more M&A
Adweek’s Christopher Cicchiello reports that Havas is growing in North America while other regions lag, with CFO François Laroze indicating the holding company will soon add to the eight acquisitions it has already made this year.
Stagwell lands ServiceNow in largest multi-agency deal in its history
Adweek’s Christopher Cicchiello reports that Stagwell and ServiceNow signed a three-year deal, with Code and Theory, 72andSunny, Allison Worldwide, and Movers+Shakers named lead agencies as Stagwell adopts ServiceNow’s AI platform company-wide.
Publicis posts 5% Q3 growth, credits record new-business run
Campaign’s Ben Bold reports that Publicis Groupe posted 5% organic net revenue growth in the third quarter, with net revenue rising to 3.81 billion euros from 3.53 billion euros a year earlier.
Publicis pitches CEOs, not CMOs, with AI anxiety as the hook
AdExchanger reports that Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun is pitching company chief executives directly rather than CMOs, leaning on AI anxiety after Q3 net revenue grew 5% and the holding company won PepsiCo’s business.
Agency business consolidates among WPP, Omnicom, and Publicis
eMarketer’s Marisa Jones reports that holding company consolidation, led by Publicis, Omnicom, and WPP, is concentrating agency business at the top while smaller independent shops struggle to compete for the same accounts.
Landor promotes James Withey to global EVP of strategy
MediaPost’s Fern Siegel reports that WPP-owned Landor has promoted James Withey to the newly created role of global executive vice president, strategy, reporting to CEO Jane Geraghty and European President Amal Atallah.
Matrix Solutions exec: political cash masks local TV’s sales tech gaps
TVREV’s In the Vicinity podcast features Matrix Solutions President Brenda Hetrick telling host Tim Hanlon that local broadcasters’ ad-sales technology, incentives and workflows remain siloed across linear, CTV, podcasts and FAST channels.
Millennials stay a top marketing priority in 2026 media plans
eMarketer’s Marisa Jones reports that millennials remain central to marketers’ 2026 plans given their media mix, though the article’s underlying data points were not included in the excerpt provided here.
PepsiCo CEO praises Publicis switch, gives holdcos a Wall Street boost
Digiday’s Seb Joseph reports that PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta told investors handing the company’s global media account to Publicis Groupe, worth an estimated $1.9 billion annually, gives PepsiCo “much more data, much more granularity.”
Agencies lean on synthetic consumers for media planning
Digiday’s Sam Bradley reports that Goodway Group struck a deal with Arima to use a “synthetic population” of U.S., British and German consumers for incrementality testing, joining WPP, Dentsu and Vurvey Labs clients like Kenvue in adopting AI-generated audience data.
Fabric Social CEO Laura Tannenbaum exits after Publicis acquisition
Campaign’s Lucy Shelley reports that Laura Tannenbaum has left Fabric Social, the influencer marketing agency she led as chief executive, following its acquisition by Publicis Groupe.
PHD wins £6.5m Fred Olsen Cruises UK media account
Campaign’s Shauna Lewis reports that Fred Olsen Cruises has appointed PHD to handle its £6.5 million UK media planning and buying account.
Ad of the Day: Robitussin casts a hitman to whack your cough
The Drum’s Mel Henson reports that Publicis LeOne built a dark-comedy campaign around “Robby Tussin,” a gruff enforcer who swaps a concealed weapon for cough medicine.
WPP wins Electoral Commission integrated agency account
Campaign’s Ida Axling reports that the Electoral Commission has appointed WPP as its integrated agency partner, though the title does not disclose contract length, scope details or which WPP agencies will staff the account.
Novig expands controversial Sydney Sweeney betting campaign
Ad Age’s Brian Bonilla reports that sports prediction company Novig is rolling out a second iteration of its provocative Sydney Sweeney campaign, which drew criticism from female athletes and national attention.
Adweek spotlights TikTok’s agency awards for media-buying strategy
Adweek’s Dawn Papandrea reports that TikTok’s Alexia Nüssli hosted a sponsored panel with Power Digital’s Zayit Bemmel and Adquadrant’s Warren Jolly, winners of TikTok’s inaugural Media Buying Excellence Awards, on incrementality testing and AI content strategies.
Advertising Week 2026: creators dominate, AI chatter cools, agentic buying debated
Ad Age reports that Advertising Week New York returned to the Penn District with creators at the center of the conversation and noticeably less AI talk than prior years.
Ad Age: MSQ’s US push and inside Mark Read’s Prompt event debut
Ad Age’s Ewan Larkin and Brian Bonilla report that this week’s Agency Brief covers a run of agency mergers and acquisitions, plus a look at how Mark Read’s Prompt event played out in its New York debut.
Agencies push performance pay, but FTE billing still rules
Adweek’s Christopher Cicchiello reports that Horizon Media Holdings president Bob Lord publicly called FTE billing the “old system,” arguing AI pressure should push agencies toward outcome-based remuneration instead.
WARC: Global ad spend to hit $1.34 trillion in 2026, led by AI and social
Inside Radio reports that WARC forecasts global ad spending will rise 11.9% to $1.34 trillion in 2026, driven by AI investment, major events and digital growth, with social media the fastest-growing channel at $394.6 billion and Alphabet, Amazon and Meta capturing 59.7% of spend outside China.
NFL ad revenue set to hit $6.3 billion this season, per Guideline
Adweek’s Bill Bradley reports that ad data company Guideline projects NFL ad revenue will reach $6.3 billion this season, an 8% increase year over year, following a 7% jump last year to $5.9 billion.
Polymarket builds celebrity-stocked ad universe with LeBron, Jeter, Spike Lee
Marketing Dive’s Chris Kelly reports that Polymarket and Stagwell shop Today on the Moon built a “Polymarket HQ” campaign, a fictional skyscraper office housing LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Spike Lee and other celebrities.