Over the last year Omnicom went on a tear, poaching big-brand clients from its competitors.
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) lured Procter & Gamble from Publicis Groupe’s Starcom Mediavest and built the data-driven agency Hearts & Science to support it. AT&T also consolidated its business under Omnicom when it moved its media account from WPP’s MEC to Hearts & Science (its creative business already belonged to Omnicom’s BBDO). PHD snagged Volkswagen’s $3 billion media account from Mediacom, another WPP agency. And Omnicom’s DDB won the creative account for McDonald’s pledging to build “the agency of the future.”
Although the brands went to different agencies and networks within Omnicom, there was a common denominator: Annalect, the holding company’s data and marketing sciences group, which supplied much of the expertise that attracted those blue-chip clients.
Being a central part of the pitch represents a big change compared to how clients used to perceive Annalect, said North American CEO Erin Matts, who used to serve as its CMO. “Now we’re at the tip of the spear and much more integrated throughout the entire pitch,” she said.