MediaCom Still Number One In Terms Of Billings
MediaCom has maintained its position as the UK’s number one individual media buying agency with a 5.5% increase in billings to £640 million for the twelve months to July, according the latest figures compiled by Nielsen Media Research.
The Grey Global-owned agency, which was recently voted the most admired by media owners for its professionalism and commercial performance, managed to hold on to its lead over ZenithOptimedia after knocking its rival into second place at the end of last year (see MediaCom Comes Out Top In Terms Of Billings).
MediaCom’s chief executive, Steve Allen, said: “Growth has come of course from new business with big wins, such as boots and Churchil, starting to feed through. But we’ve also seen an upturn in organic spend with existing clients spending a bit more money.”
ZenithOptimedia saw billings decline by 3.3% year on year to £611 million despite balancing account losses such as KFC by winning O2’s business. The agency’s new global boss, Steve King, recently signalled a change of emphasis at the media services company to focus more on agency partner relationships, key clients and new business (see King Signals Change Of Emphasis At ZenithOptimedia).
MindShare overtook Carat to become the third largest agency in terms of billings after winning a range of high-profile accounts including Abbey and Argos. Carat inched up by 0.6% year on year to £543 million after snatching the lucrative WH Smith account from Starcom.
Initiative was the fastest growing media agency in the top ten, with billings rising by 22.2% year on year to £488 million following successful pitches for the France Telecom and General Motors accounts. OMD dropped to sixth place despite a solid 6.7% increase to £460 million, while Starcom Motive held onto the number seven spot,despite a 2.5% year on year dip.
Manning Gottlieb OMD overtook it sister agency PHD to enter the top ten at number ten. PHD suffered a 15% decline in billings after losing the Weetabix and Homebase accounts. However, the agency recently consolidated its buying operations with Manning Gottlieb and OMD UK as part of the OPera group (see Omnicom Pools Resources To Form UK Buying Point).
| Top 20 Media Agencies In Terms Of Billings July 2004 | |||
| Agency | Billings (£) | % Change | |
| 1 | MediaCom | 640 | 5.5 |
| 2 | ZenithOptimedia | 611 | 3.3 |
| 3 | MindShare | 572 | 141.8 |
| 4 | Carat | 543 | 0.6 |
| 5 | Initiative | 488 | 22.2 |
| 6 | OMD | 460 | 6.7 |
| 7 | Starcom Motive | 377 | -2.5 |
| 8 | Universal McCann | 339 | 7.1 |
| 9 | Starcom MediaVest | 275 | 3.4 |
| 10 | Manning Gottlieb OMD | 257 | 11.8 |
| 11 | PHD | 236 | -14.6 |
| 12 | Vizeum | 213 | 1.4 |
| 13 | Walker Media | 188 | 22 |
| 14 | Mediaedge:cia | 184 | 1.6 |
| 15 | MediaVest Manchester | 110 | 25.7 |
| 16 | Media Planning Group | 109 | -14.4 |
| 17 | Brilliant Media | 82 | 24.7 |
| 18 | Feather Brooksbank | 79 | 31.3 |
| 19 | Brandconnection | 77 | -3.7 |
| 20 | The Allmond Partnership | 69 | -12.6 |
| Source: Nielsen Media Research | |||
Outside of the UK top ten, a group of smaller independent agencies posted significant growth, showing there is life outside the main networks. Walker Media led the way with a 22% billings increase on the back of KFC and Dixons business, but Brilliant Media, John Ayling & Associates and BLM media also performed positively.
Nielsen Media Research: 01344 469 200 www.nielsenmedia.co.uk
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