MediaCom retains number one media agency status

MediaCom has retained its status as the number one media agency for the seventh year in a row, while Publicis agencies Starcom MediaVest and ZenithOptimedia have both slipped in the last year, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen’s data shows that Starcom MediaVest and ZenithOptimedia each shed more than 15% of their media billings in 2008, along with four other agencies out of the top 10 in the UK.

Only three of the top 10 media agencies posted significant increase, while Mindshare managed to maintain billings from 2007, according to the data.

MediaCom is the first UK media agency to break the £1 billion-plus mark, with increased billings of 4.1% year on year.

However, Carat posted the biggest annual percentage growth in billings of any of the top 10-ranked agencies, as it picked up a number of high-profile accounts including Kelloggs and Santander.

Overall, Havas MPG and Aegis’ Vizeum recorded the biggest and second-biggest billings increases respectively in the top 20 media agencies, in percentage terms.

MPG was up by 16.7% to £140,238,952, while Vizeum was up by 13.2% to £191,217,808.

The Nielsen data also shows the extent of Initiative’s slide in 2008, as the agency lost key accounts, such as Orange’s £75 million media account – it lost more than one-fifth of its billings year on year, billing a total of £216,121,273.

It was also a bad year for Interpublic, with its UK media operation Universal McCann, which lost 17% of billings to £183,943,322.

However, OMD retained its second-place status, despite losing ground on MediaCom and shedding 10.3% of its billings year on year (to finish with billings of £762,592,791).

Maxus, which rebranded from BJK&E in December, managed to increase its billings by 10.4% year on year to £59,202,128.

Nielsen’s figures are estimated costs based on factors including rate card, discounts and viewing figures. Direct Mail and Internet spend data are one month behind spend data for other media.