Omnicom reveals huge agency shake-up, unveils new leadership, cuts 4,000 jobs | Advertising

Omnicom has launched a huge restructure following its takeover of Interpublic, unveiling a new leadership and integrated strategy, axing the DDB, FCB and MullenLowe brands, and making 4000 redundancies on top of previous cuts.

The company, which is now the world’s biggest agency group by revenue, will operate only three global creative agency networks, BBDO, TBWA and McCann, but retain six global media networks, OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science, Initiative, UM and Mediahub.

The sweeping changes will be a “catalyst” for change, growth and greater collaboration internally, according to John Wren, the chief executive of Omnicom. The company insisted “we still believe in agency brands” and it was “de-siloing” to break down internal barriers.

Executives from Omnicom have landed most of the top positions in the enlarged company, reflecting the fact it took over IPG in a $9bn deal that completed last week. “When I sit back and look at where the leadership is, where the redundancies have occurred, it’s been incredibly balanced, as if it were a merger of equals,” Wren told Campaign.

He said he wanted to move quickly to make 4000 redundancies before the end of December. “We have been working very, very diligently to try to communicate that to those people as close to day one as we possibly can” in order to be “clear and fair and transparent” and avoid a “drip, drip, drip” of news. The enlarged company will have 105,000 staff, down from 128,000 a year ago, following previous cuts and some agency sales and exits.

Omnicom’s decision to axe the three creative agency network brands, which are to be “retired” in the first half of 2026, is a major decision, given their long histories. Omnicom’s DDB launched in 1949. It was one of the original founding companies when Omnicom was formed in 1986 and won network of the year at Cannes Lions this year. IPG’s FCB traces its history back to 1873, and MullenLowe to 1970.

Asked why Omnicom needs only three creative networks but has six media networks, a spokesperson told Campaign: “Our set-up and needs are different. For advertising, we have determined we only require three networks along with our multiple single-rooftop [boutique] agencies as well as our client team agencies.”

New structure and key changes

These are the key highlights of the new organisation that have been announced to staff:

Nine “Connected Capabilities” across the holding company, with executives from Omnicom, rather than IPG, holding the top position at most of the units. These include Omnicom Advertising and Omnicom Media. They were previously known as groups, such as OAG and OMG, but Omnicom has shortened the group name in a push to remove silos and encourage collaboration. “We are one company and there are no silos/groups,” a spokesperson said.
 

Omnicom is also appointing Client Success Leaders, with “senior accountability across all Connected Capabilities”, to provide more bespoke client solutions at an “Omnicom level”.
 

Omnicom Advertising will have only three global creative networks, BBDO, TBWA and McCann, each led by a global CEO. About a dozen smaller creative shops, such as Lucky Generals in the UK, Grabarz & Partners in Germany and The Martin Agency in the US, will continue to operate as boutique-type agencies.
 

DDB, FCB and MullenLowe will be “retired” in the first half of 2026. The agencies’ people and clients will be split in different ways in local markets across the three surviving global creative networks. In the UK, Adam & Eve/DDB London will combine with TBWALondon to form Adam & EveTBWA with a single management team. DDB will still exist “in some capacity” under the Bernbach brand in some markets, a spokesperson added.
 

Omnicom Media will operate six global media agency networks: OMD; PHD; Hearts & Science; Initiative; UM; and Mediahub. However, the agencies will be led by global brand presidents, rather than global agency CEOs. There will still be agency CEOs in local markets, under the umbrella of OM.
 

The enlarged group is making 4000 redundancies, on top of previous job cuts. Some of these started after October 1, but most will fall during December.
 

Omnicom will shed a further 10,000 people from its payroll as it is withdrawing from many smaller agencies through sales and disposals, in some cases keeping a minority stake.
 

Total headcount of the enlarged group will be about 105,000, a major reduction of about 18% versus the 128,000 across Omnicom and IPG at the end of 2024. About 85% of employees will be in “professional” roles and 15% in “back office” jobs. The plunge in staff numbers includes several waves of earlier redundancies at IPG, which reported a reduction of 3,200 staff in the first nine months of 2025, and at Omnicom, which did not disclose any prior numbers. “All planned merger-related layoffs will be completed by the end of December,” a spokesperson said.

New leadership

The leadership of the new nine “Connected Capabilities” is:

• Florian Adamski, CEO, Omnicom Media, including Hearts & Science, Initiative, Mediahub, OMD, PHD and UM, as well as Acxiom
• Chris Foster, CEO, Omnicom Public Relations, including FleishmanHillard, Golin, Ketchum, Porter Novelli and Weber Shandwick  
• Sergio Lopez, CEO, Omnicom Production, including Content Solutions, Production Management, and Studios 
• Duncan Painter, CEO, Omni and Flywheel Commerce Network, featuring Omni, the advanced intelligence platform that will power all capabilities, and Flywheel, the market-leading commerce group 
• Troy Ruhanen, CEO, Omnicom Advertising, including BBDO, McCann, TBWA, and the US Advertising Collective 
• Michael Larson, CEO, Diversified Agency Services, with reports including:
• Dana Maiman, CEO, Omnicom Health, including Healthcare Professional & Consumer, Medical Communications, Patient Engagement, and Managed Markets 
• Mark O’Brien, CEO, Omnicom Branding, including Interbrand, Siegel & Gale, Sterling Brands, and Wolff Olins 
• Luke Taylor, CEO, Omnicom Precision Marketing, including Credera, Critical Mass and Rapp 
• Of those nine leaders, eight are from Omnicom; Maiman alone is an IPG executive.

In addition, Omnicom is appointing two “Omnicom-level teams” to “accelerate the effectiveness of its Connected Capabilities” for clients:

• Jacki Kelley, the chief client and business officer, who was formerly at IPG, and Andrea Lennon, client experience officer, will lead the Client Success Leaders (CSLs).
• George Manas, chief growth and solutions officer, who is currently CEO of OMD, will lead an Omnicom Global Growth team to “ensure an integrated, enterprise-level view on client needs and innovative solutions across new business development”.
• Other key executives who have already been announced are Phil Angelastro, who is chief financial officer, and Philippe Krakowsky, formerly the CEO of IPG, and Daryl Simm , who are co-presidents and chief operating officers.

The global leadership of the key creative and media agency networks

Key creative changes include Tyler Turnbull moving from FCB to be CEO of McCann, Chaka Sobhani moving from DDB to head creative for TBWAWorldwide and Javier Campopiano, formerly of McCann, taking a global client and creative role for OA.

The leaders of Omnicom Advertising’s networks are:

• Nancy Reyes, global CEO, BBDO, and Chris Beresford-Hill, global chief creative officer, BBDO
• Erin Riley, global CEO, TBWA, and Chaka Sobhani, global CCO, TBWA
• Tyler Turnbull, global CEO, McCann, and Andres Ordines, global CCO, McCann
• Javier Campopiano, formerly of McCann, becomes global chief client officer and chief creative officer of Omnicom Advertising

Ruhanen told Campaign the decision to cut the number of global creative networks would not affect clients, which would still have plenty of “choice”. He insisted: “We all believe in agency brands, as long as they fit a need, have a clear perspective, have a strong culture and will be able to meet the future client needs.” He added: “Yes, there’s consolidation happening at a network level. But in terms of what we have to offer the marketplace, no one comes within a mile of what we have to offer in terms of being able to provide the right fit for the client.”

The six global brand presidents heading the six media agency networks are:

George Manas, OMD

Stacy DeRiso, Initiative

Susan Kingston, Brown UM

Christian Flouch, PHD

Ralph Pardo (interim), Hearts & Science

Nicole Estebanell, Mediahub
 

Adamski said greater scale in media was less about buying clout and more about using it to “unlock” data and intelligence. “What will come to the fore is that we are creating a new model that is much more connected, that is much more fluid than it than it ever was, that brings together the scale in an intelligent way,” he said.

An Omnicom spokesperson said of the decision to drop the global media agency CEO roles: “We are not dropping global agency leadership roles. We are creating taxonomy consistency across our brands.” Local markets will continue to have agency CEOs.

Five “unique advantages”

Omnicom claimed its new set-up means it has a number of “unique advantages”, listing five: the “strongest media eco-system”; “most influential content”; “connected commerce excellence”; “enterprise Generative AI capability”; and “identity leadership”.

The company explained these advantages, saying:

• Strongest media ecosystem: “Omnicom has the world’s largest media network with unparalleled market leverage and intelligence – powered by Acxiom RealID [from IPG] and advanced ID-less solutions – that will unify paid, owned, earned, and commerce channels into a seamless system that drives value, precision, and measurable growth in a privacy-first world.” 
• Most influential content: “The undisputed leader in creativity and effectiveness, the new Omnicom creates the deepest bench of award-winning talent. Using the power of generative AI, it fuses imagination with intelligence to deliver superior personalised content at scale. Its unrivalled agency portfolio provides clients with unique solutions fit for their individual objectives.”
• Connected commerce excellence: “Omnicom integrates comprehensive commerce intelligence and capabilities across marketplaces to connect marketing investment to sales performance, accelerating omnichannel growth and ROI.”
• Enterprise Generative AI capability: “The combination provides scaled investment resources to capitalize on Omnicom’s existing first-mover partnerships with all the leading frontier AI model providers. This strategy accelerates the company’s ability to reengineer clients’ marketing operations for speed, intelligence and growth.”
• Identity leadership: “Powered by the next generation of Omni and anchored by Acxiom RealID, Omnicom’s gold-standard identity solution unifies 2.6 billion verified global IDs, each with hundreds of cultural, media, and commerce signals, giving brands an unparalleled, privacy-first understanding of people worldwide – without relying on third-party cookies.”