Publicis Groupe secured more than double the new business wins of WPP and Omnicom combined during the first half of 2025, according to new business tracking data released this week. The Paris-based holding company reported 67 pitch victories in H1, against 16 for WPP and 15 for Omnicom, marking the widest competitive gap between major agency networks since COMvergence began tracking consolidated pitch data in 2018.
The performance arrives as Omnicom prepares to close its $30 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group, a transaction expected to finalize in Q3 2025 and create the largest advertising entity by revenue. Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun told analysts during the company's Q2 earnings call that the firm is focused on "pitch win quality over entity size," a direct contrast to the scale-driven consolidation thesis driving the Omnicom-IPG merger. The 67 wins include 23 retained assignments where Publicis defended against incumbent challenges, and 44 net-new client relationships, according to the company's investor presentation.
The gap matters because it reflects how Chief Marketing Officers at multinational brands are rewarding technological infrastructure over legacy relationships. Publicis has spent $4.2 billion since 2019 building Epsilon's first-party data stack and its proprietary commerce platform, Marcel. WPP, by contrast, has seen three consecutive quarters of organic revenue decline, dropping 2.1 percent in Q1 2025, while its technology integration remains fragmented across GroupM, Wunderman Thompson, and VMLY&R. Omnicom's pitch performance has been constrained by integration planning for IPG, with several global accounts—including a $180 million automotive mandate and a $95 million financial services review—placed on hold pending regulatory clearance of the merger.
Family offices and luxury brands allocate media budgets differently than packaged goods companies, but the Publicis momentum is visible in that segment as well. The holding company won 12 luxury and hospitality mandates in H1, including LVMH's DFS digital commerce account ($42 million estimated annual billings) and Rosewood Hotels' global brand strategy assignment. These wins are tied to Publicis Commerce, the unit that integrates retail media, affiliate partnerships, and owned-channel optimization—capabilities that heritage luxury houses increasingly need as third-party cookies disappear and iOS privacy restrictions tighten.
Operators should watch three developments through Q4 2025. First, whether WPP's new CEO, Mark Read's successor (expected to be named by September), can arrest the pitch-win slide with a restructured offering that consolidates its 11 primary agency brands into a smaller, platform-led model. Second, how many of Publicis's 67 wins convert into multiyear, cross-capability relationships rather than single-discipline mandates—the company's three-year client retention rate is 68 percent, below Dentsu's 74 percent. Third, whether Omnicom's integration with IPG unlocks $750 million in projected synergies fast enough to resume competitive pitching by Q1 2026, or whether distraction costs the combined entity another year of new business momentum.
Publicis reports full-year earnings on February 6, 2026. The company has guided to 5.5 to 6 percent organic growth for 2025, a figure that assumes H2 pitch conversion matches H1 performance.
The takeaway
Publicis's 2:1 pitch-win ratio over WPP and Omnicom reflects CMO preference for integrated data infrastructure over legacy holding company scale.
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