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Voyage EdgeISABELLA'S ISLAYMay 3, 20262 min readAd-free
Publicis Wins 2x More Pitches Than WPP or Omnicom in H1 2025
Arthur Sadoun's holding group claims decisive pitch advantage while rivals stumble through integration and market doubt.
Voyage Edge deskVoyage Edge · Huang GoodmanSource: Ad Age ↗
In plain words
Publicis captured **2x** the new business of WPP or Omnicom in H1 2025, translating to **$1.7 billion** in new annual billings and structural revenue advantage through 2026.
32
major account assignments versus
16
for London's WPP and
15
for Omnicom
$30 billion
merger expected to close in Q3 2025
Publicis Groupe secured twice as many new business wins as WPP or Omnicom during the first six months of 2025, according to H1 pitch results released this week. The Paris-based holding company landed 32 major account assignments versus 16 for London's WPP and 15 for Omnicom, marking the widest performance gap among the top three agency groups since 2019.
The disparity arrives as WPP navigates a restructuring under CEO Mark Read and Omnicom prepares to absorb Interpublic Group in a $30 billion merger expected to close in Q3 2025. Publicis Chairman Arthur Sadoun attributed the wins to what he termed "the most negative news cycle since Covid" hitting competitors, though he stopped short of naming integration risk or leadership distraction as factors. The wins span automotive, financial services, and consumer technology categories, with 8 accounts carrying estimated annual billings above $50 million each.
Client allocators should note three structural shifts. First, Publicis now holds dominant positions in data-led creative work for luxury and premium automotive marques, winning 5 of 7 European luxury-auto pitches in H1. Second, the firm's Epsilon commerce-data unit participated in 74% of Publicis wins, suggesting clients increasingly bundle media buying with first-party data infrastructure in a single RFP. Third, WPP's decline correlates with GroupM's media-buying review cycle, during which 4 major CPG clients moved portions of their media spend to independent agencies or in-house teams.
Omnicom's softer pitch performance reflects deliberate restraint. The holding company instructed network CEOs to avoid major pitches through September 2025 while integration planning with IPG continues, according to two agency principals familiar with the directive. That pause removes Omnicom from 11 active global-brand reviews worth a combined $890 million in estimated annual billings. Publicis has entered 7 of those reviews, positioning the firm for further H2 gains if Omnicom's freeze persists beyond Q3.
Havas, the fourth-largest global group, posted 19 H1 wins, up from 11 in H1 2024, signaling momentum under Yannick Bolloré's operational model that pairs creative agencies with Vivendi's media-distribution assets. The Havas gains came primarily in retail and travel sectors, where clients valued direct access to Vivendi's Canal+ and Lagardère distribution channels for co-branded content.
Operators should track three near-term events. Omnicom will likely resume active pitching in October 2025 after IPG integration milestones clear regulatory review in the EU and US. WPP's restructuring under Read enters its final phase in Q4 2025, when the holding company plans to consolidate 6 creative networks into 3 global brands, potentially disrupting client relationships during the transition. Publicis will report Q2 organic growth on July 18, 2025, offering the first revenue signal of whether pitch wins are translating to billings velocity.
The pitch gap matters because new-business momentum typically leads revenue growth by 9-12 months in the agency sector. Publicis enters H2 2025 with $1.7 billion in estimated new annual billings from H1 wins, while WPP and Omnicom carry $780 million and $695 million respectively, creating a structural revenue advantage that compounds through 2026 if retention rates hold above 85%.
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