Omnicom Group Inc. is an American global media, marketing, and corporate communications holding company, headquartered in New York City.
Omnicom's branded networks and specialty firms provide services in four disciplines: advertising, customer relationship management (CRM), public relations, and specialty services. The services included in these disciplines are media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, sports and events marketing, field marketing, and brand consultancy.[4]
Omnicom Group serves as the parent company of Omnicom Media Group, comprising three agencies, OMD, PHD, and Hearts & Science, as well as three global advertising agency networks: BBDO, DDB, and TBWA. Omnicom Group also manages Flywheel, DAS Group of Companies (comprising the Health Group, the Precision Marketing Group, the Commerce Group, and the Advertising Collective), and the Communications Consultancy Network.[5]
In 2014, Omnicom was considered the second largest advertising holding company by The Wall Street Journal.[6][7] As of 2024, the company employs around 74,900 employees globally.
History
In 1986, Allen Rosenshine, Keith Reinhard, and John Bernbach (son of William Bernbach) co-created Omnicom in a three-way merger of BBDO Worldwide, Doyle Dane Bernbach, and Needham Harper Worldwide.[8][9][10] In 1989, Rosenshine stepped down as chairman of Omnicom to return to his role running BBDO Worldwide, and Bruce Crawford (who had preceded Rosenshine as CEO of BBDO before leaving to run the Metropolitan Opera in 1985) was named chairman of Omnicom.[11] In 1997, John Wren, the number two executive at Omnicom, became the company's chief executive officer, while Crawford remained as chairman.[12]
In July 2013, it was announced that Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group would merge to form Publicis Omnicom Group. However, in May 2014, it was announced that the deal had fallen through and the Publicis-Omnicom merger would not happen.
Operations
Omnicom is composed of five major agency networks that oversee 1500+ agencies as parent companies. The networks are BBDO Worldwide, Diversified Agency Services (DAS), DDB Worldwide, Omnicom Media Group (OMG), and TBWA Worldwide.[35]
BBDO Worldwide, one of the companies present from the initial merger, is a creative agency which has been recognized as one of the most creative networks in the world.[36] Founded in 2000, Proximity Worldwide is BBDO's digitally focused marketing arm. In January 2016, BBDO Worldwide acquired a majority stake in Wednesday Agency Group.[37] At the 2017 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, BBDO Worldwide was awarded Network of the Year for the sixth time. Clemenger BBDO Melbourne was named Agency of the Year.[38] BBDO was the top agency network featured in the 2018 WARC 100, an annual ranking of advertising and media effectiveness.[39]
See also
- History of advertising
Further reading
External links
References
- Corporate Governance Omnicom Group, retrieved 2022-05-02^
- Omnicom Group Inc. 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 20, 2026^
- Corporate Leadership Team Omnicom Group, retrieved 2026-02-24