Publicis Media has been ranked the number one global media agency according the the 2018 RECMA New Biz Balance Report.
RECMA is a global research company, and one of the few that evaluates media agencies worldwide.
“We’re honoured to be ranked as the #1 media agency globally. Competition is tough out there and our clients need us to help them keep up in an increasingly agile landscape,” said Peter Monaise, CEO, Publicis Media Africa.
“Our integrated approach and thorough understanding of their businesses allows us to achieve the results we do every day. We would like to thank our clients for their support and for giving us the opportunity to be their communication partner of choice,” he added.
Publicis Media is represented in South Africa by the human experience agency, Starcom, the ROI agency, Zenith, and performance media brand, Performics. The group’s approach saw them win and retain some significant South African accounts such as Avon, Parmalat, Lactalis, Finscore, Lenovo, Luxottica and Gumtree.
Publicis Media had a hugely successful year globally, ending with winning the business of brand giant, GSK. It excelled in the New Biz balance, having the highest new business balance over lost accounts at $1250 million. Publicis Media won $5 749 million in new accounts with a loss of only $4 449 million.
Publicis said these figures were supported by the Goldman Sachs Equity Research Report on the Media: Advertising industry that showed that Publicis Media topped the new business table by 0.04% increase in account wins in December 2018 (calculated in a rolling 12-month period with adjusted billings). This is 0.01% ahead of the second largest ranking.
According to RECMA, the group delivers a qualitative evaluation of media agencies based on 18 criteria in 45 countries. These criteria are not financial but marketing specific, reflecting agencies’ capabilities. The organisation assesses agencies based on four sets of criteria. These are:
- Competitiveness in pitches over three years,
- Momentum which includes new-biz balance and growth rates as well as the hiring of talent and getting awards,
- Resources in digital and diversified services including data and content and,
- Agency capability to manage big accounts, local advertisers, as well as relationship stability.