Omnicom launches Omnicom Advertising Group led by Aussie expat Troy Ruhanen as global CEO
Omnicom has today announced the formation of Omnicom Advertising Group (OAG), a new global organisation aligning world-class creative networks BBDO, DDB, TBWA, as well as leading agencies within the Advertising Collective including Goodby Silverstein & Partners, GSD&M, Merkley & Partners and Zimmerman. OAG will be led by Aussie expat Troy Ruhanen as global CEO. Ruhanen’s appointment sees him vacate his role as TBWA\Worldwide president and CEO. Joining Ruhanen is Deepthi Prakash as chief operating officer and Denis Streiff as global CFO.
Bringing these agency brands under one leadership addresses clients’ needs for powerful creative solutions like never before. Each will retain its unique brand, culture and people, while capitalising on OAG’s shared and scaled investments in innovative tools, technologies, specialist capabilities, and AI platforms. This foundation will enhance agencies’ ability to deliver world-class creativity and accelerate growth, as well as unlock greater opportunities for personal and professional growth for their talent.
The agency networks within OAG will report to Ruhanen and will be led by:
• Nancy Reyes, who was recently promoted to global CEO of BBDO
• Alex Lubar, global CEO of DDB
• Erin Riley, who is being elevated to CEO of TBWA\Worldwide from her previous role as TBWA\Chiat\Day US CEO
• James Fenton, CEO of the Advertising Collective
In 2004 Ruhanen returned to BBDO in New York to lead the agency’s billion-dollar AT&T business. Under Ruhanen, the work on AT&T became some of the most sought-out advertising in the category, winning Cannes Lions, Effies, Clios, One Show pencils and Webby Awards.
He joined TBWA from Omnicom Group in July 2014. At Omnicom he was executive vice president, responsible for driving cross-agency collaboration and innovation for Omnicom’s largest clients.
Says Ruhanen: “OAG will make the best even better. One of the most exciting parts of this new division is that we can collectively invest in innovative offerings – such as Omnicom’s recent first-mover partnerships in GenAI. This will take our world-class creativity to the next level and keep our clients at the top of their industries. While we are excited to grow together, we will continue to celebrate and protect the uniqueness of each agency’s culture and entrepreneurship.”
Over the years, Omnicom has successfully organised its portfolio by aligning its agencies into marketing disciplines to strengthen the depth of its services and enhance collaboration across the group. This includes the formation of world-class Practice Areas such as Omnicom Media Group (OMG), Omnicom Health Group (OHG), Omnicom Precision Marketing Group (OPMG) and Omnicom Public Relations Group (OPRG). Each area now benefits from scaled investment and experimentation as the marketing world transforms.
Says John Wren, chairman and CEO of Omnicom: “Clients want best-in-class talent, innovation and seamless delivery of creative services around the globe. OAG will deliver on that promise while allowing our agency cultures to remain strong and evolve through shared investments and best practices. With Troy at the helm of this new division, I’m confident our creative agencies and all our incredibly talented minds will continue to set the bar for the industry.”
Existing clients will continue to be serviced by the agency and teams they currently work with, now with the enhanced capabilities of the wider group. The changes will take effect on January 1, 2025.
22 Comments
…And what follows are more redundancies disguised as realignment of agency offerings…
Been there, and done that, good luck to the newly made redundant.
What is happening?
And slowly, they will be merged/ground into one entity. And renamed Omnicom Merged Group or OMG.
And I feel fine. (Because I don’t work for a holding company.)
Can’t wait for the launch of the inspiringly named BBDODDBTBWA & CO rolls right off the tongue
Global networked agencies are dead so why dont we create another network model above the dead network model to make it not look like a network model by merging the networks
Stop separating specialties and bring them together with brand and idea first thinking.
Tick tock.
spelt TikTok ?
It’s not as if the BBDO or TBWA brands mean anything, right? Why invest in or care about brands. It’s not like that’s the entire cornerstone of their entire business model or anything.
Who is making these decisions ffs?
Here is a taste of what’s to come.
https://www.unmade.media/p/the-holding-company-mincer-is-eating
https://strategyonline.ca/2024/07/15/ddb-bbdo-and-tbwa-in-canada-folding-together-under-omnicom/
https://strategyonline.ca/2024/07/15/ddb-bbdo-and-tbwa-in-canada-folding-together-under-omnicom/
They don’t get it – this is a terrible decision and hastens their irrelevancy
@ Whoops
Unfortunately, this Omnicom decision is a symptom of a wider challenge, rather than the illness itself.
The creative advertising world has been on a steady decline for a couple of decades. As revenues continue to decline across the industry, consolidation and cuts will become the norm in an attempt to maintain profitability.
KGB is 100% correct. You can’t expect clients to be giving agencies the same remit and revenue year after year when AI and even basic automation is fundamentally changing the way brands engage with customers. Just one look at the drastic reduction in ad agency head counts says it all. The old ad world is dead and Omnicom’s move is simply further proof. There’s a future for advertising – but its not to be found in the past.
Agreed. I dare someone to point out the differences between the DDB, BBDO and TBWA brands in 2024.
The only thing that comes to mind is TBWA’s pirates nonsense, which isn’t reflected in the work. (And outside of Omnicom, Leo’s like to bang on about Leonard a bit, but again, the work feels like it could’ve come from any network agency.)
From experience – when it comes to the day to day, and especially the work, these places all feel the same. They don’t have a house style in the way the likes of W+K used to (which varied across offices).
Perhaps it’s more a matter of leadership. Clems Melb was defined by McGrath, and TBWA\Chiat\Day by Lee Clow. And just look at what Clems is today…
“Each of our agencies has been investing in tools, capabilities, and technologies. Sharing these investments across the group will help us deliver growth and impact for clients at scale,” Remillard-Larose said.
Can’t they do this without losing the brands themselves?
No. They cannot do it ‘without losing the brands themselves’.
They might continue to have their names on a shingle out the front,
but behind the shopfront it’ll be just one, big Omnicom factory.
Omnicom’s agencies will share resources, finance will be centralised
and all Omnicom agencies will be told they can only use the Omnicom
Group Production Company for all production – just like all WPP’s
agencies have to use Hogarth. It’s no different to how most large multi
-brand businesses work. And no amount of pleading by the people in
Omnicom’s individual agencies will stop it from happening to them
And so, how is this now going to work with TBWA NAB and DDB Westpac. Auto brands, FMCG brands and the likes….all in the same building all in the same brand.
How does conflict work with this? TBWA NAB and DDB Westpac?
There is no mention of our new creative leadership.
A creative agency led by five CEOs. Who has time for creatively led creative agencies?