In mid-February we officially launched Campaign in Canada. The industry reaction since then has been tremendous, even though it feels like we’re just getting started.
Along with the news content shared in our now daily newsletter, we’ve published value-added features like our “Made in Canada” series, the much-discussed Campaign Cup, and our just-launched 30 Under 30. All were only possible because of our access to the additional editorial, business and tech knowledge and expertise we did not have as The Message.
Today, we are happy to share another excellent example of the kinds of content we are providing to Campaign subscribers.
While our goal remains to cover the industry in Canada as thoroughly as possible, there are big trends, big ideas and big business moves happening internationally every day that have important implications here in Canada. With top industry journalists around the world, we have the team to make sense of those changes.
The machinations and moves of the Big Six holding companies is a case in point, and Campaign’s latest market report, "The big divide: How the fortunes of the 'Big Six' diverged in 2023," provides a deep dive into the data that illustrates not just which of the holdco giants are trending up at the moment, but also dissects the wins and deals that explain how they got there.
In 2023, we started to see “sizeable fault lines” appear between the Big Six, wrote Kate Magee, Campaign’s global intelligence editor, in the intro to the report.
“Just take the key measure of organic revenue growth,” she said. “There was a spread of more than 10% last year between the top performer, Publicis Groupe, which grew 6.3%, and Dentsu, which fell 4.9%.
“Holding company chiefs are under increased pressure. The past few years have demanded they reorientate their businesses around more data-driven, digitally focused models. But 2023 brought difficult macroeconomic conditions, the arrival of generative AI at a mass scale and client spend reductions, particularly in the tech sector.”
The report provides fascinating reading about the state of the industry today with important context and insights including:
• How Publicis “extracted itself from the pack”
• The watershed moment when the paths of the big six parted
• Why the US was key to growth
• Why Omnicom’s CEO John Wren thinks he can “beat anybody on a pitch” after the surprise acquisition of Flywheel
• Why there is no more “M&A for M&A’s sake”
• How climate change hit the new-business market – and what that means for the future of new business
“The big divide: How the fortunes of the ‘Big Six’ holding companies diverged in 2023” is available now for subscribers. Click here to get started.
