The top global Advertising Agencies ranked in terms of revenue they earn

Advertising agencies of different sizes performing various specific functions are flourishing all around of the world. With so many ad agencies, it would be interesting rather informative to know what are the largest ad agencies in terms of revenue they earn. Only the holding companies are being considered for this blog which lists the top advertising agencies of the world in terms of their annual income. If I start listing subsidiaries, the same parent company which ultimately gets a share of the collected revenue would have more than one entrant on this list which is not desirable. All the revenue figures, the number listed after the company name; had been taken from the concerned company’s website.

1. WPP Group, $17 Billion – It is a public limited company based in London founded by Martin Sorrell in 1985 which within a span of about twenty years became the undisputed leading advertising agency in the world. Its success is mainly due to the fact that it holds the controlling interest in most of the largest and most creative ad agencies of the world across all mediums such as newspaper, radio and cinema. Its major subsidiaries include Grey, Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam and JWT which are some of the most recognizable names in the ad world. It has got a separate media investment management company GroupM and a separate research company Kantar, which holds controlling rights over Indian Market Research Bureau among others.

   

2. Omnicom Group, $14.5 Billion – Omnicom, an American marketing company headquartered in New York is the second most profitable ad agency in the world. Its subsidiary list includes BBDO, the most critically acclaimed agency of the last five years which had won numerous awards for its creativity, DDB Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide, etc. They had plans to merge with Publicis Groupe which would have made them the largest marketing company in the world by a margin but the talks ultimately failed at a very late stage.

   

3. Publicis Groupe, $8 Billion – It is an advertising and public relations company providing a range of services including direct marketing to media planning to sales promotion. Its success is based on its astute business plan which ensures half of its revenue comes from digital activities and clients from developing nations, both these sectors are growing at an exceptional rate which puts the company in a good place to further increase its revenue. Its headquarters are located in Paris, France and its main subsidiaries are Leo Burnett Worldwide and Saatchi & Saatchi.

   

4. Interpublic Group, $7.2 Billion – The smallest of the big four global advertising holding companies  IPG is based in New York with a controlling interest in McCann Worldgroup, Lowe and Partners and FCB. It also owns a huge number of specialty agencies including sports marketing, talent representation and healthcare which makes its business interests a bit more diverse than the other companies mentioned in this list though because their target market is limited, those agencies don’t add substantially to the bottom line.

   

These four holding companies account for most if not all of the major advertising agencies presently working in the world. The success of these companies depend mainly on their subsidiaries, so every acquisition they make is a result of careful planning and an important part of their long term business plans.

An Indian ad agency which is making great strides is releaseMyAd. It has already become the premier ad agency in Delhi offering a large variety of services such as media planning, media buying and creative designing among others. To book ads in Delhi across any medium you may email book+delhi@releasemyad.com or you can also call 09830629298.