In January 2023, GroupM merged its largest media planning and buying agency, MediaCom, with its smallest stablemate, Essence, creating a business with 10,000-plus employees in 125 offices that handled close to US$21 billion (AU$31 billion) in billings.

The aim was to marry Essence’s digital creative technology and data-driven performance with MediaCom’s global scale, media planning and brand-building capabilities across the full spectrum of media channels.

In Australia, the new player on the media agency block created a 500-strong business handling a touch over $1 billion in media billings, making it the second largest media shop in the country behind OMD.

Unsurprisingly, the agency spent much of 2023 recalibrating its leadership team and overhauling its processes, product, structure and people strategies under the EssenceMediacom umbrella.

Pippa Berlocher was brought in to captain the new outfit, taking the reins from Pat Crowley (previously the Essence chief). Crowley eventually went client side, joining Commonwealth Bank, one of EssenceMediacom’s largest clients. 

Stephanie Douglas-Neal joined from PHD to lead the agency’s Sydney office. The agency also added Matt Scotton as chief product and marketing officer and Jack Graham as head of national planning. Meanwhile, client managing partner Peter Skarparis left in September to join Hearts & Science.

Merging two large businesses is never easy or straightforward, but EssenceMediacom hit the ground running and managed to produce eye-catching work, including a Sam Kerr-led clothing drive for the Red Cross and “Dolly’s Dream” for The Open Arms, which was chosen as UnLtd: Big Dream Campaign for Good, raising $13.6 million.

Other campaigns that won plaudits included a Brag Media collaboration with artists Mallrat and Kwame, and footballer Caitlin Foord to create the “Back of the Net Beats”; as well as a Beetoota Advocate print campaign to tackle drink driving in regional Queensland.

That said, the billings that EssenceMediacom handles took a hit. According to COMvergence, media billings declined 14 per cent to $864 million, which left the agency in second spot but with fast-growing GroupM stablemate Wavemaker breathing down its neck.

As it is the first year of the two agencies combining, it is difficult to get an accurate steer on how much of the billings drop is due to client conflicts, although B&T understands this had minimal impact on the Australian merger.  

EssenceMediacom boasts a list of enviable major clients including Coca-Cola, CommBank, Airbnb, Uber, Mars, Queensland Government, KFC and Adidas.

Early in its first year, EssenceMediacom lost the Tourism and Events Queensland account to Dentsu, but then defended important accounts throughout the year.

Those successful defences include Nib and an expanded Uber APAC brief. Berlocher, who previously led the Reprise APAC business in Singapore, is believed to have played a pivotal role in that pitch.  

EssenceMediacom ended the year on a high, winning the local Google media account from PHD, which adds north of $40 million in media billings.

It’s been a promising start to life for EssenceMediacom, winning and retaining important accounts, while laying the leadership foundations for success in the years to come.