In a trying time for much of the industry, mergers and acquisitions seem to be the order of the day.
Whether that’s a symptom of or a remedy to the trying times is up for debate. What isn’t debatable is that the process can be difficult on all parts of the business. With Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG is set to complete this month, Seven’s merger with SCA being waved through by the ACCC a couple of weeks and even Havas reportedly considering taking a slice of WPP, there’s plenty of consolidation on the horizon.
But Publicis Groupe’s chief media officer Imogen Hewitt and Atomic 212’s CEO Rory Heffernan told B&T they believe that they got it right when the French holdco acquired what was then Australia’s largest indie media agency.
“Mike and Imo [Hewitt] have been fantastic,” Heffernan told B&T in a meeting room tucked away in Publicis’ Pyrmont office.
“It’s been ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working’. But also ‘Go ahead and play with all the new stuff you’ve got access to, see what you can build and come out with’. We see that working well with clients, in pitches and so on. Team-wise, it’s been really good.”
Publicis’ acquisition of Atomic was announced to the world in January this year, though conversations, as Heffernan and Hewitt said, had been ongoing for significantly longer. Rumours had persisted that a number of potential suitors were taking more than a passing interest in the agency founded by recent MFA Hall of Fame-inductee Barry O’Brien.
It wasn’t one-way traffic, however, with Atomic expanding into the Adelaide and Perth markets by acquiring the media divisions of KWPX (now KWP+Partners).
Nearly a year on from both those pieces of business, things seem to be rosy for everyone involved.
“We’re definitely going to keep them,” said Hewitt.
“What’s notable is that the leadership team at Atomic has really lent into the integration and the process of it. There are aspects to that which are more functional, operational and there are aspects about people and culture and immersing a new team into the way we do things. While the acquisition was one of our highlights of 2025, it’s only ever as good as how people feel welcomed and how great the clients feel about the transition.
“It can be hard work!” Hewitt said, laughing. “There’s some heavy lifting that needs to go on. We have had lots of parties in Atomic’s honour, which is specific and deliberate. But it’s all of the systems, getting people used to a new office and that they’ve got 1,000 new colleagues.”
Heffernan has certainly noticed the effort, described the Harris Street team as “wonderful” at making Atomic feel welcome and putting on “monthly or even more frequently” social events. Though he conceded there’s probably some social events that the staff don’t want him to know about, too.
Clients, Clients, Clients
That Publicis was the right fit for Atomic and vice-versa perhaps should not have been a great surprise. Central to both O’Brien and Publicis Groupe ANZ CEO Michael Rebelo’s navigating of agency life is client service.
“At a Groupe level, it’s one of Mike’s obsessions,” said Hewitt. “And quite rightly. How are we nurturing, understanding, continuing to deliver and always looking for an opportunity to provide more than what is asked of us for clients. Without that, they’ll go and see someone else. We don’t have a business if we don’t treat our people and clients the right way. That’s a recipe for disaster.
O’Brien, meanwhile, told B&T recently that clients value honesty above all else.
“I don’t give a rat’s arse if you’ve got $1 or $100 million,” he told B&T.
“I’ve been able to sit in a room and say to a client to a client, ‘We can do that. But if we do it, I think it’ll fail. These are the reasons I think it’ll fail and if it was my money, I wouldn’t do it’. They like that, they like the challenge. A lot of people… haven’t got the understanding or the love.”
Some in the industry have suggested that networked agencies do not provide the same level of service for all clients, irrespective of size. It’s a characterisation that Hewitt and Heffernan both flatly reject.
Read more: Are Indies Turning Up The Heat On HoldCos? – A Pitch Consultant’s Perspective (Revisited)
“In early conversations, I asked what Mike wants to see. The answer was always clients. He wants to know how those key client relationships are, what we could be doing more of. That client-centric model that Atomic’s always done well has been held up here. I don’t need to explain why we do things a certain way for clients because they get it,” added Heffernan.
Creative & Media Harmony
What is new, however, is a closer integration of creative and media services. Publicis has made great strides with its “Power of One” model over the years, with bespoke, more integrated offerings for the likes of Lego (Publicis One), Spotify (OneVibe) and Aldi (Aldi One) among others. It’s something new for Atomic. Though Hewitt was clear that Publicis agencies still often pitch separately depending on the brief.
“We’ve got two global accounts, which is a first [for us],” said Heffernan.
“We get new business opportunities through both routes now. A lot of direct new business based on the strength of the Atomic brand, product and offering and then also building along with a bit of this and a bit of that. We’re thinking about that in product development, in terms of what makes sense for us to bring to the table, knowing that Digitas have this or Zenith have that.”
Those global are PayPal and the recently announced Magnum win. Clients are looking for a closer integration of services, according to Heffernan.
“Their world is flat or lower budgets, more with less, multiple business pressures, new products or units that they’re having to support. They’re always after finding the solution faster, getting to market quicker… The integration with the creative agencies has been great because it fast-forwards a number of steps,” he said.
“Clients are responding well. Red Rooster is shared with Leos, then we’ve just been appointed [on another client] with Saatchis. That was off the back of some new work with that kind of model… The attitude from the other agencies has been awesome. Particularly the creative agencies where we have that shared work—they’ve been super complimentary of our people but also curious about what we can do.”
“Without being too provocative about it, you don’t necessarily get that in other big organisations,” said Hewitt. “It’s testament to the fact we’ve been working with a single P&L with a view that connectivity between agencies and removing as many barriers to that as possible is the way of the future.”
That said, Hewitt and Heffernan both agreed that Atomic was gaining no significant benefits in media prices.
“We have always been pretty good at trading. We had a strong trading capability as an independent and were always delivering good pricing, often improvements. Clients are now getting that plus some additional group capabilities than can add to the mix to drive some additional value. It’s the best of both worlds,” said Heffernan.
“Atomic is not a small agency!” added Hewitt. “To the degree that scale has a factor, which I personally believe is becoming less important over time, it’s already delivering strong outcomes from a pricing perspective and already known for having really strong relationships with partners, publishers and platforms.”
One area where Atomic does stand out from the rest of the Publicis agencies in the Harris Street mothership is in the feel of its office.
The old Atomic Walsh Street digs was chock-full of trinkets, accoutrements and curios. That vibe has carried across to an extent, you’ll be pleased to hear.
Its slightly more bohemian approach to interior design stands in contrast to the super-slick entranceways of Leo, Saatchi & Saatchi and Spark Foundry, for example.
But, if we’re honest, there’s often only one thing that determines an agency’s outlook on life—its regular pub of choice. GroupM had the Rag & Famish in North Sydney before it moved to Barangaroo. The Monkeys had The Cricketers in Surry Hills before it too moved to Barangaroo. So where are Heffernan and the team unwinding with a cold one?
“I like the Terminus,” said Heffernan. “The green tiles, big garden out the back and I like the chicken schnitzel… I can see the beauty in every pub though.”
