Mindshare has set the pace for new business wins in Q1-3 of the calendar year, according to data from the media billings doyens COMvergence.
Update: 13/12/24: figures quoted are in $USD.
The GroupM-owned agency won seven new clients over the first nine months of the year—amassing a total of $55 million in new billings.
“We are incredibly proud of the success we have had in our new business growth in 2024 across Sydney and Melbourne,” Mindshare CEO Maria Grivas told B&T.
“This speaks volumes to the impact we have been able to demonstrate through our Good Growth proposition. An approach that is resonating with new and existing partnerships, underpinned by our incredible team who are genuinely invested in growing our clients’ brands and businesses. We look forward to continuing our momentum in 2025.”
The biggest win was Nestlé—valued at more than $35 million by COMvergence over the Q1-3 period, though B&T understands that this could rise to more than $50 million. It won the account back in April from UM (more on Anathea Ruys’ team in a moment).
GroupM’s OpenMind solution played a significant role in helping Maria Grivas and the team win the day. But having a strong understanding and enthusiasm for the Nestlé business helped too.
“They really understood what we were looking for and created the digital and tech spine that we needed, which is quite an amazing custom built piece of tech, which is AI enabled. I think it’s going to be a game changer for us,” Nestlé’s Oceania director of marketing and communications, Anneliese Douglass, told B&T earlier this year.
“What we need at a marketing level is to drive efficiency to make sure that our marketers have more time to spend on what’s important, like product innovation and creating great comms, and doing less on things like admin and communications.
“The other part that is intangible in any pitch is the energy and the enthusiasm for the business, and GroupM had that in spades from the moment we walked into the presentation…you could really feel the energy, the positivity and the desire to work on our brands,” she added.
GroupM stablemate and reigning B&T Media Agency of the Year, EssenceMediacom, notched $45 million in total new business wins, retaining the very chunky Queensland government account and winning Specsavers from Initiative.
UM’s Big Retention
However, Mindshare’s numbers are pure new business wins, with retentions excluded. When client retentions are factored in, IPG’s UM tops the pile amassing nearly double the value of billings.
UM notched three wins in Q1-3, Levi’s Jeans and Target Australia. COMvergence puts Levi’s billings at $2.2 million and Target’s offline media at $5.9 million. OMD retained the digital media for Target, which COMvergence rates at $16 million.
Its biggest win—by some margin—was the Federal Government’s Master Media Account. While the account isn’t worth quite as much as it was during the days of the COVID pandemic, it still clocks in at a very healthy $135 million according to COMvergence, and remains the biggest account in the country.
The Master Media Account did cause some consternation in the industry when it went for review in February. The Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA) is understood to have assembled an indie media agency consortium to pitch on the account and later called for half of the account to be given to Australian-owned indie shops.
The winner of the review was supposed to be announced in July, however, it was pushed back to September. B&T revealed that UM won the business in August, beating IPG’s PHD to the punch.
UM did have a couple of losses in addition to Nestlé. The $4 million QuickBooks account went to Avenue C, while the $6 million Spotify account went to Zenith.
Publicis
In July, B&T revealed that GroupM’s Wavemaker and Publicis’ Zenith and Spark Foundry were the three fastest growing media agencies in the country during 2023.
Zenith grew its billings by a quarter in 2023. In the first three quarters of this year, it brought in $23 million of net new billings, with the Spotify and $5 million-rated Arrotex Pharmaceuticals accounts the pick of the bunch.
Spark, meanwhile, notched $14 million in net new billings with the $12 million Kenvue account—which controls brands including Aveeno, Listerine and Neutrogena—its largest win.
Starcom performed well, too. It amassed $11 million in net new billings and $19 million in total new business. Its biggest win was Subaru, worth $8 million.
Indies
Half Dome was the top-performing indie agency, bringing in $40 million in net new billings—more than half of which was the Online Education Services account.
“What these results show is that tripling down on the calibre of our work, and delivering real world results for the clients we already work with, is a magnet for like-minded, growth focussed organisations. We plan to carry this momentum into 2025, delivering growth off the back of a similar laser focus on existing Half Dome clients,” said Half Dome founder and head of growth Joe Frazer.
Atomic 212° was the second highest-performing indie, with $37 million in net new billings. Haval ($14.5 million) and Bluescope ($14 million) were its big wins.
Nunn Media, meanwhile, romped into third place with $37 million in net new billings after it won the sizeable Spotlight Retail Group media account worth $54 million.
Initiative
Just as everything goes up, it must also come down. For Initiative, 2024 might prove to be its annus horribilis with the departure of the top trio Mel Fein, Sam Geer and Chris Colter and some notable account losses.
Their new employer, Accenture Song, has yet to announce any wins.
While Initiative won the near-$20 million DuluxGroup account, its Online Education Services and Specsavers losses will have hurt. Globally the IPG-owned agency lost LEGO and Amazon—the latter worth some $70 million in Australia.
COMvergence is a leading global research firm specialising in providing in-depth insights into the media and advertising landscape. Through its comprehensive reports, interactive tools and data analytics, COMvergence helps advertisers, media agencies, consulting firms, and digital advertising platforms to gain a clearer understanding of the competitive landscape, agency performances and key industry trends.
