Publicis and WPP Media dominated Australia’s media account wins during 2025, according to new data from RECMA and COMvergence that B&T can reveal exclusively.
But while the French and British holding companies clash, the country’s independent media agencies have been quietly bringing home the bacon, winning more than AU$75 million of business from the holding companies.
In fact, such is the success of the country’s media agencies that according to COMvergence, Nunn Media ranks as the third most-prolific winner of new business among all Australia’s media agencies. And if taken together, the value of the independent agency account wins (AU$139 million in total) places it above all the holding companies for new business success, bar Publicis and WPP Media.
Here’s how Australia and New Zealand’s media agencies stacked up over the course of 2025.
Publicis takes the group win
RECMA and COMvergence, both based in France, are widely seen as the most authoritative sources of media agency new business performance (aside from B&T’s Agency Scorecards, naturellement, though RECMA and COMvergence’s data count towards our scoring).
However, while RECMA and COMvergence are similar, they are not the same. The latter purely records account moves.
However, RECMA identifies agencies that deliver consistent and well-rounded performance across 19 criteria. The multi-criteria analysis also allows comparisons between agencies of similar size, helping identify differences in their profiles across types of wins (global versus local), client portfolios (large, mid-sized, local or international), and levels of diversification (traditional media share versus non-traditional media).
Regardless of the differences in methodology, RECMA and COMvergence both agree that Publicis topped the net new business rankings.
Zenith’s notable wins were Mars, Flight Centre and Honda over 2025, which totalled around $108 million altogether. Its overall performance, including account retentions, totalled just shy of $200 million.
Spark Foundry, Atomic 212 and Starcom’s big wins were Paramount, Tennis Australia and HBF, respectively. Together, those wins total around $87 million. Crucially, losses across the Publicis Groupe were limited to less than $50 million.
Michael Rebelo, Publicis Groupe ANZ CEO, told B&T: “Our media practice across Australia and New Zealand has built real momentum over time, driven by a relentless focus on our clients, capability enhancement, talent magnetism and innovation in data and technology. These results are not just reflective of new business won but also how we are retaining our current clients. For that, I am incredibly proud of our media leaders and teams.”
WPP Media followed closely at a group level, with COMvergence and RECMA placing it second in the holdco race. RECMA said that just $50 million in net new billings separated the holdcos.
WPP Media even secured the single largest media account win of the year – the $140 million consolidated Suncorp account, which it took from Omnicom’s OMD.
COMvergence and RECMA both list Mindshare as netting the billings, though the insurer technically has a bespoke ‘Open Era’ agency model, a fact revealed when B&T first broke the news of the account’s moving from Omnicom to WPP.
Here’s where the two organisations diverge, however. COMvergence lists Havas as the joint-third media agency group (tied with indie Nunn Media) for total new business. RECMA, which ranks only net-new business, lists dentsu in third place.
Havas’ wins over 2025 included a portion of the MG account, which the then-indie but now Havas-owned Kaimera shares with Mindshare (another win you read about first in B&T), as well as Emirates Airlines and The Travel Group, which operates AATKings and Contiki as well as some other travel brands.
Dentsu, meanwhile, won some $42 million in net new business, with Carat SA’s Journey Beyond win, worth around $11 millon in billings, its largest.
Omnicom generated $197 million in total new business. Its net new business was $-36 million. IPG Mediabrands won $161 million in total new business, though its net new business was back $80 million.
The local WPP Media outfit, led by Aimee Buchanan (number two on last year’s B&T Women in Media Power List), continues to be one of the shining stars compared to its global competition. Publicis, meanwhile, is very much ascendent holding company. Though the newly combined Omnicom Media business could be about to change all that.
Mindshare’s hot streak
When it comes to individual agency performance, again, RECMA and COMvergence differ.
COMvergence lists Publicis’ Zenith as the top-performing media agency for total new business, while RECMA puts WPP’s Mindshare top. COMvergence puts Mindshare second, followed by fellow WPP Media outfit EssenceMediacom with Sparro by Brainlabs in fourth.
RECMA puts Omnicom’s PHD second, followed by EssenceMediacom.
But when RECMA’s Vitality and Structure scores are combined, EssenceMediacom is the only agency in Australia with what it calls a ‘Dominant’ profile, and it gained two points when compared to the last time the scores were given in October.
The Vitality score is calculated looking at competitiveness in pitches, new business success, growth, awards (such as the Cairns Crocodiles Awards) and so on. The ‘Structure’ score looks at the staff each agency has in specific areas of expertise (digital, data and so on) and the client portfolio (big advertiser, local advertiser, loyalty rate) and more.
“This performance is notably driven by [EssenceMediacom’s] Lion win and reflects a strong balance between Vitality and Structure–the two families of criteria within the evaluation, with the agency consistently ranking in the Top 3 across both,” RECMA said in a press release shared exclusively with B&T.
OMD placed second with a ‘High Profile’ status. It was hit by key account losses, including Suncorp, Village Roadshow and Renault.
However, the Omnicom agency’s “robust” structure and its strong remaining client portfolio held the day. “A testimony to strong roots in the market,” said RECMA.
Mindshare “demonstrates strong momentum,” according to RECMA. It ranked equal first in Vitality with Atomic 212. Mindshare also leads RECMA’s one-year new business balance, driven by its Suncorp and MG wins.
PHD climbed one position in the ranking, gaining +1 point and confirming a positive trajectory. Atomic 212 entered the top five. RECMA said it highlighted the Publicis agency’s strong and sustained new business momentum.
When looking at the agency groups’ Vitality and Structure scores, WPP remained top but it was “closely followed” by the newly combined Omnicom and IPG business. RECMA said the mammoth acquisition is “reshaping the competitive landscape”. Publicis Groupe placed third. Dentsu, RECMA said, “remains significantly behind Publicis but still well ahead of Havas”.
In a statement provided to the trade press before B&T reviewed RECMA and COMvergence’s full data, WPP Media Australia and New Zealand CEO Aimee Buchanan, said the latest RECMA results showed the strength of WPP Media’s combined capability: “Our ambition is limitless growth for clients, our people and partnerships. These results are a powerful reflection of this. The consistency, capability and ingenuity of our people show the strength of our collective. I am incredibly proud of our teams and grateful for the trust our clients place in us to deliver.”
Among the indie agencies, Brainlabs topped the pile, winning $91 million in total new business, Nunn Media placed second with $56 million, and Match & Wood placed third with $32 million.
PMG and This is Flow rounded out the top five with $23 million and $20.7 million.
COMvergence does count Accenture Song as an indie (though we don’t). Its Optus win (yet another story you read first in B&T) gave the agency around $60 million in billings, though with its ongoing network calamities, it paused some of its advertising last year.
Omnicom takes New Zealand
Over the ditch, matters were different again.
COMvergence reported that Omnicom Media led total new business results at a group level, generating $38.5 million in part due to the win of Sky Network ($9.9 million), Ryman ($6.25 million), Hunting & Fishing ($5.67 million).
Publicis Media ranked second with $31.3 million, supported by wins for Mars ($4.2 million), Asahi ($3.2 million) and the recent EssilorLuxottica win ($2.7 million). Mediabrands was third with $3.6 million.
At the agency level, Publicis-owned MBM ranked first in total new business, winning $24.5 million, supported by Paramount ($2.76 million) and Campari ($1.31 million).
PHD ranked second, generating $19.4 million, thanks to Sky Network ($9.9 million) and Ryman ($6.3 million). OMD placed third with $17.4 million, driven by its win of Flooring Xtra ($6.9 million) and Freedom ($2.6 million).
