Following on from yesterday’s news from SMI that the local Aussie market had its best year ever in 2021 (some $8.6 billion in ad spends), comes new from martech firm R3 that new business pitches globally were up a whopping 53 per cent last year.
According to R3’s 2021 New Business League tables, global pitches increased 53 per cent in revenue in 2021 to represent $US3.9 billion, chiefly led by massive reviews from clients such as Coca-Cola, Mercedes and Unilever.
That said, new business pitches may be on the increase, however, actual revenues aren’t increasingly exponentially.
According to R3, total revenues attached to global business accounts increased just nine per cent globally and seven per cent in the US last year.
See 2021’s top performing holding companies below:
Greg Paull, principal and founder at R3 commented: “Increasingly, the AOR is dying and the smartest agencies are pivoting their services and their talent mix to reflect this. For every consolidation to a holding company, there are another four or five other clients looking to build a more flexible roster and bring new agencies into the tent.”
R3’s data found that thanks to the estimated $US600m-plus new business windfall that WPP secured with the role as Coca-Cola’s global media partner, the holding company almost tripled its year-on-year revenue growth last year.
However, the leader in growth for 2021 was actually Havas, who increased its year-on-year revenue by 11.4 per cent as a result of wins that included Unilever, De Beers, and Dolce & Gabbana.
See 2021’s top performing creative agencies below:
Paull added: “New business in 2021 was characterised by a few massive accounts, which can only be served by agencies big enough to flex and customise their offerings. Clients are looking for more bespoke solutions, and the better an agency is able to adapt, the better chance they have of taking the business home,” he said.
On the global media front, WPP agencies took the top three spots for new business wins.
MediaCom ranked top with wins including MedTronic and Bosch. Mindshare was second by winning Loan Depot and Kyndryll. Wavemaker took third with wins included Zwift Global and Foodpanda.
WPP was at the top of R3’s global and US holding company rankings for 2021, with more than 2000 wins globally netting $US1.5 billion in new business, and 100 new accounts netting $US357 million in US new business revenues.
See 2021’s top performing media agencies below:
