Marketing communications giant Omnicom has plans to roll out a new media agency brand, Encore understands.
The global agency would sit alongside the company’s existing agencies OMD, PHD and M2M, and is expected to launch in the Australian winter.
The news emerged at the Festival of Media Asia in Singapore, although Omnicom executives did not confirm details.
The move would enable Omnicom Media Group to take on new clients where there is conflict.
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In Australia, OMG won Sony last year, but had to create a bespoke unit – Sony@OMG – to avoid conflict with HP, which is handled by PHD, and Apple, which buys through OMD.
Omnicom Media Group also runs Foundation in Australia, an $80m-billing media agency based at the Clemenger building in St Leonards, Sydney, which rebadged from Davinci Selectwork. At one stage, the agency was contemplated as the basis for relaunching as PHD, before Omnicom went with re-engineering Total Media.
M2M is the sister brand of OMD.
There are also specialist units within OMG, such as Fuse, a branded content division that is part of OMD, and search agency Resolution.
It is unclear whether an existing Omnicom brand will be rolled out globally or if a new brand will be started from scratch.
One option would be the roll-out of minority-owned planning-led outfit Good Stuff in the UK, which was named 2012 media agency of the year by Campaign magazine.
Omnicom took UK-born Pattison Horswell Durden global in 2005, launching it as PHD in Australia in 2008 with a challenge to rivals to “up their game”.
OMD, Omnicom’s first media offering, was formed from the media departments of creative agencies DDB, TBWA and BBDO in 1996, launching in Australia in 2000.
M2M started out as a specialist in luxury, fashion and beauty in the UK in 2003. It later broadened its focus and went global in 2008.
Robin Hicks
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