Mitchell and OMD winners; Universal McCann and Mindshare losers in 2008 media spend
Universal McCann and Mindshare’s fortunes have faded, but OMD and Mitchell Communication Group tightened their grip on the Australian media scene in 2008, new data from Nielsen suggests.
According to the summery for the year, Mitchells is still the biggest media agency, with further spend growth of 11% last year – and that doesn’t include its recent Fairfax Media win. Nielsen estimates that the ASX-listed companmy’s main media spend in 2008 was $920-930m. As the numbers do not take into account online media, pay TV, some magazine spend and regional media, Mitchells will actually be spending well over $1bn on behalf of its clients.
The numbers, reported by B&T Today, also show the continuing success of the Omnicom-aligned OMD, up from fourth largest to second largest with an estimated spend of $750m.
Universal McCann suffered last year, with spend down by more than 20%, after losing Johnson & Johnson and seeing reduced government ad spend. Meanwhile Mindshare’s fall was partly to reallocations of clients within the WPP group including to Maxus which saw a big rise. STW Group’s Ikon was also down noticeably.
The other big winner was Initiative, up 12%.
The top ten:
- Mitchell & Partners – $920-930m +11%
- OMD – $740-750m +12%
- Mediacom – $720-730m +2%
- Starcom Mediavest – $670-680m +1%
- Universal McCann – $510-520m -21%
- ZenithOptimedia – $430-440m +8%
- Initiative – $300-310m +12%
- Carat – $280-290m +6%
- Mediaedge cia – $270-280m +11%
- Mindshare – $270-280m -19%
The annual figures tend to be criticised for not being comprehensive, and for using a ratecard-based estimate as Nielsen has no inside information on what deals media agencies actually have with media owners. However, it is also the most comprehensive set of data available.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin