Author: Katie Beaule

Expands Omnicom’s reach in fast-growing e-commerce & retail media segments

NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2023 — Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) today announced it has agreed to acquire Flywheel Digital, the digital commerce business of Ascential (LSE: ASCL.L), for a net cash purchase price of approximately $835 million. Flywheel’s services enable top brands to sell more goods more efficiently across hundreds of digital marketplaces, such as Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba.

Since 2014, Flywheel has been at the forefront of digital commerce, developing a suite of best-in-class solutions specifically designed to accelerate sales for the world’s leading brands. With a workforce of more than 2,000 professionals, Flywheel provides services in retail commerce operations, media execution, and market intelligence to over 4500 brands. These services are reinforced by their advanced technology platform, Flywheel Commerce Cloud, which delivers near real-time insights to improve decision-making and boost sales.

John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom said, “E-commerce sales worldwide are set to increase by 50%, reaching about $7 trillion dollars by 2025. The acquisition of Flywheel significantly broadens our reach and influence in the rapidly expanding digital commerce and retail media sectors, two of the fastest-growing parts of the industry. Together, we will seamlessly integrate our offerings across retail and brand media, digital and in-store commerce, and CRM, ultimately delivering superior results for our clients.”

For the past eight years, Flywheel has assembled leading-edge digital commerce solutions and integrated them into a proprietary platform with a single user interface. Today, the Flywheel Commerce Cloud platform manages tens of billions in product sales and billions of advertising spend annually across digital marketplaces. Flywheel Commerce Cloud’s product and transaction data will be connected to Omni’s audience and behavioral data to provide unmatched insights and analytics.

Flywheel will operate as a Practice Area within Omnicom and will be led by Duncan Painter who currently serves as CEO of Ascential.

Painter stated, “By connecting Flywheel Commerce Cloud’s product and transaction data with Omni’s audience and behavioral data, we are poised to offer an end-to-end set of services that outpaces the competition. We aim to empower our clients to automate, optimize, and measure their digital commerce and media spend within an increasingly complex marketplace.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024 and is subject to Ascential shareholder approval, regulatory approvals, and customary closing conditions.

Moelis & Company LLC acted as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal advisor to Omnicom.

Omnicom has provided further detail on the acquisition in a presentation available and archived on its investor relations website.

About Omnicom
Omnicom (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and branding, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing, and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

About Flywheel
Flywheel operates a leading cloud-based digital commerce platform across the world’s major digital marketplaces. It enables our clients to access near real-time performance measurement and improve sales, share, and profit. Through its expertise, scale, global reach, and highly sophisticated AI and data-powered solutions, Flywheel provides differentiated value for both the world’s largest consumer product companies and fast-growing brands. These solutions can be tailored from pure self-service software to outsourced management of digital commerce marketplace operations and everything in between. With operations across the Americas, Europe, APAC, and China, Flywheel offers clients access to massive, global markets and has solutions for more than 400 digital marketplaces. To discover more about Flywheel’s revolution in retail media technology visit the new www.flywheeldigital.com or view the Flywheel brand launch video.

NEW YORK, July 6, 2023 — Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) today announced the acquisition of Grabarz & Partner to further cement its leadership position in Germany, the fourth largest advertising market in the world.

Founded in 1993, Grabarz & Partner is a world-class creative agency headquartered in Hamburg. With more than 260 employees, the agency works with prominent global and local clients such as Deutsche Bahn, IKEA, Lidl and Porsche. It has been named to prestigious industry lists such as Cannes Lions’ “Top Ten Independent Agencies of the Decade” and Campaign UK‘s “The World’s Leading Independent Agencies”. Grabarz & Partner’s management team will continue to serve in their current roles following the closing of the transaction.

“We’re thrilled to add one of the most creative agencies in Germany to our roster and to lean into its stellar reputation in one of Europe’s most important economic regions for our clients,” said John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom. “Our shared vision for creative excellence is what drew us to them, and we look forward to the impact they’ll make as part of Omnicom. We welcome the entire Grabarz & Partner team to the group.”

“Throughout our 30 years of existence, we’ve received many offers for our agency. Omnicom was the first one that truly piqued our interest as they presented us a tailor-made plan that took into account our goals and vision, our strategy as a creative agency, and, above all, our unique culture formed by the last three decades,” said Ralf Heuel, co-founder and managing partner at Grabarz & Partner. “We are convinced this will be another successful chapter for Grabarz & Partner, one in which all our clients and employees will benefit.”

The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

About Grabarz & Partner
Founded in 1993, G&P is a world-class creative agency headquartered in Hamburg. With more than 260 employees, the agency works with prominent global and local clients such as Deutsche Bahn, IKEA, Lidl and Porsche. It has been named to prestigious industry lists such as Cannes Lions’ “Top Ten Independent Agencies of the Decade”, “Top Ten Independent Agencies of the Decade” by Horizont magazine, “Agency of the Year” by W&V magazine, Eurobest, and Clio awards, “Managers of the Year” by Horizont magazine and Campaign UK’s “The World’s Leading Independent Agencies”.

About Omnicom
Omnicom (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and brand consulting, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

DDB and BBDO Named Two of the Top Three Creative Networks in the World

NEW YORK, June 23, 2023 — Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) was named Most Creative Company of the Year at the 70^th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. More than 120 agencies from 40 countries contributed to the title, with over 175 Lions won throughout the week. Of note, two of Omnicom’s creative networks, DDB and BBDO, placed in the top three of the Network of the Year category, with DDB coming in first and BBDO in third.

As the top Creative Network of the Year, DDB won more than 85 Lions. “The Last Photo” by adam&eveDDB for ITV x Calm dominated as the network’s most-awarded piece of work at this year’s festival. It won 11 Lions, including one Grand Prix. Other heavy hitters for the group included “Apologize the Rainbow” by DDB Chicago for Skittles and “Baby Scan” by adam&eveDDB for Marmite, winning two Gold Lions each.

BBDO, who came in third for Creative Network of the Year, closed with 55 Lions. “Phone It In” by Colenso BBDO for Skinny was hugely successful with nine Lions, including one Grand Prix. BBDO Toronto also racked up points with “Missing Matoaka” for Muskrat Magazine, scoring eight Lions, two of which were Gold Lions. The network also secured three more Grand Prix wins with “Inside the Newspaper” by Impact BBDO for An-Nahar Newspaper, “Eart4” by AlmapBBDO for UN Global Compact, and “Flipvertising” by CHEP Network for Samsung.

As a reflection of the breadth of creative excellence housed within Omnicom, its agencies entered over 175 campaigns created for more than 115 clients. Its wide span of disciplines achieved Gold Lions in a variety of categories including Health & Wellness, Media, Public Relations, Creative Commerce, Brand Experience and Activation, and more.

Omnicom Media Group collectively contributed 57 total Lions, and PHD Worldwide came in second place for the Media Network of the Year category. Several agencies also received special awards throughout the week, including within the Regional Network of the Year category. DDB Worldwide took the title for Europe and BBDO Worldwide won for MENA and Pacific. 

“I am incredibly proud of how our agencies showed up this year,” commented John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom. “It’s always rewarding to see the hard work of our people across the globe recognized by Cannes Lions, the global benchmark for creative excellence. I want to congratulate them for their efforts; this award is a direct reflection of their brilliance and unwavering dedication to their clients.”

The award comes at the end of the week when Omnicom announced a series of generative AI collaborations with Microsoft, Google, Adobe and Amazon. It also follows two other Holding Company of the Year titles for Omnicom in 2023, including The One Show and Ad Age’s A-List.

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and brand consulting, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

CANNES, France, June 22, 2023 — Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) today announced a first-mover collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to reimagine creativity and accelerate innovation with generative AI foundational models for advertising. As part of the collaboration, Omnicom will use AWS generative AI and machine learning (ML) services, including Amazon Bedrock and Amazon EC2 Trn1n instances powered by AWS Trainium chips that are purpose-built for ML workloads, to help accelerate the transformation of advertising campaign development.

Working with AWS, Omnicom will advance its AI-powered platform Omni – an open operating system which today uses AWS to ingest trillions of advertising signals monthly and store more than 10 petabytes of data – by creating new foundational models that help automate activities such as developing creative briefs, media plans, ad creative, audience segmentation, and performance measurement.

This collaboration will expand how Omnicom leverages their industry-leading datasets within Omni and will add capabilities powered by out-of-the box foundational models (FM) via Amazon Bedrock. Omnicom will run these generative AI models using AWS Inferentia ML inference chips, designed to deliver performance at the lowest cost, as well as low-energy efficiency purpose-built chips, designed with low-energy efficiency deep learning (DL) inference applications.

Pairing Omnicom’s open operating system with AWS generative AI services and purpose-built silicon for machine learning will help improve and further enable the automation of the entire advertising campaign and creative journey development on behalf of brands. It will help empower marketers to fully harness data insights and reinvent their customer experiences with less heavy lifting.

“We are committed to our mission of creating end-to-end solutions for clients, everywhere, swiftly and efficiently,” said Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Omnicom Digital. “The innovation, security, simplicity, and reliability of AWS machine-learning and generative AI services help us accelerate our data capabilities to deliver transformational innovation and results to our customers. We look forward to getting unique access of AWS models and together pioneering the complete transformation of the advertising campaign end-to-end journey together.”

“It’s important for us to find transformational ways to help advertisers reach their goals,” said Adam Gitlin, President, Annalect. “Amazon Bedrock, together with AWS Trainium and AWS Inferentia chips purpose built for machine learning will help us accelerate the transformation of advertising campaign development, creative generation, insights and recommendations. By unlocking advertisers first-party data, we can create more powerful advertising campaigns through trained, purpose-built LLMs that are unique to them, secure, protected, and private.”

“For more than a decade, Omnicom has worked with AWS to boost its creative processes with the latest technological advances. Generative AI will soon change the advertising industry completely, and we’re excited to continue experimenting with Amazon Bedrock foundation models (FMs) so that our customers can benefit from these recent advancements,” said Vasi Philomin, Vice President, Generative AI at AWS. “By using Amazon Bedrock, our ML capabilities, and FMs, Omnicom will help brands transform their customer experiences and marketing outcomes.”

About Omnicom Group Inc. Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and brand consulting, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

Omnicom becomes first advertising holding company to join the Content Authenticity Initiative

NEW YORK, June 22, 2023 — Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) today announced it has further strengthened its partnership with Adobe through a joint initiative that will bring enterprise generative AI capabilities to their shared clients. As the first holding company to have access to Adobe Firefly models, Omnicom will be able to use Adobe Firefly creative generative AI models with Omni data, Omnicom’s open operating system, to create on-brand content that helps marketers orchestrate better outcomes.

This access will also allow Omnicom and Adobe to embed the power of Firefly into client ecosystems, allowing for the generation of content in the brand’s unique style and brand language using API’s to increase automation.

“Firefly is at the forefront of creative intelligence. Leveraging that for our clients will be critical to bring the promise of mass personalization at scale to our client’s businesses,” said Paolo Yuvienco, EVP, Chief Technology Officer at Omnicom Group. “Adobe is one of our key partners in delivering outstanding creativity and true business outcomes for our clients.”

“We’re excited to once again have Omnicom join us as an early collaborator and to bring this latest innovation to our shared clients,” said Ely Greenfield, Chief Technology Officer at Adobe. “They share our eagerness to be a leader in generative AI and to reinvent the ways our clients can develop and deliver creative content. Their close involvement in our Content Authenticity Initiative indicates they are aligned with our commitment to providing transparency into how content is created.”

Omnicom is the first advertising holding company to join the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). Launched in 2019, the CAI is an Adobe-led cross-industry initiative comprised of media and tech companies, NGOs, academics and others focused on increasing trust and transparency in digital content. The CAI is actively partnering across its membership community with over 1,500 partners to ensure the technical innovations are built on ethical foundations. Particularly with the rise of AI-generated content, there is increased momentum around the adoption of Content Credentials, CAI’s free, open-source technology, so that creators can receive proper attribution, and consumers can make informed decisions based on facts and origins about the content they see online.

These updates follow on the heels of Omnicom announcing an enterprise licensing deal of Adobe’s Content Supply Chain solution. The solution allows Omnicom agencies across the globe to have a unified view of every step of the content process, from planning and production to activation and optimization. Adobe’s generative AI offerings, Firefly and Sensei GenAI, are a key part of the solution.

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and brand consulting, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

Industry’s first commerce orchestration solution enables seamless decisioning across brand and commerce

CANNES, France, June 20, 2023 — Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) today announced the launch of Omni Commerce, the industry’s first connected commerce orchestration solution. Omni Commerce – the newest vertical application on Omnicom’s Omni open operating system – is an ecosystem of tools, technology, data, and partnerships that enables always-on insight, activation, optimization, and attribution across the entire commerce landscape, breaking down the silos between commerce and brand investment to enable seamless decisioning.

Powered by data from Omnicom’s portfolio of retail media network partners – including Albertson’s, Amazon, Instacart, Kroger and Walmart – and data vendors, Omni Commerce’s depth of data categories (media performance, operations, content, product inventory and sales) provides a single, standardized yet customizable view of the commerce journey – not only across commerce and brand investment, but also across retailers, and online/offline environments as well.

Omni Commerce is a foundational solution underpinning Transact,  the Omnicom connected commerce consultancy that helps brands accelerate and integrate their e-Commerce strategies to drive omnichannel sales across all channels, on and offline. The solution is available to all Omnicom agency clients.

“The commerce landscape is extremely fragmented – bridging gaps between online and offline data, cross-retailer performance, and brand and retail media has been a longstanding challenge in the industry,” says Transact CEO Frank Kochenash. “Curating and connecting the right data from the right partners and platforms is the first major step toward a world where we can fill in the gaps and drive outcomes for clients.”

“Building this capability within Omni, the industry’s only open operating system, allows for a level of customization and scalability that closed systems or off-the-shelf purchased solutions cannot match, and unlocks a new level of actionable insights that will deliver better commerce outcomes for Omnicom clients,” says Annalect Chief Experience Officer Clarissa Season.

According to eMarketer, U.S. ecommerce sales grew 8.6% in 2022, representing 14.7% of retail sales, expected to grow to 17.9% by 2025.

“We know marketers are looking to work with fewer and bigger partners, as the retail media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented. But even then, brands still have to connect the dots to get a holistic view of their retail media impact,” said Ryan Mayward, Senior Vice President of Retail Media Sales for Walmart Connect, which delivers custom audience forecasts from the Walmart DSP to Omnicom. “We have a shared goal of making it easier for brands to easily and efficiently harness the full power of retail media, and tools like Omni Commerce will help to do that.”

Omnicom
Omnicom  (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and brand consulting, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 — Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) today announced a strategic collaboration with Google Cloud that offers the group unique access to the Vertex AI platform. This includes foundation models such as PaLM 2 and Imagen which can be applied to various use cases in the fields of creativity, summarization of knowledge, discoverability, and automation. The models will be integrated into Omnicom’s open operating system, Omni, enabling agency and client teams to accelerate the content development process for marketing campaigns.

Among the several foundation models offered within the partnership is Google Cloud’s text-to-image model, Imagen. Launched in May, Imagen allows organizations to generate and customize studio-grade images at scale from input text with low latency and enterprise-grade data governance.

Once deployed within Omni, Google Cloud Imagen will enable more than 17,000 trained and certified users to leverage Omni audience intelligence and campaign workflow to create customized images in minutes, define, activate, and measure the impact.

“We’re thrilled to have another first-mover advantage with Google Cloud’s foundation models and to continue strengthening the use of Generative AI within Omnicom,” said Jonathan Nelson, CEO,  Omnicom Digital. “By creating Omni as an open operating system, we’re able to quickly integrate these innovative models and mobilize them to thousands of Omnicom employees that use Omni. We’re especially excited to see how Imagen will unlock greater inspiration for our people and elevate the ideas created for clients.”

“At Google Cloud we are committed to bringing the power of our transformational foundation models to people with all levels of technical experience so that everyone has an opportunity to innovate in entirely new ways,” said June Yang, Vice President of Cloud AI and Industry Solutions at Google Cloud. “Our partnership with Omnicom deepens this commitment as it allows marketers to create studio-grade images with mask-free editing for any business need, in a platform where they are already familiar, with only a few typing prompts. We cannot wait to see what they create!”

This partnership is the latest collaboration between Google and Omnicom, who have closely collaborated together for decades. This includes their early collaboration as a alpha partner for  clean room integrations with Ads Data Hub.

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and brand consulting, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

Reveal Marks the Launch of Omni 3.0, Powered by Generative AI

CANNES, France, June 19, 2023 — Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) today unveiled Omni Assist, the inaugural Generative AI capability enabled by a first-mover partnership with Microsoft. Omnicom is the first agency holding company to have enterprise access to the latest Open AI GPT models.

Omni Assist is a virtual assistant providing insights, notifications, and recommendations across every step of the workflow of the Omni open operating system, from audience development to planning, activation, measurement, and optimization. Expected to reduce discovery from days to minutes, and with the ability to enhance communications across agency and client teams, Omni Assist will accelerate the timeline from insights to client outcomes.

In addition to accelerating campaign time-to-market, Omni Assist delivers on the primary promise of Generative AI as outlined by Omnicom CEO John Wren: improving workflow in a way that enables Omnicom’s knowledge workers to be more productive – and its agencies to add more value – in the marketplace.

“We’re embracing Generative AI as quickly as possible to enhance the capabilities of our best and brightest people, and deliver better outcomes for our clients,” said Wren.  

Revealed during a Cannes Lions event celebrating Omni’s fifth anniversary, Omni Assist is part of launch of Omni 3.0, the next generation of Omni where every experience is powered by Generative AI.

Launching the Next Generation of AI Powered Innovation 

AI technology and techniques – including computer vision, language modeling and facial recognition – have been core to Omni’s capabilities since its launch in 2018 as the industry’s first people-based, precision marketing and insights platform, distinguished in the marketplace by its open architecture and dynamic federation of data partners.

Recognized by leading research and advisory company Forrester as the holding company platform with the deepest integration across its network, Omni launched its second generation in April 2021, with an enhanced user experience designed to expand access to more users across Omnicom agencies. Omni 2.0 also saw the launch of healthcare and PR verticals; data collaborations and/or integrations with Affinity, Amazon, Google, Infosum, LG,  Teads and Yahoo; clean room partnerships with AWS, Disney, NBCU and TelevisaUnivison; and retail media partnerships with Albertson’s Media Collective, Instacart,  Krogers and Walmart Connect.

With Omni 3.0, Omnicom has deployed Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services to build its most powerful capabilities yet for its agency teams and clients, delivering benefits such as real-time conversational enablement for all Omni applications; automated audience intelligence that surfaces hard to identify audience behaviors; and performance intelligence that summarizes key trends and identifies drivers of performance with optimization recommendations.

“When we launched Omni in 2018, we described its mission as the democratization of data – a mission that we’ve met with more than 17,000 Omni trained and certified users across the holding company, and Omni integrations into agency-level planning processes across the network,” said Annalect CEO Slavi Samardzija. “With Omni 3.0 – powered by Omni Assist – we are going beyond the democratization of data, to the democratization of insights.”

“Most recently, I have had the privilege of working with Omnicom on their transformation efforts, leveraging Microsoft Azure Open AI to power Omni 3.0. We are at the heart of Omni Assist, a virtual assistant providing insights, notifications, and recommendations the Omni workflow, from audience development to planning, activation, measurement, and optimization. This platform is evolving quickly and is unique to anything I’ve seen in the industry,” commented Simon Crownshaw, Director of Media & Entertainment, Microsoft.

In addition to Omni Assist, Omni 3.0 launch capabilities will also include Omni Commerce, which was launched earlier today in Cannes. Omni Commerce, the industry’s first connected commerce orchestration solution, enables Omnicom to maximize brand awareness and increase the effectiveness of its clients’ retail media investments, driving product sales and profitability.

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms offer services in advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and brand consulting, experiential, customer relationship marketing (CRM), public relations, healthcare marketing and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2022 — Omnicom Group Inc. ( NYSE: OMC) today announced that it will present at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Live and archived webcasts will be available on the investor relations section of www.omnicomgroup.com.

About Omnicom Group Inc.

Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2021 — The Board of Directors of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) declared a quarterly dividend of 70 cents per outstanding share of the corporation’s common stock. The dividend is payable on January 11, 2022 to Omnicom Group common shareholders of record at the close of business on December 21, 2021.

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2021 — Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) and Omnicom Capital Holdings plc (the “Issuer”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Omnicom Group Inc. (“Omnicom Group”), today announced the pricing of the Issuer’s public offering of £325 million aggregate principal amount of 2.250% Senior Notes due 2033 (the “Notes”). The Notes will mature on November 22, 2033. The transaction is expected to close on November 22, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

The Notes will bear interest at a rate of 2.250 percent per annum. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Omnicom Group. The Notes and the related guarantee will be the unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the Issuer and Omnicom Group, respectively, and will rank equal in right of payment to all of their respective existing and future unsecured senior indebtedness.

The Issuer intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which could include working capital expenditures, fixed asset expenditures, acquisitions, repayment of commercial paper and short-term debt, refinancing of other debt, repurchases of Omnicom Group’s common stock or other capital transactions.

Application will be made to have the Notes listed on The New York Stock Exchange. The listing application will be subject to approval by The New York Stock Exchange. If such a listing is obtained, the Issuer will have no obligation to maintain such listing, and the Issuer may delist the Notes at any time.

BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, and J.P. Morgan Securities plc are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make an offer, solicitation or sale in such jurisdiction. The public offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement that has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). A final prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, copies of the prospectus and prospectus supplement relating to the Notes offered in the offering may be obtained by contacting any of the following underwriters: BNP Paribas toll-free at 1-800-854-5674, Deutsche Bank toll-free at 1-800-503-4611, or J.P. Morgan Securities plc collect at +44-207-134-2468.

This document is for distribution only to persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the “Financial Promotion Order”), (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (“high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.”) of the Financial Promotion Order, (iii) are outside the United Kingdom, or (iv) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). This document is directed only at relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Relevant stabilization regulations including FCA/ICMA will apply. UK MiFIR and MiFID II professionals / ECPs-only / No UK or EEA PRIIPs KID – Manufacturer target market (MIFID II and UK MiFIR product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No EEA or UK PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as not available to retail in EEA or UK.

About Omnicom Group Inc.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements, including statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, from time to time, we or our representatives have made, or may make, forward-looking statements, orally or in writing. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of our management as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our management. Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “guidance,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project” or similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, international, national or local economic conditions that could adversely affect us or our clients; losses on media purchases and production costs incurred on behalf of clients; reductions in client spending, a slowdown in client payments and a deterioration in the credit markets; the ability to attract new clients and retain existing clients in the manner anticipated; changes in client advertising, marketing and corporate communications requirements; failure to manage potential conflicts of interest between or among clients; unanticipated changes relating to competitive factors in the advertising, marketing and corporate communications industries; the ability to hire and retain key personnel; currency exchange rate fluctuations; reliance on information technology systems; changes in legislation or governmental regulations affecting us or our clients; risks associated with assumptions we make in connection with our critical accounting estimates and legal proceedings; and our international operations, which are subject to the risks of currency repatriation restrictions, social or political conditions and regulatory actions. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties that may affect our business, including those described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Omnicom Group’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. Except as required under applicable law, we do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Advertising Week 2021, or AWNewYork, will return as a hybrid event this year, gathering professionals in New York and digitally around the globe for four days of insight, inspiration and rejuvenation. The week will focus on brilliant creative work, technology advances, consumer research and media transformation happening right now. Omnicom, along with several agency members from across the networks, will be featured in speaking sessions throughout the week. 

Highlights include:

Monday, October 18^th

3:00PM | “The World is Ending and It’s Never Been a Better Time to Be in Advertising” with Ari Weiss, Global Chief Creative Officer, DDB

Tuesday, October 19^th  

12:30PM | “Consumer Attention: A Sacred Commodity” with Christina Hanson, Chief Strategy Officer, OMD WW

Wednesday, October 20^th  

12:00PM | “Hey, We Could All Use A Laugh” with Chris Beresford-Hill, CCO, TBWA\Chiat\Day New York

Thursday, October 21^st

2:00PM | “Brand On-Demand: Reimagining Collaborative Content” withTreva Thimm, Managing Director, Head of Content, Omnicom Media Group, Content Collective

View the full list of events here.

In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (IWD), Omnicom agencies around the world will come together to celebrate the professional and personal achievements of women within Omnicom Group and to reflect on progress made. This will also include several events hosted by local chapters of Omniwomen, Omnicom’s employee resource group that is dedicated to increasing the number and influence of women leaders throughout the Omnicom network. 

In addition to many of our agencies celebrating this year’s #ChooseToChallenge theme through social media campaigns, a number of them are also celebrating through unique virtual events. For a sampling of their IWD activities, please see the roundup provided below. 

If you have any questions about a particular event or inquiries on how to get involved, please reach out to Katie Beaule at [email protected].  

Omniwomen

Omniwomen Global is coordinating a Meet & Greet series where different Omniwomen from around the world will be paired together and connect virtually during the week of March 8th. There are 250 participants.

Below is a breakdown of additional chapter plans.

Chapter Plans:

• On March 11th, Omniwomen Australia will welcome a keynote speaker to discuss a story of when women have chosen to challenge something in their career (a norm, a stereotype, an issue in the ad/marketing industry) and what happened next. The speaker will be followed by a panel that will highlight the stats from shEqual before looking at some of the key challenges women face in advertising and the ways different people have overcome these challenges.  
• In honor of International Women’s Day, Omniwomen Chicago will host an event titled Omniwomen Chicago Presents: An Afternoon with Diane L. Parker. Diane L. Parker, playwright, actress, and VP of D&I at Meredith Corporation, will perform her original one-woman play Sick and Tired. Winner of the 2017 Strawberry One Act Festival, Sick and Tired tells the story of voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. In 1962, Hamer was 44 years old and, though she dreamed of being a registered voter, could not vote. In spite of much adversity, including violent voter suppression tactics, Hamer helped make the right to vote become an accessible reality for Black Americans. Following the performance, Diane will join Omniwomen for a moderated Q&A session.
• Omniwomen China plans to display a two-minute ‘Thank You, Thank Her’ video with true narratives and authentic stories from inspiring people in Greater China. The video will pay tribute to women who keep inspiring us with their resilience and courage in life.
• Omniwomen LA will be hosting a fireside chat with Camilla Grozian‑Lorentzens, President of KERN. She will discuss the journey to where she’s at now, the biases she’s encountered, her allies, sponsors and more.
• Omniwomen Mexico will hold a conference / panel around menopause. It will be a discussion with an Ob-gyn, a psychologist and a nutritionist to talk about menopause from different perspectives and develop dialogue among the group.

Designory, eg+ and Mother Tongue

Each day throughout the month, this group of agencies will feature a woman-focused item internally, highlighting an inspiring biography, podcast, article, poem, etc. Then, on IWD, they will post responses to short biographical questionnaires their women in senior leadership completed. They also will be raffling off 10 tickets to the California Conference for Women to employees who submitted stories of a woman that inspired them.  

Doremus North America

The agency’s employee resource group, PODD, will host two Speaker Series in the month, with agency leads and mid-mangers talking about their work-life balance and what it means to be an executive within the agency. In addition, each female employee will receive an acknowledgment certificate with a term of endearment from their manager.

GMR Marketing

This International Women’s Day, GMR is hosting signature speaker Mikaela Kiner, author of Female Firebrands who provides actionable ways women and men can advocate for an equal and diverse workplace. The session, held on March 8th, will be followed by small group chats that provide a more intimate forum to discuss Mikaela’s topics and tools. 

Later in the month, the agency will host a panel with representatives from Women’s Soccer who are revolutionizing the sports industry. In addition, employees will have a chance to support those in their local community who #ChoosetoChallenge through in-person donations and book purchases.

Omnicom Media Group 

Omnicom Media Group will be hosting two panels for employees this Women’s History Month. The first, titled We Are the Culture: Black Women and Fashion & Beauty,  will be held on March 18^th. The Black Leadership Network (BLN) and Hearts & Science will host a panel discussion with Black-owned beauty and fashion business owners to discuss their companies, misconceptions about Black beauty and fashion, and how they respond to cultural appropriation in those industries.

Then, on March 23^rd, the group will host I’m Speaking: Amplifying Black Women’s Voices. From recording studios to the mic stands at rallies, Black women are using their voices to move culture and society forward. The BLN, in partnership with Pandora, will celebrate Black women in audio and media and discuss the changes we need to make to carve a path for future women leaders. The panel discussion will be hosted by Nicole Buchanan, MC Sales Director for Pandora Multicultural.

Siegel + Gale

On March 8th, Siegel + Gale will host its annual IWD celebration. Margaret Molloy,  Global CMO of Siegel + Gale, will welcome five, top, global CMOs and moderate a panel conversation on their personal journeys and the massive role brands and marketing can play as we #ChooseToChallenge and strive for equity. Panelists will include:

• Sanyu Dillon, Chief Marketing Officer, Penguin Random House
• Lisa McKnight, SVP, Global Head of Barbie & Dolls Portfolio, Mattel 
• Leanne Cutts, Group Chief Marketing Officer, HSBC
• Huda Buhumaid, Chief Marketing Officer, Dubai Holding
• Carla Piñeyro Sublett, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, IBM

NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2021 — Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) today announced net income – Omnicom Group Inc. for the fourth quarter of 2020 of $398.1 million compared to net income – Omnicom Group Inc. of $415.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Diluted net income per share for the fourth quarter of 2020 was $1.84 per share compared to diluted net income per share of $1.89 for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Net income – Omnicom Group Inc. in the fourth quarter of 2020 includes a net aggregate after-tax decrease of $13.0 million related to asset impairment charges recorded during the period, partially offset by reimbursements and tax credits under government programs in several countries where we have operations, as discussed further below.

Primarily due to the negative effects on our revenue attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, Omnicom’s worldwide revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020 decreased 9.3% to $3,757.0 million from $4,141.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The components of the change in revenue included an increase in revenue from the positive impact of foreign currency translation of 0.8%, a decrease in acquisition revenue, net of disposition revenue of 0.5% and a decrease in revenue from negative organic growth of 9.6% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.  

Organic growth in the fourth quarter of 2020 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 in our five fundamental disciplines was as follows: Advertising decreased 9.7%, CRM Consumer Experience decreased 15.8%, CRM Execution & Support decreased 13.7%,  Public Relations increased 0.2% and Healthcare decreased 2.0%.

Across all of our regional markets, organic growth was negative in the fourth quarter of 2020 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. The decreases were as follows: the United States 9.4%, Other North America 3.2%, the United Kingdom 12.4%, the Euro Markets & Other Europe 9.2%, Asia Pacific 3.9%,  Latin America 9.2% and the Middle East & Africa  36.8%.

Operating profit decreased $31.7 million, or 4.9%, to $614.7 million compared to $646.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2019.  Our operating margin for the fourth quarter of 2020 increased to 16.4% versus 15.6% for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2020 includes a net decrease aggregating $11.1 million due to asset impairment charges recognized in the period, partially offset by a decrease in operating expenses related to reimbursements and tax credits under government programs in several countries where we have operations, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) in the U.S., the Kurzarbeit program in Germany, and other programs in the U.K., France, Canada and other jurisdictions.

For the fourth quarter of 2020, our effective income tax rate decreased period-over-period to 25.0% from 26.1%.

Full Year

Net income – Omnicom Group Inc. for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased $393.7 million to $945.4 million compared to $1,339.1 million in the same period in 2019.  Diluted net income per share – Omnicom Group Inc. for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased $1.69 to $4.37 per share compared to $6.06 per share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019.

Net income – Omnicom Group Inc. for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 includes a net after-tax decrease of $146.8 million as a result of COVID-19 repositioning costs and a net loss on dispositions during the second quarter of 2020, asset impairment charges recorded during the fourth quarter of 2020, and credits related to reimbursements and tax credits under government programs in several countries where we have operations, as discussed further below.

Primarily due to the negative effects on our revenue attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic in the second through fourth quarters of 2020, worldwide revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased 11.9% to $13,171.1 million from $14,953.7 million in the same period of 2019.  The components of the change in revenue included a decrease in revenue from the negative impact of foreign currency translation of 0.4%, a decrease in acquisition revenue, net of disposition revenue of 0.4% and a decrease in revenue from negative organic growth of 11.1% when compared to the same period of 2019.

Organic growth for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 in our five fundamental disciplines was as follows: Advertising decreased 12.2%, CRM Consumer Experience decreased 15.8%, CRM Execution & Support decreased 15.1%, Public Relations decreased 4.2% and Healthcare increased 3.3%.

Across all of our regional markets, organic growth was negative for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the same period of 2019.  The decreases were as follows: the United States 10.1%, Other North America 10.0%, the United Kingdom 11.5%, the Euro Markets & Other Europe 12.8%, Asia Pacific 8.5%, Latin America 15.1% and the Middle East & Africa  32.3%.

Operating profit decreased $523.5 million, or 24.7%, to $1,598.8 million from $2,122.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019. Our operating margin for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased to 12.1% versus 14.2% for the same period of 2019. 

Operating profit for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 includes a net decrease aggregating $171.1 million due to COVID-19 repositioning costs recorded during the second quarter of 2020, comprised of incremental severance charges, right-of-use asset impairments and other real estate costs of $252.8 million, and a net loss on the disposition of certain subsidiaries and other charges of $25.1 million, and asset impairment charges recorded during the fourth quarter of 2020 of $55.8 million, partially offset by reimbursements and tax credits under government programs in several countries where we have operations, including the CARES Act in the U.S., the Kurzarbeit program in Germany, and other programs in the U.K., France, Canada and other jurisdictions, which reduced salary and service costs by $162.6 million.

Our effective tax rate for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 increased period-over-period to 27.1% from 26.0%. The non-deductibility in certain jurisdictions of a portion of the COVID-19 repositioning costs recorded in the second quarter of 2020 had the effect of increasing our effective tax rate for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. This increase was substantially offset by a lower effective tax rate on our foreign earnings resulting from a change in legislation. In 2019, income tax expense was reduced by $10.8 million primarily from the net favorable settlements of uncertain tax positions in certain jurisdictions.  After considering these items, our effective tax rate for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 would have approximated the rate for 2019.

COVID-19 Business Update

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the global economy, our business and the results of operations. Public health efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic include government actions such as travel restrictions, limitations on public gatherings, shelter in place orders and mandatory closures. These actions have negatively impacted many of our clients’ businesses and in turn clients have reduced or plan to reduce their demand for our services. As a result, we experienced a reduction in our revenue beginning late in the first quarter of 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019.  The reduction in our revenue continued through the remainder of 2020 and is expected to continue through the first half of 2021. Such reductions in revenue could adversely impact our ongoing results of operations and financial position and the effects could be material.

While we expect the pandemic to affect substantially all of our clients, certain industry sectors have been affected more significantly than others, including travel, lodging and entertainment, energy and oil and gas, non-essential retail and automotive. Clients in these industries have acted to cut costs, including postponing or reducing marketing communication expenditures. While certain industries such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals, technology and telecommunications, financial services and consumer products have fared relatively well to date, conditions are volatile and economic uncertainty cuts across all clients, industries and geographies. Overall, while we have a diversified portfolio of service offerings, clients and geographies, demand for our services can be expected to decline as marketers reduce expenditures in the short term due to the uncertain impact of the pandemic on the global economy. During the second quarter of 2020, we realigned our agencies’ cost structures, which included severance actions and furloughs to reduce the workforce, right-of-use asset impairments and other real estate costs, a net loss on the disposition of certain subsidiaries and other charges. These COVID-19 repositioning actions were taken to tailor their services and capabilities to changes in client demand.

As we previously reported, during the first half of 2020, we took numerous proactive steps to strengthen our liquidity and financial position that we expect will help mitigate the potential impacts of COVID-19, including:

• The amendment and extension of our $2.5 billion credit facility to February 2025,
• The suspension of our share repurchase program,
• The issuance in February of $600 million 10-year 2.45% Senior Notes, which were used to finance the early redemption of the remaining $600 million of 4.45% Senior Notes that were due in August 2020,
• The issuance in early April of an additional $600 million 10-year 4.20% Senior Notes, and
• The completion in early April of a $400 million 364-day revolving credit facility, which is in addition to our existing $2.5 billion revolving credit facility that expires in February 2025.

We have no long-term debt maturing until May 2022.

Definitions – Components of Revenue Change

We use certain terms in describing the components of the change in revenue above.

Foreign exchange rate impact: calculated by translating the current period’s local currency revenue using the prior period average exchange rates to derive current period constant currency revenue. The foreign exchange rate impact is the difference between the current period revenue in U.S. Dollars and the current period constant currency revenue.

Acquisition revenue, net of disposition revenue: Acquisition revenue is calculated as if the acquisition occurred twelve months prior to the acquisition date by aggregating the comparable prior period revenue of acquisitions through the acquisition date. As a result, acquisition revenue excludes the positive or negative difference between our current period revenue subsequent to the acquisition date and the comparable prior period revenue and the positive or negative growth after the acquisition date is attributed to organic growth. Disposition revenue is calculated as if the disposition occurred twelve months prior to the disposition date by aggregating the comparable prior period revenue of disposals through the disposition date. The acquisition revenue and disposition revenue amounts are netted in the description above.

Organic growth: calculated by subtracting the foreign exchange rate impact component and the acquisition revenue, net of disposition revenue component from total revenue growth.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release related to the potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak constitute forward-looking statements, including statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the Company’s management as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company’s management. Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “guidance,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project” or similar words, phrases or expressions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside the Company’s control. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on such statements. You should carefully consider this and the other risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company’s business, including those described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required under applicable law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Conference Call

Omnicom will host a conference call to review the fourth quarter and full year 2020 financial results on Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Participants can listen to the conference call by dialing (877) 336-4440 (domestic) or (409) 207-6984 (international), along with access code 5410296. The call will also be simulcast and archived on our website at: https://investor.omnicomgroup.com/investor-relations/news-events-and-filings.

About Omnicom Group Inc.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.  Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries.  Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2021 – The Board of Directors of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) increased the corporation’s quarterly cash dividend to $0.70 per common share, or $2.80 per share of common stock on an annual basis. This represents an 7.7% increase versus the prior quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, or $2.60 on an annual basis. The increased dividend is payable on April 8, 2021 to Omnicom Group common shareholders of record at the close of business on March 10, 2021.

ABOUT OMNICOM GROUP INC. 
Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.  Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2021 — Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) will publish its fourth quarter and full year 2020 results on Thursday, February 18, 2021 before the New York Stock Exchange opens. The company will also host a conference call to review the financial results on Thursday, February 18, 2021 starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.  Participants may listen to the conference call by dialing (877) 336-4440 (domestic) or (409) 207-6984 (international), along with access code 5410296. The conference call will be simulcast and archived on our website at investor.omnicomgroup.com. 

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.