Integrated media, data, and AI attract major accounts, leaving smaller rivals to prove their value.

Groupwide units captured 26% of reviewed spend, promising tighter integration but fewer specialized partners.

AI is raising the stakes for marketing data quality and connectivity and changing how it’s being used. Here’s how first-party data, outcome-based measurement, interoperability, and AI are reshaping marketing decisions.

Agency efficiency separates the pack: Holdcos are pairing AI with integration and acquisitions to tackle siloed systems and streamline delivery.

Omnicom reports strong Q2 from integrated media: Agencies now need bundled, AI-ready services to win larger client accounts.

Omnicom secures Adidas: Omnicom is set to win Adidas’ $512M global media account as data, AI, commerce, and scale outweigh media buying alone.

Omnicom and NBCU refine CTV at Cannes: Partnership ties Acxiom data to show-level context, but must prove results beyond better targeting.

Omnicom, Netflix announce partnership at Cannes Lions: Acxiom data fuels sharper Netflix targeting, but creative—not data alone—will decide whether ads connect.

WPP tops Q1 new business race: $1.5 billion in wins signals progress, but $819 million in losses clouds its comeback narrative.

The Trade Desk under the microscope: Q1 revenues rose 12% to $689 million, but audits and agency exits cloud its outlook.

WPP Commerce kicks off reset: The holdco unites retail media muscle to steady losses, but rivals are already entrenched.

IAB forms programmatic council: Industry heavyweights draft rules as programmatic’s $200 billion market outpaces oversight and walled gardens hold sway.

FTC restrains holdcos: Publicis, WPP, and Dentsu must end uniform brand safety rules as regulators probe political bias in ad buying.

Publicis' AI-led growth and new business wins show resilience in a challenging macro environment.

An FTC review of Publicis, WPP, and Dentsu spotlights political risk in ad placements and brand safety policies.

Exits and audit fallout adds to doubts about The Trade Desk's open-web pitch as walled gardens seize market share.

The Trade Desk's new Trading Modes bundle costs and AI, aiming to rival walled gardens while keeping manual control.

The Trade Desk scrutiny is opening doors, as rivals court buyers after audits—but agency AI ecosystems and walled gardens pose the real threat to DSPs.

Omnicom’s AI emphasis is raising talent questions, as sparse mentions of people highlight layoffs and a broader industry tilt toward automation and cost efficiency.

Publicis dominated 2025 new business with $10 billion in wins and slim losses, widening the gap as competitors like WPP stumbled.