Omnicom to axe historic ad agencies and cut 4,000 jobs in IPG takeover – Financial Times
Omnicom will cut more than 4,000 jobs and shut several well known advertising agency brands as part of an immediate restructuring following the completion of its $13bn takeover of US rival Interpublic (IPG).
The deal has turned Omnicom into the world’s largest advertising agency by revenue, leapfrogging France’s Publicis and pushing WPP into third place, re-centring the advertising industry around the “Mad Men” of New York’s Manhattan.
The combination of Omnicom and IPG — which collectively run dozens of agencies — will result in the closure of some of the industry’s most historic names.
Creative agency DDB, founded in 1949 and led by influential adman William Bernbach, and the creative marketing agency MullenLowe will be folded into Omnicom’s TBWA, company executives said in an interview with the Financial Times.
FCB, which traces its history back to 1873 and is one of the largest global advertising agency networks owned by IPG, will be subsumed into Omnicom’s BBDO.
Omnicom boss John Wren said more than 4,000 jobs would be cut as part of the integration of IPG, mainly in administrative roles but some leadership positions too.
The cuts, say Omnicom executives, should be seen against the backdrop of similar restructuring at rivals such as WPP, which is also expected to axe jobs under new boss Cindy Rose.
“There’s efficiencies, they come in the form of labour and other things,” Wren said. “But anybody that was generating revenue before December last year has a very good position with us today.”
The new round of job losses comes on top of thousands already announced by both companies since the deal was agreed last year. IPG cut 2,400 jobs in the first half of 2025, on top of about 4,000 last year, taking headcount to about 51,000. Omnicom last year reduced staff numbers by 3,000 to about 75,000.
The tie-up between Omnicom and IPG, two of the four largest global agencies, comes as the industry faces mounting competitive pressure from large tech companies such as Google and Meta, which offer both the means and the medium for brands’ marketing efforts.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence technologies are undermining the value of the industry’s creative endeavours by enabling companies to create ads quicker and more cheaply. Omnicom’s shares have fallen 17 per cent so far this year in New York.
The deal cleared its final hurdle when it was approved by European regulators last week.
Wren, who will remain as chair and chief executive of the enlarged group, said the financial benefits of the merger would exceed the $750mn in annual cost savings originally signalled to the market. Details would be disclosed early next year, he added.
The boost to free cash flow from the merger would allow Omnicom to “make any necessary investments to keep our brands in a leadership position”, Wren said.
While some brands will be shut, McCann will remain, as well as OMD, FleishmanHillard, Golin, Weber Shandwick and others in the media, precision marketing, production, public relations and branding sectors.
Wren said the idea was to consolidate “some of the smaller regional networks” and that there would be more consolidation of the group’s creative ad agencies than its media agencies, which arrange and sell advertising.
Omnicom’s Philip Angelastro will stay as chief financial officer of the combined group, while Omnicom president and chief operating officer Daryl Simm will now share that role with Philippe Krakowsky, the former chief executive of IPG.
Wren said that “despite all the early predictions about talent loss” the merger had not led to the departure of key staff or the business having to drop clients because of new conflicts of interest.
Omnicom’s advertising chief Troy Ruhanen said the merger was not motivated by a desire “to get rid of a competitor”.
“It is very much driven by wanting to assemble the capabilities that are needed on behalf of our clients,” he said.
Omnicom will share access to investments in tech tools and AI platforms across the group.
“We will have the largest media capability and position throughout the world,” said Wren, adding that it “gives us a huge opportunity”.
