Dive Brief:
- Omnicom is bringing its global production capabilities together under one unit in a bid to streamline creative efficiency and offer clients access to a broader scope of talent, according to press a release.
- Omnicom Productions will encompass Omnicom Studios, Eg+, Designory, Mother Tongue, Link9 and the production departments currently housed within the holding company’s creative networks and agencies.
- The new unit, headquartered in New York, will be led by former Publicis Production Global CEO Sergio Lopez and will employ more than 3,000 people. The initiative builds on other recent moves by Omnicom to modernize its production capabilities to suit a more data-driven world.
Dive Insight:
As data and artificial intelligence continue to speed up advertising, the industry’s creative side is trying to find ways to keep up. In Omnicom’s case, that entails looking to make the most of what it already has on the production front.
In announcing the new unit, Omnicom CEO John Wren touted it as a way to connect the company’s creative capabilities to its data technology suite to “significantly accelerate how our clients can create content at scale in a simpler, more integrated and effective way.”
The announcement comes just months after Omnicom acquired London-based post-production studio Coffee & TV and invested in a content and production unit known as Omnicom Studios. Along with these internal resources, Omnicom Production will also draw from the company’s intelligent content automation system, Artbot, and its open operating system, Omni.
While Omnicom and other holding companies say consolidating production within their businesses will benefit clients, reducing time to production and creating efficiencies in a data-driven, personalized and fast-paced world, others have been more hesitant about the concept.
The move from Omnicom builds on other recent efforts to advance its production capabilities. In 2023, it announced a deal to provide its networks and agencies enterprise access to Adobe’s Content Supply Chain solution. It has also deepened partnerships with Amazon, Getty, Google and Microsoft and gained access to their generative AI models. Omnicom Group grew revenue 5.4% year-over-year in Q1 to $3.63 billion.
