Originally published on Campaign Magazine UK
Type of agency and ownership Media agency, owned by Omnicom
Nielsen billings 2022 £1.1bn (+5%)
Declared income n/s
Total accounts at year end 195
Accounts won 11 (biggest: O2 Giffgaff)
Accounts lost 3 (biggest: Google)
Number of staff 963 (+11%)
Key personnel Laura Fenton, chief executive, OMD UK; Natalie Bell, chief executive, MG OMD; Paul Knight, chief executive, OmniGOV at MG OMD; Grant Burke, managing director, OMD UK; Kat Bozicevich, managing director, MG OMD
Females in senior management 50%
BAME in senior management 8%
BAME in permanent staff 30%
Churn rate among permanent staff in 2022 25%
Females in permanent staff 52%
BAME in entry-level recruits 57%
Gender pay gap 11%
BAME pay gap n/s
Star players Abbas Agoro (OMD UK), AV activation director. “For the outstanding role that he plays in delivering the best AV planning in town.”
Ryan Cummins (MG OMD), client business director. “For embodying MG OMD’s culture of positivity and partnership – a driving force in all cultural events.”
Last year’s standout media agency of the School Reports has arguably had an even stronger 2022, with both Manning Gottlieb OMD and OMD UK firing on all cylinders. For OMD UK, in 2022 this included adding British Gas and Burberry to its roster, while O2 Giffgaff and GambleAware joined the MG OMD stable. In total there were 11 new-business wins – plus John Lewis & Partners remained with MG OMD, following a competitive pitch. The victory defied industry rumours that the department store had wanted a divorce. The only substantial loss for the group was Google, which moved offline media buying and planning to the merged agency now known as EssenceMediacom.
Although they didn’t quite get a clean sweep, the most celebrated agencies at this year’s Media Week Awards came from OMD Group.
OMD UK picked up the coveted Media Week Awards Agency of the Year prize, while MG OMD won six golds, and its chief executive, Natalie Bell, was chosen as Media Leader of the Year.
Notable work included “Ring my bell”, a partnership with ITV’s Saturday Night Takeaway for Ring, which won the Media Week Awards Grand Prix. Other memorable work included a one-off Derry Girls edition of Smash Hits magazine (pictured) by OMD UK and Bauer Media for Channel 4.
On the staffing front, numbers are again on the rise and the workforce size now easily surpasses its pre-pandemic level (of 839 people at the end of 2019). OMD Group has impressive ethnic diversity (30% of its workforce identifies as BAME, as do 57% of new recruits). It says it provided staff with a cost-of-living payment and has a taskforce that helps staff navigate the crisis.
OMD Group continues to be an exceptional performer, both internally and externally. The question is how much longer can this juggernaut roll on?
Mark: 9
Agency’s own mark: 9
Mark last year: 9
From the headmistress: Smashing pupil!
2022 in the agency’s words
2022 was a year like no other for OMD Group. We won some of the UK’s most loved brands, totalling £208m of billings across 11 new clients, with a 100% pitch conversion rate. We defended our existing relationships, retaining seven accounts and extending our contract with Barclays – without a competitive pitch – by an unheard-of five years.
It has been a truly unprecedented year, recognised by the industry for our work, thought leadership and investment in talent and culture. OMD UK was crowned Media Week’s Agency of the Year and MG OMD is Campaign’s Global Media Agency of the Year.
