OMD USA is honored to be one of just five agencies showcased in the annual Campaign US Agency Performance Review for having demonstrated a healthy mix of new business and organic growth, diversified services and strong retention of both clients and employees in 2023.
As Campaign notes in the report, “In many ways, 2023 was a trickier year for agencies to navigate versus the prior, with fewer new business opportunities in the market, shrinking client budgets and layoffs sweeping the industry due to macroeconomic factors.”
Meeting these marketplace challenges with an operating principle that drove historic organic growth from current clients, while also fostering a culture of learning and opportunity for talent, OMD earned distinction in the review as a Structurally Sound badge winner.
Speaking with CEO Chrissie Hanson, Campaign provides a glimpse of the strategy that made OMD USA a standout.
OMD earned a 7% increase in 2023 under new U.S. CEO Chrissie Hanson, who has prioritized nurturing clients and employees rather than overextending teams on chasing new business.
Her operating principle is to “pitch from the inside as much as to the outside,” which means bringing new tools and services to existing clients with the same frequency that it presents them in pitches.
The reason is clear: Revenue from existing clients is “more reliable,” because “those are the people who look after your business,” Hanson said. She has a rule to never move an existing client meeting or event for new business because of the signal it sends.
Focusing on clients helped to drive $638 million in new billings for OMD in 2023, far surpassing its $370 million in new business, which grew 13% from 2022. Investments in commerce and influencer marketing meant more than half of billings were digital.
Under Hanson, OMD has also placed a strong emphasis on employee retention through personal development and diverse recruitment. Personal development plans are mandatory, requiring employees to choose a major, minor and elective area of focus, which structures OMD’s training courses. The goal is for around 10% to 15% of every team to explore a rotation at any time so employees never feel like they’ve reached their ceiling. Top performers across the Omnicom Media Group network are offered stints to work abroad.
Such initiatives likely contributed to OMD’s employee turnover decreasing drastically from 39% in 2022 to 18% in 2023. OMD did implement layoffs in 2023, but “they weren’t deep,” Hanson said, adding that she has established a goal to improve staff retention, so that fewer are impacted by changing client scopes.
According to a Campaign US survey of OMD’s staff, 79% said leadership has a clear strategy for the business.
Read the full report at campaignlive.com
