Agency Report 2024—revenue is growing modestly at agency companies

Revenue for the world’s 30 biggest agency companies rose 5.6% in 2023. WPP held its position as the top company, but Accenture Song was close behind. The five largest legacy holding companies—WPP, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom Group, Interpublic Group of Cos. and Dentsu Group—collectively grew revenue by 2.7%. Want to see everything in Ad Age Agency Report 2024? Sign up for an Ad Age All Access subscription to get the complete picture. Ad Age Agency Report 2024 Revenue and analysis for agency companies Click here More facts and figures from Ad Age’s 80th annual Agency Report Click on each heading to read more 5 key stats 2023 worldwide organic growth 1.3% Average for WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, Interpublic and Dentsu 2024 worldwide organic growth forecast 2% to 2.8% Average for WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, Interpublic and Dentsu Worldwide agency company employment 421,895 Year-end 2023 employment at WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, Interpublic and Dentsu, up 1.6% World's biggest agency companies $148 billion Worldwide revenue in 2023 for the 30 biggest agency companies Non-U.S. headquarters 15 Agency companies in Ad Age's top 30 ranking with headquarters outside U.S. Four are based in the U.K.; two each in France, Germany, India, Japan and South Korea; and one in China Organic growth The five biggest legacy firms had worldwide organic revenue growth of just 1.3% in 2023, down from 7.5% in 2022. Organic growth strips out acquisitions, divestitures and the effects of exchange rates. 2024 forecast The average of 2024 worldwide organic growth forecasts for the five legacy companies is 2.0% to 2.8%. Exclusive content for Ad Age All Access subscribers: See more about agency revenue growth. Biggest agency companies WPP, with 2023 worldwide revenue of $18.5 billion, retained the No. 1 spot among agency companies, a position it has held since the 2009 Agency Report. Ad Age’s ranking of agency companies includes legacy agency holding companies and other firms such as Accenture Song, part of consulting giant Accenture. Accenture Song reported approximate revenue of $18 billion in fiscal 2023, putting it close behind WPP. Exclusive content for Ad Age All Access subscribers: See ranking of 30 biggest agency companies. Worldwide revenue for the 30 biggest agency companies increased 5.6% to $148 billion in 2023. The top five legacy holding companies accounted for nearly half ($69 billion) of that revenue. Exclusive content for Ad Age All Access subscribers: Download an Excel sheet with expanded data on the 30 biggest agency companies. The download also includes listings and links for more than 300 agencies, including independent agencies and those owned by major agency companies. More from Ad Age Agency Report 2024 Big picture: State of the agency business World’s biggest agency companies Agency listings Agency revenue growth Agency company revenue by client sector Employment Worldwide employment for the five largest legacy firms edged up 1.6% in 2023, essentially tracking with organic growth. Combined worldwide employment for the five firms at year-end 2023 was 10.8% above the level at year-end 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Seasonally adjusted. Expanded jobs data: AdAge.com/adjobs. Credit: Infographic by Ad Age. Photo: iStock U.S. employment in the agency business has broken records this year—a good indicator of the overall health of agencies since talent is agencies’ biggest expense, and staffing tends to move with revenue. But there are caution signs, with a fluctuating mix of recent monthly employment gains and losses underscoring the unsteady state of advertising jobs. Exclusive content for Ad Age All Access subscribers: See more about agency employment and download a spreadsheet showing advertising employment from 2000 to 2024. Looking back When Ad Age published its first Agency Report in 1945, J. Walter Thompson Co. topped the ranking, followed by Young & Rubicam; N.W. Ayer & Son; McCann-Erickson; Foote, Cone & Belding; and Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. Just four agencies from the first report’s list of the top 22 agencies are still standing: Omnicom’s BBDO and Interpublic’s McCann, FCB and No. 21 Campbell Ewald. Among the top 22 agencies in that inaugural report, 18 have disappeared through agency consolidation and closings. Ayer in 2002 was folded into Kaplan Thaler Group, which a decade later merged with Publicis, New York. Effective in January 2024, WPP merged VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson to form VML. This came after WPP in 2018 merged Y&R and VML, forming VMLY&R; and J. Walter Thompson and Wunderman, forming Wunderman Thompson. In stark accounting terms, WPP’s annual report for calendar 2023 said the Wunderman Thompson and Y&R brands “no longer have any useful life.” Read more: A brief (sort of) history of agencies Ad Age Agency Report 2024 Revenue and analysis for agency companies Click here

Agency Report 2024—revenue is growing modestly at agency companies

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