How are industry players coping with the consolidation wave?

As the European Commission gave the green light to the Omnicom-IPG deal, 2025 is shaping up to be a landmark year for mergers and acquisitions in the marketing and advertising world.

On paper, the Omnicom-IPG merger creates the world's largest agency network with unprecedented scale and buying power. The promise is US$750 million in cost savings, enhanced data capabilities, and better integrated solutions.

From industry giants consolidating their power to strategic divestments reshaping agency landscapes, the momentum shows no signs of slowing. Among the latest developments stirring industry buzz is the potential sale of Dentsu International - signaling yet another major shift in the global agency ecosystem. Meanwhile, Stagwell is merging Assembly and ADK Global, bringing together its media network with one of Asia’s most established creative players to create a full-service challenger agency across 12 APAC markets.

Rumours of WPP exploring a potential tie-up with Havas have also been circulating, despite it being debunked by Havas CEO Yannick Bolloré, telling staff that the company is “not in discussions” with its British rival. 

Don't miss: Assembly and ADK Global merge to form Stagwell’s APAC powerhouse

Sentiments of the industry

For some brands, particularly those operating at global scale, this could mean stronger negotiating leverage with platforms and more sophisticated technology infrastructure, said Leela Nair, managing director, APAC, Ebiquity.

However, Nair is seeing some anxiety around execution as mergers and acquisitions result in restructuring and this can create disruption for clients. “Agencies must be careful that as they restructure that institutional knowledge does not walk out the door, and they maintain service quality during transition.”

Echoing her thoughts was Hattie Marsden, managing director, TruWater Advisory, who said people sense change, and change usually arrives with some discomfort. “But there’s also a quiet understanding that this kind of reshuffling often leads to clearer propositions and healthier structures over the long term.”

While M&A isn’t new in the industry, it’s the mechanism that refreshes it, and one of the key drivers for innovation, she added. “Entrepreneurs take big risks and create real value - acquisitions give them the platform and capital to start the next cycle of innovation. That’s the healthy side of consolidation.”

“On the buy-side, the holding companies that are still acquisitive - Publicis being the clearest example - are moving with intent. They’re not buying for scale alone; they’re buying to deepen client partnerships and expand the capabilities they can credibly put on the table.”

Shufen Goh, president, APAC, mediasense said that the industry’s sentiment is a mix of pragmatism and unease.

“Many marketers recognise the logic of consolidation, as scale becomes more important in areas such as data and AI, but merger fatigue is real. Clients are already dealing with higher-than-normal team turnover, which heightens concerns about operational stability.”

Opportunities M&A creates

According to Mardens, from the outside, it’s easy to assume M&A reduces opportunities - especially when you see the scale of headcount reductions from something such as the Omnicom-IPG merger. But, arguably, most of those reductions reflect structural changes that were already overdue.

“A more interesting dynamic sits beneath the surface: when founders exit, capital and experience flow back into the ecosystem.”

It isn’t just M&As that are changing the job market, said Nair, but also the focus on AI and automation is also changing what skills are valued. “It incumbent all of us as an industry to reinvent our skillset and to use AI as a copilot and drive forward in this new technology driven world. The industry needs to invest in reskilling and create clearer pathways for professionals to adapt, or we risk losing the next generation of talent entirely.”

In theory, the entity will have more resources, more data, more technology platform and offer seamless integration across creative, media, data, production, and technology, she added.

The challenge will be to optimise the merging of cultures, systems, processes, and ways of working. That takes years, not months.

"The brands I'm confident will benefit are those who don't simply accept integrated solutions at face value and work with organisations such as Ebiquity to measure ROI rigorously and optimise outcomes."

How does it affect agency-client relationships?

In fact, M&As trigger a period of recalibration, with brands paying closer attention to governance, conflict management, and continuity, especially in specialist markets, said mediasense’s Goh. At the same time, consolidation can create opportunities.

“In our agency reviews globally and in APAC, we’ve seen brands reassess whether their model remains fit for purpose, prioritising emerging areas like influencer marketing and retail media. Testing hybrid ecosystems and diversifying partners can also help reduce dependency risk,” she added.

The practical impacts the industry is seeing include service disruption, said Nair. “When agencies merge back-office functions and client-facing teams, your day-to-day contacts may change, response times can slow, and the quality of work can become inconsistent.”

As such, this is where brands need to be most vigilant, said Nair. “In our advisory work with clients, we're counselling them to strengthen governance and oversight immediately, because M&A transitions invariably create risks to the partnership.”

A useful proxy for understanding this is AOR tenure, according to Marsden. “While it’s not perfect, the Association of National Advertising (ANA’s) data does show independents retaining clients longer on average than the holding groups, which says something about the value clients place on attention, speed, and closeness.”

But the reality is that independents cannot deliver the full breadth of capabilities most large clients need, she said. “Almost every CMO I meet would prefer to have a single accountable partner rather than manage multiple vendors.”

Agencies know this, and it’s a key reason M&A has become a path to capability expansion rather than simply scale.

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What Dentsu International's potential sale could mean for agency models