Days after the global merger of Omnicom and IPG was finalised, the India structure of the consolidated entity is beginning to take shape. The creative business of the group has been unified under Omnicom Advertising India (OAI) and would be led by Aditya Kanthy (earlier MD & CEO, DDB Mudra Group) as president and MD. He will report to Sean Donovan, president, Omnicom Advertising, Asia.
Prasoon Joshi, earlier CEO of McCann World group India and Chairman APAC, will be the chairman of OAI.
Merger sets up Omnicom as a top-tier ad network
The merger creates a new #2 advertising network in India with an estimated Rs 25,000 crore in annual billing, behind WPP.
Under the new structure, three of the industry’s most revered creative brands — DDB, FCB, and MullenLowe — have been retired. Clients and key managers have been absorbed into the surviving trio of BBDO, McCann, and TBWA.
Josy Paul will continue to head BBDO India, while Dheeraj Sinha and Rahul Mathew will lead McCann. The combined TBWA\Lintas will be led by Govind Pandey and Prateek Bhardwaj.
“Together, the merged creative business would be bigger than that of WPP in India, while in media, WPP is, by a long chalk, the leader,” said an insider.
Leadership reorganisation
On the media side, a consolidated unit will be led by Kartik Sharma who has been appointed as CEO of Omnicom Media India (OMI). Sharma joined Omnicom in July 2020 from Wavemaker, where he served as CEO–South Asia. Amardeep Singh, who was earlier CEO of IPG Mediabrands, will be COO of OMI and report to Sharma.
Shashi Sinha, who was executive chairman of IPG Mediabrands, has been named strategic advisor to the combined entity. Sharma will report to Tony Harradine, CEO of Omnicom Media APAC.
Those who have reviewed the integration structure say it makes no mention of IPG India’s storied media asset—Mediabrands, which holds Interactive Avenues, Initiative, Lodestar and Rapport under its umbrella.
The digital and experience business of Kinnect and 22feet Tribal will come together under CEO Chandni Shah; former Kinnect CEO Rohan Mehta gets a bigger role across the group to drive digital integration and capability building.
