WPP Bumps Omnicom from ‘Biggest Marketing Group’ Perch

By Kiran Aditham 

Take that, Wren. At least that’s what we imagine Sir Marty’s saying to the CEO of rival, Omnicom, this morning as it’s being reported that WPP has overtaken the aforementioned fellow umbrella company as the world’s biggest marketing group. Last we heard, Mr. Sorrell and crew ended 2010 with somewhat of a bang as WPP acquired TAXI and Blue State Digital in November and December, respectively.

Now, a new release from Marketing Services Financial Intelligence states that WPP registered the largest revenue for a global publicly listed marketing services company last year. Revenue for the U.K.-based holding company jumped 13 percent ($10.7b-$12.1b) from 2008 to 2009 thanks in large part to WPP’s acquisition of market research firm TNS in the fall of ’08. Omnicom, on the other hand, suffered a 12 percent drop in revenue during the same time period thanks to the economic downturn, which of course, caused a reduction in client spend.

As for the also-rans, Publicis Groupe came in third in the report, pushing IPG down to fourth place, while Dentsu, Havas and Aegis respectively rounded out the rest of the list.

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