How Global Media Agency of the Year MediaCom Stayed on Top for the Second Straight Year

MediaCom's credo, "People first, better results," has been on full display over the past two years. As the pandemic's uncertainty upended the industry in 2020, the WPP media behemoth nurtured and grew relationships with clients while taking care of its employees and cultivating new capabilities.In 2021, that same mindset steered MediaCom out of choppy waters and toward growth. The agency won a mass of new business, with $2.9 billion in account wins globally, and it had a record year for retention and expansion, with $4.7 billion based on its clients’ media spend. The success streak resulted in MediaCom being named Adweek's 2022 Global Media Agency of the Year, marking two consecutive years of claiming the honor. A long string of victories, including JPMorgan Chase and Google, culminated in WPP's massive Coca-Cola win in November 2021, with MediaCom coming away as the predominant global media agency for the brand. WPP assembled experts across creative, media and data as part of a bespoke team called OpenX to win the global assignment as its global marketing network partner, and then it handed over media duties to MediaCom for all global markets except Korea and Japan. While 2021 was a record-breaking year for new business, money alone doesn’t tell the whole story for MediaCom. The agency also kept growing its local markets, held its global employee base steady at 8,000 and implemented several key programs to help employees thrive. That focus on its people, plus a blend of global, regional and local strategies to win and keep business, has helped keep MediaCom at the top of the media agency game and made it a virtual shop window for everything clients need within the marketing ecosystem. MediaCom global CEO Nick Lawson chalks up the new wins and continued success to its relentless focus on helping clients see the bigger picture across marketing communications, and to its own people and culture. "There's an old Peter Drucker quote that 'culture eats strategy for breakfast.' And I've always really believed that, especially in agencies, because every agency will have a plan, but the really good agencies, they also scramble really well," Lawson tells Adweek. Coke for the win While WPP's Coca-Cola win prompted the holding company's share price to jump, what truly made it special was that all the participants in the pitch process were incumbents. Winning for WPP and MediaCom meant they had successfully forged a durable relationship and could deliver the strongest results. Because of the win, the agency expanded its work for Coca-Cola from 40 to 200 markets and increased billings fourfold. Also in 2021, MediaCom expanded its relationship with Bayer AG, which consolidated global media buying and planning globally, making MediaCom its single agency of record and adding growth markets including Germany and China. Google also consolidated all global media with WPP investment agency GroupM, and MediaCom collaborated with sister agency Essence to take charge of the offline assignment. "It's quite early days when it comes to Coke and Google, but we're certainly really enjoying the beginnings of the relationships. And it's amazing because what it's allowed us to do is invest in our own business," says Josh Krichefski, global COO and EMEA CEO at MediaCom. Bayer valued MediaCom and WPP's strength, global scale and ability to help the brand "modernize our marketing strategy with best-in-class data and content integration as a key driver for business growth," says Eric Gregoire, svp global head of digital and media at Bayer Consumer Health. In North America, the agency snagged JPMorgan Chase as a key new appointment, led by MediaCom's U.S. office in partnership with GroupM and WPP multicultural agency Zubi. In Canada, MediaCom won the $100 million lottery and gaming assignment from the Ontario government. Wins in the Asia-Pacific region included tech brands Tencent in China and WeChat in Hong Kong, and in Europe, wins included internet company Xiaomi and payment platform Klarna. And while new wins make headlines, keeping longtime clients happy—including some of MediaCom's biggest clients—is critical for the agency. That includes Mars, which just re-upped with MediaCom on its $1 billion account. Ron Amran, senior director, global media at Mars, says MediaCom has a business-first approach rather than a media-first approach, allowing it to project several years into the future and stay ahead of marketing trends. "They’ve evolved as our industry has evolved to become more data-led and digital-savvy, helping us elevate our capabilities in these areas," Amran says. Key campaigns: Pokémon "P25 Music" On Pokémon Day, millions of fans from around the world tuned in for a virtual concert experience, featuring a motion-capture version of Post Malone performing an exclusive concert. The campaign turned music fans all around the world into Pokémon fans, with more than 2 billion media impressions and 10 million streams. The campaign was a Cannes Lions 2021 gold winner. Pedigree “Dogvertising” To boost sales of Pedigree Dentastix in Croatia, the brand and agency saw an opportunity to gain canine and pet parent attention in Croatia’s out-of-home landscape. MediaCom formed technology partnerships to build a machine learning tool that could detect dogs in images with 99.99% accuracy. When dogs and their owners passed a digital out-of-home site, the campaign served them an ad, using creative optimization to make sure every dog could see a hound of a similar size and an image of a relevant treat. The campaign delivered a 106% year-over-year sales uplift and earned a Festival of Media Global Awards Campaign of the Year 2021 win. Walgreens “Vaccine Readiness Model” To meet the fluctuating demand for Covid-19 vaccines, MediaCom created the “Vaccine Readiness Model” to predict individuals most likely to want vaccines a week before they actually sought them out. It identified the degree of vaccine readiness and hesitancy and created a model that allowed it to target prospects. By linking its model to different messaging and the programmatic buying ecosystem, the brand and agency actively moved people from “hesitant" to “ready." The result was that many more Americans got protection against Covid-19. The campaign was a Festival of Media North America 2021 double gold winner. Smart people with small egos MediaCom believes it helps its clients see the bigger picture. That means drowning out the marketing noise, paying attention, asking questions and focusing on what's important for each client while utilizing all the tools and tactics at its disposal—from strategy and media planning and buying, to creative services, data and analytics, and digital transformation—to help grow their business. Frances Ralston-Good, global clients president at MediaCom in charge of accounts including P&G, PlayStation, The Coca-Cola Company, Adidas and Ikea, credits the "straight talking" culture at MediaCom—one that is transparent, ethical and inclusive—for the agency's continued success. "We can't move forward unless you actually are working together as a team from every different agency part," says Ralston-Good. For Krichefski, MediaCom has a down-to-earth, smart culture that’s all about “smart people with small egos … people who are always thinking about the greater good, the collective, and that’s a culture that’s been built up over time.” Where size might inhibit some companies from paying attention to individuals, MediaCom manages to handle its size while staying human, even with more than 8,000 employees across 125 offices in 100 countries. Nancy Lengthorn, global chief inclusion and culture officer at MediaCom, attributes the company’s success to its relatively flat hierarchy and constant support. “When you have a very close, open, supportive environment, it means that even in those difficult times, good ideas rise to the top,” Lengthorn tells Adweek. MediaCom, which has been working on inclusion efforts for over a decade, announced its Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Charter for Change in 2020 and strengthened efforts in 2021 to become a leader on the DEI front. All offices in the U.K., U.S. and Canada have diversity targets based on local demographics. U.K. targets implemented at a team level, for example, have met or exceeded national levels of representation for Asian, Black and multiracial communities. In addition, as part of GroupM’s U.S. commitment to boosting investment in Black-owned media companies, seven of MediaCom’s major clients, including AARP, Adidas, Mars and Uber, signed onto the Group Black movement. And the agency launched MediaCom Matters, which asked each office to dedicate time to helping underserved, underrepresented or marginalized groups. "In a nutshell, that is where we take somebody who has loads of potential, but someone who is in a marginalized community, and we pair them with a senior leader," Lengthorn explains. "It's that senior leader's job to lend them their privilege to basically smash down barriers, open doors and make sure that person progresses." In 2021, MediaCom also launched its Mental Health Allies program, which encourages conversation around mental health and trains employees in listening and being supportive peers. "One of our strategic pillars for our inclusion work is embracing discomfort … because we're a collection of human beings, and things don't always go perfectly," Lengthorn says. "We need to be accountable when there's something happening that we need to address." Key wins: Coca-Cola (global with OpenX: $1.9 billion); Bayer AG (expanded relationship from 65 to 79 markets); Google (consolidated media with GroupM, with MediaCom collaborating with sister agency Essence: $620 million); JPMorgan Chase (U.S. office, in partnership with GroupM and multicultural agency Zubi); Ontario Government Lottery and Gaming ($100 million); Tencent (China); WeChat (Hong Kong); Xiaomi and Klarna. Renewed relationships with Mars ($1.5 billion), Sky ($876 million), Adidas ($435 million) and Richemont ($317 million). Total account wins (in billings): $2.9 billion Losses: Stellantis (after the merger of Groupe PSA and FCA, globally: $580 million); $100 million media account for the Victorian Government of Australia to OMD. (The agency did not comment on additional losses.) Total account losses (in billings): $1.2 billion Strategic moves: Claire Camara joined as global chief people officer; Frances Ralston-Good promoted to global chief transformation officer; Ian Rotherham named MediaCom’s first global chief growth officer; Kristin Gower and Justin White appointed as global client presidents; English soccer legend Eni Aluko appointed as board adviser to Creative Systems to expand work in women’s sports. Global revenue: Up 18% year over year (Source: MediaCom) MediaCom is expecting a 21% increase in billings and an 18% revenue increase, representing a full recovery from the declines of 2020 and significant growth over 2019. (Actual dollar figures of revenue growth not provided.) MediaCom recorded its best year for new business ($2.9 billion) and for retention and expansion ($4.7 billion). Uniting media and creative In addition to its DEI and mental health efforts, MediaCom has also focused on optimizing its staff members' workloads. While many media agencies don’t address creative issues, MediaCom sought to bring media and creativity together through a new system featuring the agency's creative skills, supported by data and technology, and embedded within its business and client teams. Creative Systems uses proprietary data-led tools and analytics to maximize clients' marketing plans. "You can prove you can double the effectiveness of clients' work just by getting the right creative for the right platform," says Lawson. “We made a conscious decision eight to 10 years ago that we will be furnishing the company with creative resources. Last year, we did it more efficiently through Creative Systems, which is becoming the fastest growing segment of MediaCom,” says U.S. CEO Sasha Savic, adding that the company brought in creative directors, copywriters and technologists to ensure that creative ideas "born out of media, insight and understanding of how people receive information and communicate with brands" don't get lost. The melding of creative and media led to a creative gold Lion win at Cannes in 2021 for MediaCom New York's “P25 Music” campaign for Pokémon. The agency also launched MediaCom Play, a new practice with regional hubs in New York, London and Shanghai that advises clients on how best to invest and execute in gaming. All of these programs bolster something MediaCom already does well: drive strong client relationships. And while it has a global reach—with client practices based in London, Singapore, Paris, Düsseldorf and New York, among other cities worldwide—strategy, planning and execution often happen at a regional or local level, meaning nothing gets lost in the mix for clients. To that end, MediaCom promoted Kristin Gower and hired Justin White from Publicis as the first global client presidents in the U.S. in order to run more global clients out of that market. MediaCom uses collaboration to its advantage, not only with its clients but also with the greater WPP network, to help solve client problems and land the biggest contracts. The agency enlists the help of complementary WPP agencies and blends them together for the good of the clients and agencies involved. "We've partnered really effectively, and I think clients are looking for broader-base partnerships, especially on a global level," says Lawson. "We're finding huge amounts of value for clients doing that. And we're building teams collaboratively across a wide level of agencies to make that happen."