What’s wrong with being a holding company?

Adland’s agency networks have been forced to think differently, after a challenging year for holding companies with economic instability, a mega-merger and AI disruption. Publicis began calling itself a “platform organisation” years ago, while Omnicom restructured to become a “premier marketing and sales company” after the acquisition of IPG last year. In February, WPP’s chief executive Cindy Rose said: “We don’t want to be a holding company any more”, but a “single operating company” instead. Campaign Red released a market report called "The big reboot", looking into the top network's 2025 FY results and what the post-holding company era looks like for the industry. In this episode, Campaign's editorial team is discussing why the largest agency groups are moving away from the holding company label, and what this "reboot" means. Editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, media editor Beau Jackson and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis join the episode hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley. Further reading: Arthur Sadoun on why “pressure” from investors doesn’t matter, Publicis' “resilience” and the competition Publicis grows 4.5% in Q1 as Arthur Sadoun pans “squeeze to please Wall Street” Q1 expected to be “worst quarter” for WPP’s new business in 2026 WPP reports 6.7% revenue decline in Q1 2026 Omnicom revenue grew 3.9% in Q1 after IPG acquisition Chapter 1: Revenue Chapter 2: Headcount Chapter 3: M&A Chapter 4: Share price Chapter 5: New business Chapter 6: Creative awards AA/Warc: adspend forecast for 2026 drops amid methodology shake-up “The fragmentation of media is clear”: adland reacts to AA/Warc Expenditure Report AA/Warc: adspend to break records and smash £50bn ceiling in 2026 * * * Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.