Omnicom+IPG, W+K, and Medanta plagiarism: Best of agency drama in ‘24

Consolidation, closure, and copycats are three words worthy of being used to describe advertising agencies in 2024.

Omnicom announced it was acquiring agency holding company Interpublic Group (IPG) in a bid to consolidate against rivals WPP and Publicis; it changed the status quo of holding companies.

Independent creative agency Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) said it was wrapping up its India operations a few months after it got into a plagiarism tiff with Jindal Steel over a Cannes Lions award-winning film. Adding to it, indie agency Bang in the Middle called out former client Medanta for using a rejected campaign idea after the two had parted ways.

The big consolidation 

When Omnicom revealed it was going to acquire IPG, it was a bombshell of sorts for advertising folks across the world, especially the top echelons at WPP. The newly-minted agency holding company’s combined revenue stood at $25.6 billion in 2023, ahead of incumbent WPP ($18.89 billion). 

The combined entity retains the Omnicom name, and in India, it poses a challenge to leader WPP’s creative leadership shaped by Ogilvy, JWT (now VML), and 82.5 Communications. How? Omnicom now has McCann Worldgroup, FCB Group, DDB Mudra, TBWA, BBDO, and the MullenLowe Lintas Group under its portfolio.

One must also not forget the media-buying potency Omnicom feels running through its veins now. The media agencies of both Omnicom and IPG together form a formidable force which, as per industry observers, would create the second-largest media agency network in India, behind WPP’s GroupM. 

As per ROC data, Omnicom Media Group (OMD, PHD) earned Rs 779 crore in FY24, and IPG’s Mediabrands and Interactive Avenues together made Rs 349 crore during the same period; the sum total is Rs 1,128 crore. GroupM in CY23 raked in Rs 1,471 crore. 

WPP chief Mark Read responded to the consolidation saying, “While our peers are distracted and turning inward, we are getting on with the job of delivering exceptional results and value for the world’s leading brands.” 

The giant closure 

W+K is one of the world’s most renowned independent agencies and is remembered in India for its Da Da Ding Nike ad and the Old Spice deodorant spots starring supermodel and actor Milind Soman. In October 2024, the agency said it was leaving the Indian market by shutting its Mumbai office and trimming its Delhi workforce, ending its 17-year-old run in the country.

The agency's former clients include Make in India, IndiGo, Royal Enfield, and Oberoi Hotels. More recently, it serviced Vida from Hero Motocorp, Jindal’s Steel, Jockey, G Shock, Hero Cycles, Clove-Dental, and Brownkind skincare, among others.  

Lessons from Wieden+Kennedy’s India Exit

In an email to the press, the agency said it has been aligning its global operations to meet current client needs and future objectives, and it is "not doubling down on India." Instead, W+K is scaling back and reassessing how the Indian market fits into its future plans.

Are you a copycat?

Accusations of plagiarism in advertising are not new. W+K was in the news first not for leaving India, but for its tiff with Jindal Steel over a Cannes Lions award-winning ad film after Early Man Film was credited as the entrant and Kondurkar Studio as the idea creator.

The agency took the company to the court over an intellectual property dispute over the Cannes Lions-winning ad film that came out in March 2024. W+K, in its petition to the Delhi High Court, sought to be recognised as the original creator and copyright holder of the video.

Soon, Kondurkar Studio responded to the issue, saying its founder, Amrish Kondurkar, had exited W+K in January 2023, and Jindal Steel and Power had approached the agency for a pitch in July of that year.

On the other hand, independent agency Bang In The Middle took to social media and called out former client Medanta, a healthcare provider, for using a campaign idea it had rejected from the agency after both of them had parted ways. 

“One of the campaigns that the agency presented earlier and was spitefully rejected and thrown out, has now been raised from the dead and executed as is by the client. The same layouts. The same lines. The same art. The same is everything. The people who once spat on it and threw it out, have now had a change of heart…” reads the agency’s LinkedIn post.

The agency was not satisfied with a social media callout: “So what do you do when you have a problem like Medanta? Make it public and go legal. We have done both.”