WPP Media's individual agency brands outperform agency networks

New Delhi: The COMvergence Billings and Market Share Report for the January–December 2024 period established that WPP Media not only dominated media spends in the Indian market, but its individual agency brands also outperformed those of rival networks.

According to the report released on Tuesday, WPP Media, erstwhile GroupM, recorded $6.6 billion (Rs 56,100 crore) in billings in 2024, 3.3X of the second agency network IPG Mediabrands India ($2 bn or Rs 17,000 crore).

Publicis Media stood third with a total billing of $1.7 billion (Rs 14,450 crore) in 2024.

Interestingly, Mindshare, one of WPP Media’s agency brands, alone recorded $2.6 billion (Rs 22,100 crore) in billings, exceeding the total India billings of WPP’s rival agency networks.

WPP’s other two agency brands, Wavemaker India and EssenceMediacom, posted $1.8 billion (Rs 15,300 crore) and $1.7 billion (Rs 14,450 crore) in billing, respectively.

As per the COMvergence report, IPG Mediabrand’s Lodestar UM reported $1.0 billion (Rs 8,500 crore), while independent player Madison Media stood at $970 million (Rs 8,245 crore) in total billings.

The COMvergence report analysed a total Indian media market size of $16 billion (Rs 1,36,000 crore), covering twenty agency networks and two independent agencies. Of this, digital spends accounted for $6.8 billion (Rs 57,800 crore), with digital representing an average 52% share across agencies.

In contrast, GroupM’s “This Year Next Year” report, released earlier this year, pegged the Indian advertising market at around $18 billion (Rs 1,53,407 crore) in 2024. 

The difference between GroupM estimates and the COMvergence billing report is even wider in terms of digital media spends.

GroupM pegged digital adex at $10.4 billion (Rs 88,912 crore), as against $6.8 billion (Rs 57,800 crore).