[Column] Richard Smoorenburg: DDB away with It? Who's next?

#WTF - DDB is going away? As of today, Doyle Dane Bernbach is in my head in the same league as JWT, Y&R, and Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (yes, the one from Mad Men). While SCDP is fictional, DDB symbolizes the era of the creative oligarchy. Large creative agencies that understood that a great creative idea is worth more than twenty data points that say otherwise.

That era ended partly with the advent of the internet, but mainly when it became clear that the ROI of creativity was indeed measurable. Video killed the radio star, to quote the one-hit wonder The Buggles. However, that doesn't detract from the fact that the big creative agencies taught us to think differently. The creative approach to selling Luckies or insurance policies (Even Apeldoorn Bellen) went further than what we were used to. But now that Omnicom is about to merge with Interpublic Group (IPG), the end seems to have arrived: Omnicom is considering dropping the DDB brand.

Let's put the romanticism aside for a moment. While nostalgics (including me) now think wistfully about the loss of the creative soul, this decision reads more like a brutal financial exercise. Or is there perhaps another reason?

The logic of the cheese slicer

The disappearance of DDB is surprising at first glance, but financially very understandable in the current market.

First: the merger and the costs. The planned merger between Omnicom and IPG will create a mega-conglomerate so cumbersome that it simply has to consolidate to function. The €750 million in savings promised to investors has to come from somewhere. Reducing the creative operation to a smaller, manageable number of networks (such as McCann, BBDO, and TBWA) is the fastest way to operational efficiency and increased margins. Each brand, with its own back office, P&L, and management structure, is a cost. In short, in a holdco, you're usually tripped over by CEOs, while smaller players (DEPT, Monks, Stagwell) don't have this layering.

Omnicom's statement about a "rigorous and deliberate process" to ensure the "very best solutions for the future" seems to me like Holdco jargon for: We're cutting corners to maximize shareholder value.

And this brings me to the second point: craft isn't cash. The inconvenient truth is that traditional creative agencies have, or at least have, consistently struggled to translate their brilliant craft into growth and profitability. The ROI of an award-winning campaign is difficult to prove, let alone scale, the way Big Tech does.

The traditional model was optimized for creating the perfect, standalone TV spot, with the perfect actor and award-winning director. However, today's creativity is more about orchestrating creative assets across all platforms. The big idea has been replaced by creating impact across a multitude of touchpoints. The traditional structure of DDB wasn't designed for this demanding form of creativity. Creativity loses out to the spreadsheet because creativity has, by default, become a technical and operational scaling problem.

The internal power struggle

Aside from the changing financial and operational situation at the holding companies (fewer owners, more efficiency), the potential demise of DDB is also a sign of an internal power struggle that has reportedly been going on for years.

CEO John Wren wanted a strong leader for Omnicom Advertising Group and chose Troy Ruhanen from TBWA. Ruhanen's promotion and the appointment of his TBWA team sealed DDB's fate. With the departure of DDB's global CEO, Alex Lubar, and the demise of the iconic brand, the game of corporate urination for advanced professionals seems to have been decided in Ruhanen's favor.

This is also business as usual in the consolidating Holdco world: strategic decisions are not made to benefit the historic brand, but to benefit the executive leadership and their preferred network. DDB becomes the collateral damage of an internal coup d'état that prioritizes efficiency, a clear structure, and especially the TBWA architecture over DDB's creative heritage.

The demise of DDB is therefore a warning: the sector is shifting from heritage to agility, from creative fiefdoms to orchestrated ecosystems. And those who ignore this signal will pay the ultimate price. Just tell us… who's next?

Be sure to also read this article: Pol Hoenderboom moves from DDB to DEPT

Richard Smoorenburg is the Founder and CEO of AgentC Advisory

AgentC Advisory | Guiding marketing agencies with strategic leadership, growth expertise & operational clarity.

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