Publicis Media tops global new business ranking

Omnicom Media ranked second with $3.15 billion, comprising $1.68 billion in net new-client wins and $1.48 billion in retentions.

Publicis Media led the global Total New Business ranking among the Big 5 media agency groups in the first half of 2026, generating $3.24 billion in total new business value, according to COMvergence’s H1 2026 Global New Business Barometer. The figure included $903 million in retained billings, with group-level wins including Adidas in Greater China, HP, Microsoft and Prada.

WPP Media followed with $2.98 billion, including $2.04 billion in retained business. Dentsu and Havas Media Network recorded negative totals of $181 million and $343 million respectively, as losses exceeded wins and retentions.

Publicis Media leads Big 5 new business ranking

COMvergence assessed 1,970 media account moves and retentions across 49 countries during H1 2026. The reviews involved 1,070 advertisers and represented $19.2 billion in media spend, an increase of 9 percent compared with H1 2025.

Publicis Media's total included group-level business from several major advertisers, while Omnicom Media's results included Delta, IBM, On and Subway. WPP Media's retained business included Estée Lauder, Jaguar Land Rover, SC Johnson and Wendy's.

Holding groups expand centralized media operations

Olivier Gauthier, Founder and CEO, COMvergence: "What we are seeing is a clear shift towards the consolidation of media business within bespoke, centralized solutions operated directly by the Big 5 holding groups, outside their global agency brands. In H1 2026, these solutions secured 26%—$5.0 billion—of the $19.2 billion in total reviewed media spend."

WPP Media assigned $2.24 billion, or 69 percent of its total new wins, to its standalone group unit. Publicis Media assigned $1.50 billion, or 47 percent, while Omnicom Media assigned $1.11 billion, or 34 percent.

PHD leads agency network new business rankings

At agency network level, PHD ranked first globally with $750 million in Total New Business Value. Its result was supported by the $440 million global Adidas account, excluding Greater China, and the multi-country retention of Dyson worth $164 million.

Zenith ranked second with $653 million, supported by the retention of Reckitt in the US at $315 million and L'Oréal's business in India. Wavemaker ranked third at $566 million, including a $650 million retention of Huawei in China.

Hearts United enters ranking in fourth place

Hearts United, formed through the merger of Omnicom's Hearts & Science and Mediahub, entered the ranking in fourth position with $445 million. OMD completed the top five with $374 million, supported by its win of Aviva Group in the UK.

The agency network results show how individual account moves and retentions contributed to the broader holding-group totals during the period.

US and China account for largest spend shares

The US accounted for 39 percent of the $19.2 billion in media spend reviewed globally, followed by China at 15 percent. Local, single-country pitches represented 58 percent of reviewed spend, while global and multi-country reviews accounted for $8.1 billion.

The largest global and multi-country reviews included Microsoft at $900 million, Estée Lauder at $885 million, Jaguar Land Rover at $585 million, Heineken at $540 million, Adidas at $530 million and Dyson at $505 million.

Independent agencies capture $3 billion

The overall retention rate reached 28 percent, representing $5.4 billion in retained billings. Publicis Media recorded a 52 percent retention rate among the Big 5, followed by Omnicom Media and WPP Media at 47 percent each. Dentsu recorded 34 percent and Havas Media Network 6 percent.

More than 120 independent agencies assessed by COMvergence captured $3.0 billion, equivalent to 16 percent of total reviewed spend. Horizon Media accounted for $540 million, followed by PMG at $355 million and Tinuiti at $300 million.

The full report can be found here

www.comvergence.net

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