On December 1, 2025, Omnicom finalised its $9 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group, becoming the world's largest advertising holding company. Since then, the network has unveiled a sweeping internal overhaul, including the retirement of three storied creative networks: DDB, FCB, and MullenLowe.
Only three creative agencies remain: BBDO, TBWA, and McCann, in addition to six global media networks, OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science, Initiative, UM, and MediaHub.
In its restructure, Omnicom mentioned that it would be cutting 4,000 jobs in addition to the thousands of jobs already shed this year. Overall, about 8% of both companies’ combined 2024 workforces will be eliminated.
The major restructures have left people questioning the state of advertising–does this sound a death knell for bloated network agencies–the role of creativity in an increasingly tech-driven world and the intangible losses that come with consolidation.
Below, Campaign has compiled some of these perspectives that have emerged over the past week.
Azazul Haque, chief creative officer, Creativeland Asia Group
The new era of advertising and marketing communication industry will belong to those who are lean and agile, those who are quick to adapt to the changing ecosystem and landscape of content consumption. It's the Era of the Davids and not the Goliaths of Advertising.
Gigantic global organisations, by mergers and acquisitions, are just making their sinking ships bigger. The mergers and acquisitions won't change much for the global giants. They believe they will become stronger in the ecosystem, [but] they aren't realising their actual threat is coming, and will keep coming, from newer, smaller Indian outfits who are designed for today and not carrying the burden of past. It's just a sign that Global Giants in Advertising are shirking and shrinking every passing day.
The future belongs to leaner organisations who can deliver to the needs of bigger brands. Most importantly, organisations who can quickly adapt to the ever-changing landscape of communication. So great times ahead for Independent, adaptable indigenous agencies. Finally, the time for 'Made In India' agencies is here!
Devaiah Bopanna, co-founder, Moonshot
Can't believe DDB, JWT, FCB, Lowe are all gone. Ironically, advertising companies are terrible at managing their own brands.
Pranav Mathur, creative director, Fyers
Extremely sad to hear of some of the OGs of advertising being shut down. I grew up on campaigns by FCB, Mullenlowe and DDB. Omnicom literally did a Thanos!
Saumya Baijal, executive vice-president, Virtue India
The industry that is entrusted with curating, cradling and nurturing brands, just lost three stalwarts of its own. It takes years to build something, and a moment to end them. Three giants, legacies, histories gone in a flash, in the name of consolidation.
What does consolidation do? We all know the numbers and the efficiencies.
It kills something far more intangible. It kills memory structures, philosophies, ideas, methodologies, schools, visions, the ability of having created something. Consolidations kill cultures.
The issue is not change, neither is it adapting to that change. It is what is the change for? What is it that we collectively chase- as an industry, as its leaders, practitioners and lovers? Why have the goalposts shifted and are those not detrimental? What is it that we are losing? Could it all have been avoided? If yes, how so? What are we doing now to ensure this doesn't happen again? What are the new ways of building sustainable businesses? These conversations are imperative.
Mayur Chandra, integrated marketing communication specialist / Ex-Hakuhodo India
Omnicom’s big move has everyone talking, but most people are missing the real story.
This isn’t an industry update. It’s a wake-up call.
Advertising isn’t trying to stay creative-first anymore. It’s turning into one giant, AI-powered machine built for scale, speed and efficiency.
And in that shift, something huge is getting traded away: the quirky agency cultures, the human spark, the brave ideas that don’t fit inside dashboards.
What’s rising instead?
- Standardised processes.
- Data-led decisions.
- And work that starts to look… the same everywhere.
Here’s the bottom line: Advertising is moving from a world powered by people to a system powered by infrastructure.
The challenge ahead isn’t competing with other agencies. It’s keeping humanity alive in an industry being redesigned for machines.
Rahul Karwa, chief strategy officer and business head, Interspace Communications
In our very first advertising lecture at SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), our professor Nitin Mukadam casually said, “Twenty-five years from now, I’ll take my batch to visit the tombs of agencies”. He even named a few. Back then, we laughed. Today, it feels uncomfortably accurate.
Because the irony is - many of the smartest people I know still work in these places. Good work still gets made. Culture still gets shaped.
What’s really changed is not relevance. It’s bargaining power.
JWT, DDB, Lowe, FCB didn’t lose their soul because of a logo or a positioning line. They were slowly worn down by consolidation pressure, quarterly revenue stress, holding company debt, good people moving to startups and consulting, and clients who now want startup speed at vendor pricing.
This isn’t a branding failure story for me. It’s a lesson in how quietly business models age - even when the talent doesn’t.
Vismay Parab, marketing manager, Proximus Global
The Omnicom–Interpublic Group (IPG) merger isn’t just a consolidation story; it’s a reminder that advertising is entering its most transformative era yet.
Scale is being redefined, creativity is being rebuilt around AI, and India will be one of the real testing grounds for what the “new agency model” can become.
Rahool Talukdar, senior creative director, OML
The DDB name won't exist anymore. But the man named Bernbach (of Doyle Dane Bernbach) would never lose legend from our upbringing. The things these names brought to the communications industry and the manner in which they shaped culture are beyond mere corporate realignment.
Broti Roychowdhury, principal – creative, Tata 1mg
Omnicom just started the week by gulping down FCB, MullenLowe and DDB like it’s a morning detox smoothie. 4000 jobs are also gone, we hear. They’re calling it “synergies.” Meanwhile, for the rest of us agency folks who’ve worked at these places at some point in our careers, it feels more like a memorial service.
Sanjay Arora, house of growth, OneBanc
DDB’s death isn’t just an industry headline. It’s a case study in how leadership destroys the very thing it tries to monetise.
You can centralise operations.
You cannot centralise intuition.
You cannot centralise courage.
Great agencies weren’t great because they were big. They were great because someone in the room was willing to protect the work, to back the uncomfortable idea, the long film, the human insight.
Leaders today are confusing efficiency with strategy. They are mistaking consolidation for wisdom. And in the process, they are amputating institutional memory, the invisible culture that turns “content” into brands people remember.
The excerpts are publicly available on LinkedIn and are edited for clarity and brevity.
