COMvergence has released its Media Agency New Business Barometer report for Australia, looking at the first half of 2023.
The Barometer is based on media account moves and retentions and is aimed at assessing agency performances in new business.
According to the COMvergence data independently obtained by Mediaweek, the first half of 2023 saw 109 account moves and pitches, 55 of which were won or retained by holding company agencies. Meanwhile, 54 were won by independent agencies or went in-house, while eight remained with the incumbent.
Two rankings were produced from the data: new business values by agency and new business values by group.
At the top of the COMvergence rankings for new business by agency for the first half of 2023 is Publicis Groupe’s Zenith, which netted US$45 million in new business.
GroupM’s Wavemaker followed with $43 million in new business, including two retentions that resulted in a spend of $ 15 million.
Atomic 212 was the highest-ranked independent agency with $24 million in new business with a retention rate of 100%. Ranked fourth on the list is OMD at $20 million, followed by Bohemia/M&C Saatchi with $ 14 million in new business.
In equal sixth place in the COMvergence ranking for new business by agency were Initiative and Spark Foundry, with $13 million in new business and retentions. However, Initiative had a more robust retention rate of 33% and netted $9 million, excluding retention. Meanwhile, Spark Foundry had netted $13 million, excluding retention.
Publicis Media took the top spot in the new business values by agency group category, with a total of US$65 million, including retentions, and 13 new clients for the first half of 2023.
GroupM followed with $38 million in total, including new business. The report noted that the agency group recorded nine new client wins with a total ad spend of $37 million and a retention rate of 51%, resulting in an ad spend of $29 million.
Rounding out the top three rankings in the first half of 2023 is Mediabrands, which had a total of $6 million in new business, including one retention with a total ad spend of $4 million.
See also: COMvergence: Wavemaker takes the title of top global media agency network in new business results for H1 2023