Dentsu is the latest holdco to reunite media and creative production

“Clients are seeking a more analytical, systematic and outcome-based approach to production,” said Mark Knowles, chief technology officer at Tag. “We are seeing this being requested during the RFP process more and more, especially where we have media incumbency, but we are also proactively pitching this approach to the clients given the impact it’s able to have on performance, outcomes and commercials,” he said.

With many bread and butter holding company clients leaning further into paid social, online video and retail media, there’s a need for a higher volume of creative assets – films, images, copy and audio messaging – to make those media investments worthwhile, while close monitoring of campaign effectiveness metrics means creative assets can be optimised against media benchmarks. 

“It is designed to address the challenges we see most often: complex production networks, increased demand for content and the need for visibility from local to global,” said Toby Codrington, global brand president at Tag. 

Generative AI used in creative and admin processes (think brief-writing applications, or tagging and review systems) help agencies scale to meet that demand, but they’ll need formerly separate disciplines like media and production to work closer together to realise the business advantage, said Knowles.

Ryan Kangisser, chief strategy officer at consultancy Mediasense, said integrated pitches were creeping up. “It’s a logical move for companies who you know are conscious of the change that consolidation can create,” he said.

Such requests suit the large holding companies, which can call upon tens of thousands of creatives and media practitioners. “The holding companies – [or] operating companies – are pushing this agenda very, very hard,” said Ruben Schreurs, CEO of Ebiquity.

While some very large advertisers, such as Unilever, have built similar setups in the last year, Dentsu’s is a white label edition. Eight brands spanning the beverage, CPG and banking sector, are currently using the system (a Dentsu spokesperson declined to name the clients). Knowles said Content Engine would be available to the entire Dentsu roster in second quarter. The company also recently launched a synthetic persona solution, called “Generative Audiences”, enabling its planners to target media based upon simulated audience behavior.

It’s not the only agency holding company overhauling its production offering. Last month, WPP reorganized its production capabilities, reshuffling Hogarth and teams from VML and Ogilvy into a single business, WPP Production. And last year, Publicis Groupe and Omnicom both unveiled consolidated production efforts.

“We’re absolutely seeing clients asking for much more integrated approaches,” said Richard Glasson, global CEO of WPP Production. “With a huge amount of the media that’s being bought now being addressable, the value unlock or the performance unlock there is making sure that the right content is getting to the right channel at the right time.”

Gleeson pointed to WPP’s recent successful pitch for Jaguar Land Rover’s integrated business as an example. Publicis’ Mars and Santander wins in 2025, as well as IPG’s September Bayer win, also stand out.

For Forrester analyst Jay Pattisall, such moves show big agency groups are working to close decades-old gaps between their media, production and creative businesses. “These shifts are the most substantial moves in the holding companies to reunite creative and media,” he said.

Indie agency execs also say they’re picking up on higher demand for combined media and production expertise, too. NP Digital, for example, is expanding its creative unit, Rebl House, via a strategic partnership with production company Ultralight Creative following its 2024 acquisition of the business.

Brittany Richter, COO at NP Digital, told Digiday the agency saw a 50% rise in RFIs combining creative and media elements. “We are seeing creative being included in more conversations – with both current and prospective clients,” said Richter. “We know that having the right creative to use in media is the differentiator when it comes to performance and maximizing media dollars.”

Ebiquity’s Schreurs said it indicated the industry had entered the “rebundling era … The unbundling of advertising agencies started in 1990-ish. We’re now seeing an acceleration in re-bundling, or reintegration.”