Inside the Omnicom-IPG meeting with consultants: What marketers learned — and what’s still a mystery

“They [Wren and Krakowsky] see us as representatives of advertisers so the meeting was very much about giving us the floor to raise the many questions and concerns they have,” said one exec, who exchanged anonymity for candor on what went down.

Did they walk away with all the answers? Hardly — regulators haven’t even stamped their approval yet, which means plenty remains off limits. But they did leave with a clearer picture of what remains unknown — about as much as they could expect for now. After all, as the go-betweens for the clients keeping Omnicom and IPG in business, these consultants exist to navigate — and capitalize — on moments like this. 

And it’s not like high-stakes deals come around often. If the deal gets the green light, the ripple effects will reshape the competitive landscape, rattle pricing dynamics and put agency-client relationships under strain. CMOs need to stay ahead of these shifts, no matter where they stand on the deal. 

“Most of my clients — past, current and future of both groups — are all asking questions about the deal but they’re still at the early stages of curiosity,” said another consultant who was in the meeting. 

But chances are, that curiosity won’t be fully satisfied anytime soon — not until regulators weigh in. For now, CMOs will have to make do with the morsels of insight they’ve gathered so far, most of which came from that meeting. 

One clear takeaway: marketers anxious about losing their favorite agency rep can breathe a little easier. Wren and Krakowsky assured them that job cuts would mainly affect back-office roles, not client-facing teams — less about slashing costs, more about fueling growth and future M&A. 

That long-term view came through elsewhere in the discussion too. Wren told someone in the room that more deals would be inevitable given how much the market will shift between the deal’s announcement and full integration, according to an ad exec who was there.

It’s why the few comments the CEOs did make about how the mega-agency group would function raised some eyebrows. The plan? Keep all the agency brands — the ones not already on the chopping block, that is — and give marketers access to the full portfolio. In other words, they won’t be following the lead of rivals who are consolidating brands left and right.

How they plan to operationalize that strategy is still a mystery, but for some consultants in the room, it was enough to trigger a deeper realization: the holding company era of agency groups is fading — and the era of the operating company is beginning. 

“They’re really going to operate this new organization as one, big company like Accenture or IBM as opposed to running a bunch of companies separately,” said Matt Ryan, founder of advertising consulting firm Roth Ryan Hayes. “We’re in the advent of the operating company.”

With little clarity on what that shift actually means in practice, CMOs will have to settle for one assurance: whatever savings, talent and services they’ve secured with either group so far will carry over to the new company — at least for now. Naturally, consultants pushed Wren and Krakowsky on that commitment during the meeting and both doubled down.

In fact, they went a step further, assuring that clients would be able to choose between whichever agency offered the better deal. 

Competitive contracts. Growth not cuts. Strong agency brands. Wren and Krakowsky are hitting all the right notes for marketers. Given the circumstances, it’s hard to imagine what more they could say. And yet, skepticism lingers — not because marketers and their consultants don’t trust them, but because they’ve heard this kind of pitch before. 

Nevertheless, they’re already plotting their next move. 

Marketers try to make sense of it all

For those already in business with either group, this is prime time to squeeze out as much intel as possible — especially with pitch season around the corner. Others, with no ties, are content to stay on the sidelines until the dust settles. 

One thing’s clear: the biggest headaches are reserved for CMOs entangled with either (or both) giants. Their questions about the deal are piling up faster than the headlines on it. That’s why many of the agency reviews this year won’t just be routine — they’ll be a stress test. Because this isn’t just about choosing an agency — its about gaining leverage. 

Will that send a wave of CMOs scrambling to run agency reviews? Not necessarily. But it’ll sure light a fire under those already in the pipeline. 

To them, these reviews aren’t just about capabilities — they’re a window into how Omnicom and IPG plan to navigate the chaos. Some are already weighing up whether to use these meetings to lock in competitive rates, snap up top talent — and even draft contingency agreements with the group, knowing the agencies are eager to lock in business before the deal goes through. 

“If you’re a CMO coming toward the end of a review later this year then you can’t afford to miss this moment for leverage on things like pricing, tech and talent,” said a consultant who agreed to talk to Digiday anonymously because they’ didn’t want to jeopardize their relationships with marketers.

And these CMOs know timing is everything. If their reviews stretch into summer, when the deal’s fate should be clearer, they’ll be in prime position to either double down with a merged powerhouse, or cherry-pick the best of both worlds or walk away and explore other options entirely. 

Needless to say, there are blunt conversations ahead. High stakes. And absolutely no room for frustration.

That’s doubly true for marketers in the IPG camp. 

According to four ad execs with direct knowledge, they’re facing the hardest decisions, mainly because no one can tell them clearly how IPG being owned by Omnicom could impact their accounts. 

The silence is deafening, especially in Europe, where the distance from the U.S. mothership only adds to the confusion. Sure, both CEOs tried to soothe those nerves last month, traveling to London to stress to senior execs from both groups that, for now, both would continue to compete independently in pitches. Marketers will lap up clarity like this all day long. But so far, this deal is a Rolodex of pressure questions with precious few answers. 

To be fair, some questions can’t be answered until the businesses come together — like the ever-tricky issue of conflicts of interest. It may not be the same landmine it was during the last mega-merger push, but it’s still a real problem. In certain sectors, advertisers simply can’t afford to share a bed with a partner cozying up to their competition. The risks are too steep, and the upside too vague.

That’s where execs like IPG’s chief business officer and chief client officer Jackie Kelley become critical players in the months ahead.

“She has spoken to clients already and made what guarantees she can even though there’s no guarantee what her influence would be in an Omnicom world,” said the ad exec. “There’s definitely a strong belief that she will be one of the people who will retain a leadership position throughout that because of who she is.”

Ultimately, CMOs crave control, and in this merger saga, Kelley is one of a few proxies for it.

“The merger promises increased access to high quality capabilities across the marketing spectrum,” said Donna Sharp, managing director at MediaLink and partner at owner UTA. “IPG has a deep creative bench with agencies still requested by name (FCB, Martin and Deutsch), while Omnicom has made strides with AI-driven personalization and production capabilities and has their leading commerce agency, Flywheel. If you take Omnicom’s existing media and commerce stack, supercharge it with Acxiom’s data, and combine it with IPG’s creative scale, that’s a compelling offering for clients, especially with a focus on optimizing retail and non-retail media more holistically.”

Granted, this all assumes that the promise of more technology resources in the combined entity can make it happen quickly above pace with the industry, Sharp continued.

Put it all together, and one thing is clear: this year will be long on noise and short on answers when it comes to where advertisers park their budgets in the wake of this deal. Moves of this size always kick up a fuss before the real picture emerges once the dust settles. CMOs know this, which is why their next moves are all about positioning for the shakeout ahead. Think CMOs extending contracts with agencies for another year vs. pushing for a new one. 

“Whenever it happens these choices will come down to the tools and services these groups have to offer, the talent they have behind all of that and how both parts work in tandem to drive the operational efficiency of the model,” said Ebiquity’s group director Priya Patel. “From what we’re seeing, marketers are more than willing to pay for all of that now.”

Neither Omnicom or IPG provided a comment for this story, but spokespeople for both directed Digiday to official corporate statements on the proposed deal.