Two rival advertising companies, Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group have agreed to merge worldwide, creating the biggest advertising group in the world, and the move will also be reflected on the Romanian market. The merger will create a USD 23 billion advertising giant, with 130,000 employees, but will also lead to situations such as rivals PepsiCo and Coca-Cola sharing the same advertising agency. Analysts expect it to work via the so called ' Chinese wall' within the new advertising group, which will help keep secret the details of competing advertising campaigns.

Publicis and Omnicon both have subsidiaries in Romania, but it is yet unclear how the merger process will take place locally. Some of the agencies which are part of the two groups are among the biggest in Romania, and their merger is likely to create the largest local player as well. On other markets however, the merger is not expected to have a fast impact on the market, as it is seen as primarily managerial and strategic.

Worldwide, a 30-month integration and development period was set, during which CEOs of both companies will continue as co-CEOs. The merger is expected to be finalized in the last quarter of 2013, or the first in 2014.

After the merger, the new Publicis Omnicom Group will include iconic agency brands such as BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, Leo Burnett, TBWA, Razorfish, Publicis Worldwide, Fleishman-Hillard, DigitasLBi, Ketchum, StarcomMediaVest, OMD, BBH, Interbrand, MSLGROUP, RAPP, Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), Proximity, Rosetta, CDM, ZenithOptimedia and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, to name just a few.

Publicis Groupe in 2012 bought Publicis Romania, which had been created by Teddy C. Dumitrescu in 1994, and which was affiliated ton Publicis Worldwide in 1995.The company's brands Leo Burnett, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, ZenithOptimedia, are also present in Romania. Publicis' clients in Romania include Orange, Renault, Nissan, L’Oréal, LG Electrinics, Ursus Breweries, Breweries, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Granini, OMV Petrom, Carrefour, HP, Citibank, Sanofi Aventis, Nestlé Ice Cream, Albalact, Whrilpool.

Omnicom Media Group Romania is made of OMD, PHD Romania, BBDO, and some of its clients include Dacia-Renault, Nissan, Mars, Wrigley, McDonald’s, Walmark, Citroen, Bosch, Siemens, Mol Romania, Rauch, Sony, Hewlett Packard, Ariston.

More about the advertising agency brands within the new group here.

editor@romania-insider.com