Global independent agency PMG took back its crown in the final 2024 indie media rankings, according to a monthly snapshot analysis by Campaign Red.
The US agency secured $102.4 million in Campaign Red’s measure of overall new-business billings in 2024 (wins plus retentions minus losses), according to COMvergence data. It was previously leading the rankings, but last month fell to third position before rising to the top again.
PMG’s success over the year came predominantly from the wins of Petco and Crate & Barrel, both in the US, and both worth $80 million.
Taking the silver medal was Netherlands agency Maxlead, with $100.9 million in Campaign Red’s measure of overall billings for 2024. In October, the shop bagged Lidl’s Netherlands account worth $81.8 million, following a pitch between five media agencies.
In third position was Canadian agency Cossette Media, which took home $79.1 million in Campaign Red’s measure of overall billings. The shop won 13 new media accounts in 2024, the largest being Canadian snowmobile manufacturer, Bombardier Recreational Products in June, worth $50 million.
The7stars landed in fourth position, up from sixth last month, thanks to its December win of The AA in the UK, worth $24 million, where it will handle above-the-line brand and direct response media.
Horizon Media also made a splash in December, jumping up 12 positions. The agency was selected as agency of record for Tropical Smoothie Café, the largest smoothie chain in the US, worth $25 million. It also retained Colorado Honda Dealers in the US, worth $11.4 million.
Two new agencies made it into the final top 20 league of 2024, both due to newly reported wins from earlier in the year: OMD MD and Initiative Ru.
When combining all of the indie agency’s media billings, March and May were the months with peak activity throughout the year, differing from the June and September peaks when looking at all agency’s global billings.
On these trends, Ryan Kangisser, chief strategy officer at MediaSense, said that “the reality with these big global pitches is that they tend to resolve around a set timeline, typically in the summer. The process usually kicks off in January, with a significant amount of pre-planning happening the previous year.”
Indie agencies however tend to “provide more specialized solutions, whether for specific channels or services” and, therefore, “there's more flexibility in contractual terms and less risk to a business when transitioning mid-year.”
March was the month in which a confidential indie agency won the $200 million media account for Shanghai General Motors, while, in May, the $430.9 million Paramount Global account was retained by Horizon Media.
Campaign Red has produced the indie media rankings, using direct findings from COMvergence, to calculate the overall media billings sum of each agency, taking into account both wins and losses for the period. As it stands, the formula is: (wins + retentions) - losses.
It should be noted that these are provisional 2024 year end figures from COMvergence and are subject to revisions as the data are finalised later on in the year.
Pictures by Getty Images.