Havas Creative and Wavemaker lead the new business rankings in India (January-October 2023), according to Campaign’s Advertising Intelligence data.
This data tracks new business on a global level. COMvergence provides data on media wins and R3 on creative wins, as well as taking direct submissions from agencies.
Havas Creative’s lead is on the back of 41 wins in 2023, the largest of which were Autodesk, Cfao, Digisahamati Foundation. The agency’s estimated net billings in USD were 144.9 million, which translates to roughly INR 1,203 crore. FCB (USD 114.9 million), Wunderman Thompson (USD 61.1 million), DDB (USD 48.4 million) and BBDO (USD 44 million) complete the top five.
| Rank Oct 2023 | Agency | Estimated YTD net billings ($m) | Top wins 2023 | No. of wins 2023 | Estimated YTD billings ($m) | Estimated YTD lost billings ($m) |
| 1 | Havas Creative | 144.9 | Autodesk, Cfao, Digisahamati Foundation | 41 | 144.9 | 0.0 |
| 2 | FCB | 114.7 | Amazon, TVS Motor Company, Google | 110 | 114.7 | 0.0 |
| 3 | Wunderman Thompson | 61.1 | Birla Estates, Adani Enterprises, Vivo | 38 | 61.1 | 0.0 |
| 4 | DDB | 48.4 | Meta, Mars Petcare, DLF Mall of India | 46 | 48.4 | 0.0 |
| 5 | BBDO | 44.0 | Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Google, JLR | 9 | 44.0 | 0.0 |
| 6 | Wondrlab | 35.8 | Vero Coffee, Revolt Intellicorp, Bajaj Auto | 184 | 35.8 | 0.0 |
| 7 | McCann Worldgroup | 33.3 | Reliance Retail, Apollo, Cognizant | 11 | 33.3 | 0.0 |
| 8 | VMLY&R | 28.0 | Coke, ThumsUp, Idfc | 10 | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| 9 | Dentsu Creative | 25.0 | Aditya Birla Capital, Hero Motocorp, automotive client | 17 | 25.0 | 0.0 |
| 10 | MullenLowe Group | 13.9 | Cipla, Eureka, Zee5 | 11 | 13.9 | 0.0 |
| 11 | Centrick | 13.7 | Kirloskar Oil Engines, Electronica Finance, Kirloskar Chillers | 8 | 13.7 | 0.0 |
| 12 | Grey | 11.8 | Federal Bank, JM Financial, Aditya Birla Chemicals | 8 | 11.8 | 0.0 |
| 13 | M&C Saatchi | 11.3 | Rebel Foods, Vedantu, Forest Essentials | 7 | 11.3 | 0.0 |
| 14 | Wieden & Kennedy | 10.0 | Casio G Shock | 1 | 10.0 | 0.0 |
| 15 | IPG Health | 2.2 | Pfizer | 1 | 2.2 | 0.0 |
| 16 | The Womb | 2.1 | Samco | 1 | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| 17 | Leo Burnett | 1.1 | Finance & insurance client, tech client, telecoms client | 4 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| 18 | Saatchi & Saatchi | 0.6 | Reliance Retail, finance & insurance client, pharmaceuticals & healthcare client | 3 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| 19 | Leo Burnett Orchard | 0.1 | Finance & insurance client | 1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| 20 | Publicis Worldwide | 0.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| 21 | Ogilvy | -7.9 | 7 | 12.1 | 20.0 |
In the media agency list, Wavemaker dominates with estimated net billings of USD 151.7 million (INR 1259 crore approximately). Wavemaker’s big wins for the year included Reckitt, Pernod Ricard, KRBL. OMD Group is second on the list with total billings of USD 132 million. Independent agency group LS Digital is third (USD 86.8 million), followed by EssenceMediacom (84.1 million). Havas’ media operations make an appearance at fifth place with billings of USD 39.8 million.
| Rank Oct 2023 | Agency | Estimated YTD net billings ($m) | Top wins 2023 | No. of wins 2023 | Estimated YTD billings ($m) | Estimated YTD lost billings ($m) |
| 1 | Wavemaker | 151.7 | Reckitt, Pernod Ricard, KRBL | 7 | 159.4 | 7.7 |
| 2 | OMD Group | 132.0 | Bacardi, Groww, McDonald's | 12 | 132.0 | 0.0 |
| 3 | LS Digital | 86.8 | Smartcoin, Glanbia Performance Nutrition, More Retail | 36 | 86.8 | 0.0 |
| 4 | EssenceMediacom | 84.1 | Vivo, IIFL Securities, Mars | 10 | 92.8 | 8.7 |
| 5 | Havas Media Group | 39.8 | Shell, V-Guard, Motovolt | 8 | 41.3 | 1.5 |
| 6 | iProspect | 38.9 | Carlsberg, Bharat Loan, National Stock Exchange | 13 | 42.2 | 3.3 |
| 7 | Carat | 37.6 | Ferrero, HealthCare Global, Okaya | 5 | 37.6 | 0.0 |
| 8 | NP Digital | 35.4 | Madhavbaug, Login Radius, Ivy Central | 22 | 35.4 | 0.0 |
| 9 | Mindshare | 34.2 | Maruti Suzuki India, Novel Jewels, Paypal | 19 | 80.0 | 45.8 |
| 10 | MSix & Partners | 17.8 | Billionbrains Garage Ventures, Pran Foods, Ageas Life Insurance | 7 | 17.8 | 0.0 |
| 11 | Initiative | 15.7 | India Ministry of Tourism, Caerleon Business Solutions, Centuary Mattress | 4 | 36.9 | 21.2 |
| 12 | PHD | 12.9 | Scapia, HSBC, Bimbo | 4 | 14.8 | 1.9 |
| 13 | Hearts & Science | 9.7 | Versuni, Signify | 2 | 9.7 | 0.0 |
| 14 | Atomic 212 | 9.2 | Northern Territory Government, Unikrn Esports | 2 | 9.2 | 0.0 |
| 15 | Zenith | 6.0 | Pharma & healthcare client, Prega News | 3 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| 16 | Neo Media World | 2.7 | USDC Projects India, QI LIFECARE | 2 | 2.7 | 0.0 |
| 17 | Publicis Collective | 2.2 | Pfizer | 1 | 2.2 | 0.0 |
| 18 | Spark Foundry | 2.0 | Celebe, Jaypore | 2 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| 19 | UM | -2.2 | 3 | 8.1 | 10.3 | |
| 20 | Starcom | -3.5 | 1 | 4.5 | 8.0 | |
| 21 | Dentsu X | -77.3 | 3 | 22.7 | 100.0 |
In terms of the big account moves for this period, Reliance Smart Stores’ moves to FCB tops the list along with BBDO’s Tide win. WPP’s Neo Media World bagging USDC Projects India is the biggest media account win of the year.
Mindshare, which is listed ninth on the media agency list of the year in terms of new accounts won, tops the ‘losses’ list for clients, as it lost the Ferrero account in India.
