Asia-Pacific new-biz spotlight: Movement in India dominates creative activity

BMW’s renewal of its $250 million media account in China with Starcom was the biggest media agency appointment in the Asia-Pacific region in November-December 2023, according to the latest figures from Campaign Advertising Intelligence.

Elsewhere, WPP’s Wavemaker retained the media business for Mentos-owner Perfetti in China, Vietnam and Thailand, worth $93 million, while Omnicom’s Hearts & Science won Chery Jaguar Land Rover, valued at $83.3 million in billings.

Despite some major new business deals, the overall picture remained largely unchanged from the previous year. In November-December 2023, billings associated with media new business in APAC totalled $757.3 million, virtually the same figure as the year before ($757.2 million).

Creativity activity drops

Creative agency appointments in APAC led to lower total new-business billings in November and December 2023 than the previous year. Billings reached $450.1 million, a 30% drop on $644.1 million in November-December 2022.

The biggest creative win in the region was an automotive company that cannot be named, which Omnicom’s Adam & Eve/DDB picked up for $50m in billings.

Meanwhile, Publicis' Digitas retained Aldi’s creative brief in Australia, valued at $33.3 million. The shop also won three projects for Huawei in China, worth a total $27 million, making it the biggest winner in APAC in November-December 2023 by creative billings ($147.3 million) and responsible for nearly a third of the total.

Despite this, Publicis’s creative billings ($147.3 million) were still a quarter lower than they were in the same period in 2022 ($198.2 million), reflecting the wider decline across the sector.

Omnicom brought in $134.8 million in creative new-business wins during the final two-month period of 2023. Its biggest win was fast-food chain Nathan’s Famous in India—Adam & Eve/DDB picked up the $20 million account.

WPP experienced a sharp decline in creative new-business billings, from almost $259.2 million in November-December 2022 to just $61.2 million in 2023. Grey Group won a handful of smaller creative accounts around the $3 million mark, including Coca-Cola in South Korea and HSBC in Hong Kong.

Publicis tops media

Publicis achieved $308.8 million in media new-business billings, accounting for 41% of the region’s total in November and December. It retained the BMW and Alcon accounts, but also managed to win Australian broadband provider Superloop ($10 million).

WPP was the second-best performer, with $200 million in media billings. EssenceMediacom scored Google’s $32.1 million account in Australia, taking over from PHD, and Wavemaker consolidated the L’Oréal account in Thailand, worth $28.6 million.

Omnicom came in at third with media billings of $145 million, a 7% climb on the $135 million in November-December 2022. OMD retained Wellcome Supermarket in Hong Kong, valued at $19.3 million.

Movement in India dominates creative activity

China was the Asia-Pacific region with the largest amount of billings attached to media reviews ($460.6 million), accounting for 61% of the market in November-December 2023.

The key account moves in the country included Publicis’ retention of the BMW account and Omnicom’s OMD-winning Chery Jaguar Land Rover. Meanwhile, WPP’s biggest deals in China were Perfetti and a $5 million win with insurer Allianz.

Media agency reviews in Australia generated $107.7 million in billings—the second most active market in the region—while India, Hong Kong, Thailand and others accounted for less than 10% of the total.

However, creative agency reviews showed a different pattern. While China dominated a year ago, accounting for over half of all new-business billings in November-December 2022, it generated just 21% in 2023. Creative billings went from $334.9 million to just $93.8 million.

India nearly doubled its creative new-business billings, placing it ahead of all other APAC markets. Agency reviews in the country included those by Nathan’s Famous and pet app The Zoo By Chewy, which appointed Adam & Eve/DDB and Tombras, respectively (worth $20 million each). The latter agency also secured a $5 million deal with HGTV.