• Ad Age, Monday, May 14, 2007 11 AM

Advertising's major agency holding companies are now firmly aligned with their global media-selling counterparts: The future is digital. And that's going to mean big changes, just as it has for every other industry affected by this phenomenon. But some would say that Big Advertising is still several steps behind Big Media in addressing a shift that could have a comparatively greater affect on their business.

To that point, Mark Reed, CEO of WPP Digital, WPP Group's digital arm, said recently, "We'll be successful when we won't need to exist anymore. Particularly in five years' time, the boundaries of what's digital and what's not will be irrelevant." During last month's first quarter earnings call, Omnicom CFO Randall Weisenburger said he sees no end in sight for the blurring of lines between online marketing, advertising and branding.

Could this be a rough transition for the likes of Omnicom, WPP, Interpublic and Publicis? On the one hand, these top-heavy companies are chockablock full of executives interested in maintaining the status quo. On the other, the changing media tide has forced them to acquire their way forward. Does this indicate a digital agency bubble? Not at the moment. While Publicis took over interactive giant Digitas for $1.3 billion in January, others have chosen to grow through smaller buys. Omnicom says it's primarily focused "on the assets we have," while Interpublic has purchased minority stakes in key firms here and there. WPP has been the most active in taking stakes in digital companies, making eight investments in the last year.

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