• by Paul Gough , January 18, 2004

Publicis Groupe SA, the parent of Starcom MediaVest Group and Zenith Optimedia, turned in the best net new business results during 2003, according to year-end tabs published last week as part of an equities research report from Lehman Bros. With $866 million in net new business billings during 2003, Publics ranked No. 1 for the year ahead of Omnicom (+$653 million in net new billings), Grey Worldwide (+$364 million), Havas (+$208 million), WPP Group (+$83 million), and Interpublic (+$16 million). With $909 million in net new billings taken in by an assorted group of "other" agencies, Lehman analysts estimated the overall advertising agency sector ended 2003 with a net of $3.119 billion in new advertising billings.

"The amount of advertising activity in general continued to increase, while the account pipeline remains extremely healthy," stated the Lehman analysts in the securities firm's "New Business Scorecard."

That account pipeline indicates an improvement in the next few months, the report said.

"We believe the ongoing trend remains upwards as companies reassess their marketing plans as the advertising outlook improves, underpinning our positive stance on the sub-sector," the report said.

In the report, Lehman Bros. ranks MindShare as the top media buying agency, with $174 million in new business wins, $28 million in new business lost -- $146 million in net new business. OMD was in second place with $113 in net new business, Zenith Optimedia in third ($110 in net new business), Starcom MediaVest Group in fourth ($47 million in net new business), and fifth place went to Carat (with $43 million in net new business).

"MindShare, Zenith and OMD continue to perform well in the media buying rankings, with few major moves after the significant Coke and McDonald's global consolidations in November," the report said. "OMD in particular has showed markedly improved performance on recent years, helped by the McDonald's win, having previously struggled to win global accounts."

2003 Media Agency Net New Business/Billings Rankings

Media Shop         Parent            Wins
Losses     Net Wins 
MindShare          WPP           $174 mil.    $28 mil.   +$146 mil.  
OMD                Omnicom       $145 mil.    $32 mil.   +$113 mil. 
Zenith Optimedia   Publicis
$165 mil.    $55 mil.   +$110 mil. 
Starcom MediaVest  Publicis      $169 mil.   $121 mil.    +$47 mil. 
Carat              Aegis         $137 mil.    $94 mil.    +$43 mil. 
Mediaedge:CIA
WPP            $62 mil.    $21 mil.    +$41 mil. 
PHD                Omnicom        $34 mil.    $26 mil.     +$8 mil. 
Universal McCann   Interpublic   $121 mil.   $138 mil.    -$16 mil. 
MPG
Havas         $0           $56 mil.    -$56 mil. 
Initiative         Interpublic   $120 mil.   $201 mil.    -$81 mil. 
MediaCom           Grey           $11 mil.    $98 mil.    -$86 mil.

Source: Source:Various media,Lehman Brothers research