The advertising holding companies have long treated their agency rosters the way some people treat closet space: periodically convinced that consolidation will solve everything, only to discover a few years later that they need more room.
Omnicom Group, the New York-based holding company, announced that it would merge two of its media agencies, Mediahub and Hearts & Science, into a single operation. The combined entity will operate under the Hearts & Science name, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move is the latest in a series of agency combinations that have rippled across the holding company landscape in recent years, as the giant marketing conglomerates seek to reduce overhead, eliminate duplicative functions and present a simpler face to clients who have grown weary of navigating labyrinthine corporate structures. (Whether the clients were consulted about their weariness is another matter.)
Mediahub, which traces its roots to the independent agency Mullen, had been part of the Interpublic Group of Companies before Omnicom acquired it as part of larger transactions. Hearts & Science was created in 2016, initially to serve the Procter & Gamble account after the packaged-goods giant consolidated its North American media buying.
The merger reflects a broader reality in the media agency business: scale matters more than it once did, particularly as the digital platforms that now consume the majority of advertising spending have made media buying more automated and, in some ways, more commoditized.
For the executives involved, the announcement brings the usual uncertainty that accompanies such combinations — who will lead, who will stay, who will update their LinkedIn profiles.
The holding companies have been here before, of course. They will almost certainly be here again.
Original story published in campaignlive.com: "Omnicom to merge Mediahub and Hearts & Science | Campaign US"