The monthly ritual of counting who won what media business — a pastime that has sustained advertising trade publications and holding company investor relations departments in roughly equal measure — produced a changing of the guard in June, at least temporarily.

Omnicom Media Group displaced WPP from the top of the North American new-business rankings after nearly doubling its net new billings month over month, according to preliminary data from COMvergence analyzed by Campaign Red. The John Wren-led company posted $889.9 million in June, up from $453.9 million in May, propelled by wins including Subway, the running shoe brand On and IBM.

WPP, which has held the top position with some regularity in recent months, rose to $591.7 million from $495.7 million, adding accounts including Wendy's Restaurants, SC Johnson and Jaguar Land Rover. It was not enough to hold off Omnicom's surge. (The phrase "not enough to hold off" appears frequently in these rankings, usually followed by a corporate statement about momentum.)

Publicis Groupe retained third place with $379.9 million, while Plus Company, the Canadian independent holding company, brought up the rear with $4 million from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

Among individual agencies, Horizon Media extended its lead atop the independent agency rankings, but the more notable development was the appearance of Initiative in second place with $198.2 million — the highest total recorded by any agency other than Horizon this year. Initiative, which was part of Interpublic Group until Omnicom's acquisition of that company closed earlier this year, attributed its performance to a confidential United States account. (Confidential accounts, in agency new-business parlance, are accounts that prefer not to be named, which is understandable given how often they tend to move.)

The independent agencies Tinuiti, Croud, Brainlabs and PMG retained positions in the top ten, a reminder that not every media dollar flows through the four or five holding companies that own most of Madison Avenue.

Original story published in campaignlive.com: "Omnicom overtakes WPP in June North American media rankings | Campaign US"