IPG's Quiet Turnaround: How They Won Big in 2025 | Ivan Fernandes posted on the topic | LinkedIn

The IPG Turnaround That Even Surprised Me

If you’d asked me a year ago which HoldCo would dominate 2025 headlines…

I wouldn’t have said IPG.

And yet…
Quietly and deliberately.
IPG became the HoldCo story of the year.

🌀 The Context
At the end of last year, IPG looked like it was in retreat.
→ They announced a merger with Omnicom.
→ They sold R/GA and Huge.
→ And the headlines were filled with layoffs.

Their workforce dropped to around 50,000.
→ It didn’t look like a company preparing to grow.
→ It looked like one tightening its belt.

But something fascinating happened.
→ As they got smaller, they got sharper.
→ As they simplified, they started to win again.

🌀 The Results
In 2025, IPG staged one of the most impressive comebacks in years.
→ Volvo (Dec 2024)
→ 7-Eleven (May 2025)
→ Mars (PR) (Jun 2025)
→ Paramount+ (Jun 2025)
→ Bayer (Sept 2025)
→ NatWest (Nov 2025)

After losing major accounts just a year earlier.
They’re now climbing the ranks in the U.S. and globally.

It’s a classic turnaround story.
But what’s truly remarkable isn’t the wins.

It’s the why.

🟨 The Omnicom Question
The Omnicom–IPG merger is still taking shape.
But the contrast between them is already striking.

Omnicom has been steady but not spectacular.
→ Strong in mid-market growth
→ Fewer major global wins
→ An industry-leading 74% client retention rate (2024)

Consistency has been their strength.

Meanwhile, IPG has cracked the new formula:
→ Acxiom’s data backbone
→ Integrated media + creative + production
→ Flexible and value-based pricing

Post-merger, the real challenge won’t be integration.
It’ll be preservation.

Keeping IPG’s winning rhythm alive inside Omnicom’s heavier machinery.

🟪 The Publicis Parallel
For years, Publicis ran almost uncontested.
Competing more with Accenture than with other HoldCos.

But IPG’s resurgence changes the equation.

They’re proving that you don’t have to be the biggest to win global business.

You just have to be:
→ Clear
→ Connected
→ Commercially smart

🟧 The WPP Dilemma
If you’re at WPP right now, you’re watching this very closely.
Every IPG win in 2025 is one WPP would have loved to land.

And here’s the twist:
👉 IPG did it with half the workforce.

→ While merging.
→ While restructuring.

That tells us something deeper:
→ It’s not about how many people you have
→ It’s about how clearly they’re aligned around client challenges.

🌀 The Bigger Picture
Over the last 7 years:
→ IPG and Publicis have grown revenue.
→ Omnicom and WPP have declined.

That’s not a coincidence.

It’s a sign that the market is rewarding:
✅ Focus and coherence
❌ Over scale and noise

2026 will test that theory.

🌀 My Take
IPG didn’t win by shouting louder.
They won by simplifying the story and amplifying the value.

In a year when everyone talked about AI and automation.
They quietly redefined integration.

👉 Media + Creative + Production

Working together
Not as silos, but as a system.

ivanfernandes.me | 11 comments on LinkedIn