MediaCom named Adweek Global Media Agency of the Year
Global media buying agency, MediaCom has been named the ‘Media Agency of the Year’ by Adweek.
With a philosophy guided by its pay-offline “People first, better results, the year 2020 presented a challenge of how to practice its philosophy in the middle of a global crisis. In 2020, MediaCom proved its devotion to that creed, deciding early on to invest in talent and save as many jobs as possible globally at the expense of short-term losses.
Commenting on how it navigated the out-gone year headlined by the Covid-19 and the challenges posed to businesses, MediaCom global CEO Nick Lawson says:
“Our ambition was to make sure we came out of it together, our culture intact. We spent the best part of 20 years building MediaCom’s culture. Protecting that culture was really our No. 1 priority. The process was not painless, with employees making salary sacrifices or transitioning to shortened workweeks to help save jobs. In the end, the WPP media agency claims it avoided layoffs entirely in the U.S. while reporting a 7% revenue decline globally for the year”.
The agency’s investment in talent is already paying off as a deep bench helped MediaCom win new business, grow relationships with existing clients and expand capabilities while steering brands through the unique challenges of 2020.
In the U.S., MediaCom increased its revenue 4% on the year, despite its commitment to avoiding layoffs. MediaCom also earned recognition for its(Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) practices in the U.S. and committed to further progress globally.
For its big-picture thinking, ability to provide the solutions clients needed in 2020, new business dominance (to the tune of an estimated $1.2 billion in new billings, according to COMvergence), seamless management of a global leadership transition and commitment to its people and culture, the leading global media agency won this year’s highly coveted award.
The year 2020 was undoubtedly a year of shared experience. Just as people thought they had adapted to one major disruptive event, another one was right around the corner. The year 2020 witnessed the transitioning to a new global leader at MediaCom during Q2, the financial quarter hit hardest by the economic crisis.
In July,Lawson officially succeeded Stephen Allen as global CEO and didn’t miss a beat. It helped that Lawson, a longtime agency veteran, had a complete understanding of operations as global COO and a plan to transform MediaCom’s product offering with comprehensive marketing solutions engaging clients beyond media.
Lawson, who has worked his way up from assistant planner, estimates he’s done about every job at MediaCom. Hear him:
“The instinct at MediaCom has been to promote from within, which is why there is such longevity from our people”.
Last year, MediaCom filled 61% of leadership positions with internal candidates, and a further 10% came from within WPP media agency network GroupM or WPP more broadly.
MediaCom has been one of those agencies that takes succession planning seriously, strengthening its practice in both talent and client retention.
In 2018, MediaCom was named Adweek’s Global Media Agency of the Year.
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