Five Reasons Why… Omnicom Is Backing McCann

McCann was always going to survive IPG’s merger into Omnicom. Wasn't it?

Historically, IPG’s creative flagship, and one of the most globally scaled agency networks in the world, McCann is a beast of a business, despite some recent challenges.

Now McCann has emerged as one of the central pillars of Omnicom’s post-merger creative strategy.

In the UK, where McCann has quietly built some of its strongest capabilities and most consistent growth in years, the network is set to play a reinforced role: bigger, more integrated, and more regionally and globally connected.

For Omnicom, the logic is straightforward - if you want a powerful, modern creative network that can operate at a global scale, absorb complexity, and retain client confidence during a structural shake-up, McCann is one of the safest bets in the industry. And in a merger of this magnitude, 'safe bets' with serious creative upside matter more than ever.

Here are the five reasons Omnicom is putting McCann at the heart of the new group.

• It’s One of the Few Truly Global Creative Networks Left

  While much of the creative landscape has fragmented into boutique specialists or regional powerhouses, McCann remains one of the rare networks with genuine global breadth and operational consistency.

  From New York to London to Central Europe and APAC, McCann’s footprint gives Omnicom something immensely valuable post-merger: a ready-made global creative infrastructure that can serve multinational clients with minimal disruption.

  For Omnicom, which is inheriting IPG’s extensive roster of global brand relationships, McCann offers scale, stability and the ability to deliver cross-market integration from day one. Few networks can do that. McCann can.

  And moving the former FCB global CEO, Tyler Turnbull, into the top seat (replacing Daryl Lee, who did a sound job streamlining the behemoth and bringing a new clarity to the offering), injects some of FCB’s thoughtful quiet power at the top of the sometimes-brash McCann culture.

  Turnbull brings with him the renowned creative leader Andrés Ordóñez from FCB to lead McCann's creative globally as McCann's former CCO Javier Campopiano moves up to become Global Chief Creative Officer - Global Clients

  Omnicom Advertising. The duo will team up with McCann's feted global CSO Harjot Singh in a new powerhouse leadership team at the top of the network.

• A Deep Bench of Blue-Chip Client Relationships

  McCann’s client portfolio has always been one of its biggest assets. From Mastercard and Microsoft to L’Oréal, Aldi and the UK government, McCann holds relationships that are not only long-standing but strategically valuable.

  During a merger, global clients want reassurance, not reinvention. McCann’s client roster gives Omnicom immediate credibility with marketers who want stability and creative ambition anchored in a network they already trust.

  This makes McCann an essential part of the post-merger architecture: it provides gravitational pull - the kind that helps retain and grow global accounts at a moment when competitors will inevitably circle.

• A Proven Effectiveness Engine, Not Just a Creative One

  McCann’s creative reputation is substantial, but its commitment to effectiveness and brand-building, under the expert steer of global CSO Harjot Singh, is even more compelling to a post-merger Omnicom.

  With the influx of IPG’s data, health, and performance capabilities, Omnicom now has the chance to create a more integrated, results-driven creative offering. And McCann is already built for this world: its track record at the Effies, its ability to sustain long-running platforms, and its integrated planning culture align perfectly with where the holding company is going.

  In other words, McCann isn’t just a creative network; it’s a value-creation network. And that is exactly what the merged group needs to project to the market.

• Positional Stability at a Time When the Industry Craves It

  One of McCann’s great strengths - globally and in the UK - is the steadiness of its offer. While other networks have swung through reinventions, restructures and creative relaunches, McCann has quietly invested in continuity, cultural consistency and long-term talent development.

  This is vital to Omnicom. A merger on this scale creates anxiety, ambiguity and churn. But McCann’s culture - pragmatic, grounded, predictable in the best possible way - gives Omnicom a base of calm authority from which to rebuild and reorient the wider group.

• The UK Operation Has Become Quietly World-Class

  Christian Johansen, president of McCann Worldgroup Europe and UK, has architected a much more coherent group offer. Over the past five years, McCann UK has matured into one of the strongest and most creatively consistent networks in the region — with McCann London’s resurgence underway again thanks to the leadership of Mel Arrow, McCann Manchester’s enduring strength and the commercial savvy of McCann Central under Dean Lovett, the brand-centric social craft of the Content Studios and the strategic capability of Truth Collective all raising the network’s reputation.

  This gives Omnicom a high-performing UK hub at a moment when the holding company is looking to consolidate and sharpen its creative footprint. Unlike some networks that would need rebuilding or re-energising post-merger, the McCann UK group is already moving with confidence, momentum, and integrated capability.

  In a market where clients crave hybrid solutions - combining brand, social, data, and CX - McCann UK is unusually well positioned to deliver.

Conclusion

In an Omnicom-IPG world, McCann emerges not as a legacy asset but as a central strategic platform. Its global scale, strong UK capability, enviable client roster, focus on effectiveness and continuity make it invaluable as the merged company seeks to project confidence and reassert creative ambition.

Where adam&eve offers Omnicom a sharp, culturally resonant creative flagship in the UK, McCann gives it something just as essential: a proven global network that can anchor multinational relationships, integrate new capabilities, and deliver consistent brand-building at scale.

That combination - local creative stars and global creative infrastructure - is precisely why Omnicom is betting on McCann for the next chapter.