It’s a new media agency landscape. The last six months have witnessed more change in media agencies than what’s occurred over the last six years. Among the events reshaping the media agency landscape are GroupM’s consolidation into WPP Media, Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG, Vivendi’s spin-off of Havas Group, large advertisers such as Amazon, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, and Mars changing agencies, big tech’s integration of AI into consumer and business user experience, and AI removing a forecasted 33,000 US advertising and marketing jobs. Moves like these are realigning the contours of the media business along three macrodimensions: the power of budget leverage, the precision of technology in media activation, and the production of advertising content.
Power: Buying Power Emerges As Balancing Power
Size and scale matter most for media agencies. Media agency buying power involves clout with publishers such as Google, Meta, or News Corp, early access to emerging technologies from partners, media budget under management, headcount, and footprint. Yet some question agencies’ motivations for leveraging scale. The most salient example is principal-based media, where agencies purchase up-front media inventory at deep discounts and resell the inventory to their clients with a markup. While controversial, principal-based media uses buying power to develop marketer value: discounted rates, exclusives, and guaranteed outcomes. A second example is the concentration of buying power within fewer, larger players. The big six agency holding companies are becoming the big three. Omnicom Group’s proposed merger with Interpublic Group would make the new Omnicom the largest global media buyer, followed by the newly rebranded WPP Media and Publicis.
Buying power serves as an important counterbalance to the growing industrial data and technology complex from large cloud, tech, and AI providers. Put plainly, agencies act as important checks to large, powerful tech companies. It was agencies that led the YouTube boycott over brand safety episodes. Agencies raised the alarm with the disruption of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency in iOS. Agencies exerted pressure on TikTok to increase transparency centers and moderation teams to address data privacy concerns. And agencies act as intermediaries between X and its efforts to use the US court system to increase its own advertising commitments.
Precision: Media Activation Moves From Manual To Automation
The technology that facilitates scale is just as important. There is a growing concentration of machine learning and generative AI tools inside media agencies. Examples include audience planning, advanced analytics, cross-platform optimization, media mix measurement, and budget scenario tools. Most large agencies wield proprietary technology, such as Havas Media’s Converged, Horizon Media’s blu., Omnicom’s Omni, PMG’s Alli, Tinuiti’s Bliss Point, or WPP Media’s Open Media Studio. At the same time, tech companies like Google, Microsoft, or Perplexity integrate more artificial intelligence into their experience, especially search and ad manager tools.
The consequences are twofold. The growing technology stack inside agencies facilitates workforce automation, changing the way services are delivered. Ad Age reports that US advertising jobs have experienced six consecutive months of contraction — while total US employment holds steady. Advertising employees are rightfully nervous. According to Forrester’s March 2025 Consumer Pulse Survey, some 61% of US workers are concerned about job displacement from AI. Our research forecasts that 7.5% (33,000) US advertising, CX, and marketing jobs will be automated by 2030. Secondly, AI rewires consumer behavior. Research from Jellyfish indicates that over half over Gen Zers and Millennials say that large language models such as ChatGPT and similar AI tools have directly influenced their brand and product choices. AI shifts search media to answers media. The impact on web traffic for publisher sites will have a profound effect on how and where media is bought, starting now.
Production: The Lines Blur Between Content And Context
Move over, brand and performance. Here comes the newest marketing mash-up, matching production assets to media impressions. The first-party, third-party, and proprietary data signals inside media agency technology not only power activation but also content creation by producing images, video, copy, and offers to match audience segments. Companies that can effectively scale their asset production to the level of media’s detailed understanding of audiences — their interests, behaviors, preferred channels, etc. — will create more relevent marketing. Mondelēz International has pursued this strategy with several of its brands and is seeing up to 70% increases in ad engagement as results of the increased localization and personalization.
If you’re a Forrester client interested in learning more about the evolution of media agencies and media management, you can read The Forrester Wave™: Media Management Services, Q4 2024, or set up a guidance session with Jay Pattisall.
Finally, be on the lookout for daily content at this blog during Cannes Lions week and for our upcoming keynote, “The Network Effect Of AI Amplifies How Employees Create Powerful Experiences,” on June 25 at Forrester’s CX Summit North America.
