Adland’s Eastward shift: India powers growth for WPP, Publicis, Havas and Omnicom amid global slowdown
With slowing revenues and shrinking margins across the US and Europe, advertising holding companies like WPP, Publicis, Havas, and Omnicom are betting big on India and Southeast Asia, transforming the region from a back-end execution hub into the epicentre of AI-driven creativity, media innovation, and future growth.
ADVERTISEMENT
Even as the world’s largest advertising holding companies grapple with declining revenues, client pullbacks, and structural upheaval, India and Southeast Asia are emerging as bright spots: the new growth engines in an otherwise uncertain global landscape.
In the third quarter of 2025, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Havas, and Omnicom reported mixed results, with most seeing slowing growth in their traditional strongholds: the US, UK, Germany, and China, but robust momentum across emerging markets, led by India.
Publicis leads pack with AI-led growth and expanding India operations
Publicis Groupe continued its strong run, registering 5.7% organic growth in Q3 2025, well above expectations, fueled by sustained client demand and the rapid adoption of its AI-driven marketing transformation products.
Chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun said the group’s AI integration “is not a future promise, it is a reality today that is driving our growth.” Publicis upgraded its full-year organic growth forecast to between 5% and 5.5%, and expects to maintain an industry-leading operating margin above 18%.
The company’s Connected Media division, now accounting for nearly 60% of its total net revenue, grew at a high single-digit pace, supported by its data arm Epsilon and global media scale. Its Intelligent Creativity and Technology units also posted mid- and low-single-digit growth respectively, despite a soft IT consulting market.
What’s striking is how India has evolved from a strategic talent hub to a revenue-generating market for Publicis Sapient. The group, which employs over 10,000 professionals in India, nearly half its global workforce, has leveraged the country’s expanding Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem to deliver data, AI, and digital transformation services to global clients. “GCCs are one of our high growth businesses, and India is now a key revenue-generating market,” Publicis confirmed earlier this year.
Across Asia Pacific, Publicis recorded 6.5% organic growth, with China up 6.1%, and continued double-digit momentum in Central and Eastern Europe.
WPP falters globally but India shines bright
At WPP, the story was starkly different. Global revenues plunged as the company faced client losses and a deteriorating media business in the West. Revenue less pass-through costs fell 5.9% on a like-for-like basis to £2.46 billion, prompting a downgrade of full-year guidance to a decline between -5.5% and -6.0%.
But India stood out as the only major market to record positive growth, clocking 6.7% like-for-like growth in Q3- a rare highlight amid declines of 5.6% in the US, 8.9% in the UK, and over 10% in Germany and China.
Year-to-date, India posted a 2.1% rise, signaling its growing weight in WPP’s Asia-Pacific portfolio.
The group’s new CEO Cindy Rose described the company’s performance as “unacceptable” but reiterated that its turnaround would be anchored in emerging markets, AI integration, and simplification of operations.
India’s strong momentum was driven by new business wins, expansion in digital media, and local brand resilience in FMCG, e-commerce, and telecom. The company has also scaled its Global Delivery Centre in India to over 10,000 professionals, underscoring its dual role as both a creative and operational growth hub.
Havas rides AI wave and emerging market momentum
Havas too reported stronger-than-expected results in Q3 2025, with 3.8% organic growth and 7.4% surge in North America, aided by its AI-first “Converged.AI” strategy. The company raised its full-year growth guidance to 2.5–3%, while maintaining a 12.9% EBIT margin.
Asia-Pacific and Africa rebounded, recording 8.2% growth after a sluggish first half, with India emerging as one of the top-performing markets.
India has been a “bright spot” in Havas’s broader APAC portfolio, driving steady client activity even as China softened.
The company is training local teams on its AI-driven product suite to deliver integrated, tech-enabled campaigns. “We’re equipping all our teams, including those in India, with the tools to fully embrace AI’s potential,” said CEO Yannick Bolloré.
Havas also reported 8.6% organic growth in Latin America and 1.9% in Europe, even as France slowed due to Olympic comparables.
Omnicom focuses on scale and integration amid uncertainty
Omnicom, meanwhile, is gearing up for the industry’s most consequential consolidation in years- its pending acquisition of Interpublic Group, set to close this month. The company reported 4% revenue growth in Q3 2025 to $4.04 billion, though net income declined 11.6% due to acquisition-related costs.
While media and advertising rose 9.1%, healthcare, PR, and experiential marketing divisions struggled. By geography, Latin America led with 27.3% organic growth, followed by the Middle East and Africa (5.9%), and the US (4.6%). Asia Pacific growth remained muted.
Chairman and CEO John Wren said the Interpublic merger would create “the world’s leading marketing and sales company,” designed to deliver “data, media, and creativity at scale.”
Still, Omnicom flagged rising costs and integration challenges, with margins narrowing to 13.1%, down from 15.5% a year ago.
India and Southeast Asia: From back-end hubs to global growth catalysts
The pivot to India and Southeast Asia isn’t new - but it’s accelerating. With AI, automation, and data analytics reshaping agency models, the region has become central to holding companies’ future growth blueprints.
Publicis, WPP, Havas, and dentsu have all scaled up their GCCs and innovation labs across Indian cities, expanding from media delivery to high-value creative, tech, and AI operations.
Ankita Agarwal, Chief Global Capabilities Officer at KINESSO, IPG Mediabrands’ performance arm, earlier told Storyboard18, “India has indisputably emerged as a global leader in digital-first capabilities - whether it’s advanced data science, programmatic media, or AI-driven marketing.”
For global ad holding companies, India’s appeal lies not just in cost efficiency, but in its convergence of tech infrastructure, creative ambition, and scalability. Southeast Asia, meanwhile, offers demographic diversity and fast-growing digital economies that complement India’s scale.
While Publicis and Havas are delivering stable performance, and Omnicom and WPP restructure for recovery, one thing is clear: India and Southeast Asia are no longer peripheral - they are the new core.
