After the Mega-Merger: What fate awaits India’s Big Six Agencies- BBDO, TBWA, DDB, McCann, FCB and MullenLowe
With $750 million in cost synergies driving aggressive restructuring, the merged global giant places DDB Mudra, BBDO India, TBWA India, McCann Worldgroup India, FCB Group India and MullenLowe Lintas Group under intense scrutiny. Leadership stability, or the lack of it, may determine which agencies are protected and which risk consolidation.
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On November 26, 2025, Omnicom completed its acquisition of Interpublic Group, officially creating the world’s largest advertising holding company by revenue. The merger, cleared by regulators without conditions, hands Omnicom management control of the combined business and commits the group to delivering nearly $750 million in annual savings, largely driven by rationalisation of leadership, overlapping operations, real estate and backend functions.
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With this, for the first time, six of India’s most prominent creative agencies : DDB Mudra Group, BBDO India, TBWA India, McCann Worldgroup India, FCB Group India and MullenLowe Lintas Group, now sit under one global roof. And with global leadership pushing efficiency and scale, India becomes a critical battleground for restructuring.
At the top of the new mega-holding sits Omnicom’s long-time boss John Wren, who will remain Chairman & CEO of the combined entity. Omnicom’s global creative networks have already been organised under a unified leadership group, the Omnicom Advertising Group (OAG), globally led by Troy Ruhanen.
On the IPG side, McCann, FCB and MullenLowe continue to function under their respective global leadership lines within IPG.
That dual architecture, a unified Omnicom-creative leadership for the Omnicom legacy agencies, and independent global leadership for IPG networks, creates an inherent tension. In a post-merger world driven by cost synergies, overlapping capabilities and shrinking margins, the scales may tip aggressively toward consolidation.
Leadership Landscape: Where India’s Six Network Agencies Stand Today
India is one of the fastest-growing advertising markets globally and a major profit centre for both legacy groups. That makes the market strategically important, but also a priority for aggressive rationalisation. With global control sitting squarely with Omnicom, the decisions ahead will almost certainly be directed by efficiency, profitability and leadership certainty.
The next few months will determine whether India’s Big Six emerge as a unified creative powerhouse, or whether the industry witnesses the most dramatic consolidation in its history.
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On the Omnicom side, creative operations in India are largely coordinated through OAG’s India arm, headed by veteran agency head Aditya Kanthy, currently CEO & MD of OAG India. Under him falls DDB Mudra, BBDO India and TBWA India.
Kanthy remains one of the most secure and strategically positioned leaders in the post-merger era. As Group CEO and the senior-most Omnicom creative leader in the country, he is widely expected to play a key role in shaping the new structure in India.
DDB brings long-standing brand trust, a strong portfolio and scale advantages, but faces speculation around global restructuring of the DDB network, which could impact the Indian operation’s positioning over the next few months.
BBDO India, meanwhile, sits in a sensitive phase. After the exit of CEO Suraja Kishore earlier this year, the agency continues without an announced successor at the top. While BBDO is historically one of the strongest creative brands in the country, known for award-winning, emotionally powerful campaigns, leadership ambiguity makes it more vulnerable to internal restructuring decisions, especially if the merged group pushes to reduce overlapping creative capability portfolios.
TBWA India also enters the consolidation period, helmed by CEO Govind Pandey, with industry watchers pointing out that its relatively lean scale in India could place it closer to the risk end of the rationalisation spectrum, despite its global reputation for disruptive strategic thinking. Globally, TBWA and DDB have both been referenced in merger speculation, raising questions about their long-term parallel existence within the new structure.
On the IPG side, McCann Worldgroup India remains the strongest brand from a performance and capability standpoint, but the agency has been hit by leadership churn in recent months, with exits including COO Jitendar Dabas and senior veteran Alok Lall. Prasoon Joshi is the CEO & CCO of McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman of McCann Worldgroup APAC, a role he has held for many years. His career at McCann started in 2002, and he has since become a major figure in Indian advertising.
McCann commands deep client relationships and enjoys high creative and strategic equity, but the vacuum created by departures and impending operational integration could accelerate internal reshaping, particularly in backend and shared-service operations.
FCB Group India, led by Dheeraj Sinha, holds one of the broadest multi-brand architectures in the country, spanning FCB Ulka, FCB Interface, FCB Kinnect and related offerings. That breadth is both a strength and a liability, in an environment where the merged group aims to eliminate duplication and simplify P&Ls, maintaining multiple independent brands under one holding could become difficult to justify.
Industry voices indicate FCB may face consolidation pressure if rationalisation decisions intensify.
MullenLowe Lintas Group, led by Group CEO Subramanyeswar S., remains a respected legacy brand built on decades of Indian advertising leadership, but its comparatively smaller size versus the other networks may put it at risk of repositioning or integration into another entity. While its leaner operations and strong local market equity make it an efficient performer, its scale disadvantage could become a factor in structural decisions driven by cost synergy targets.
What Could Happen: Three Possible Scenarios
1. “Flagship Preservation”: Some Agencies Get Protected as Global Brands
Agencies such as McCann, BBDO or perhaps DDB Mudra might be maintained as standalone, full-service networks, positioned as flagship creative brands under the new holding. Their legacy reputation, large client rosters and global integration would make them strategic assets. This will likely be backed by the merged entity’s ambition to leverage “creative heritage + scale + data + media + tech” for global clients.
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2. “Rationalise & Reassign”: Mid-size or Overlapping Agencies Get Consolidated or Repositioned
Some agencies, especially those with smaller scale, overlapping offerings, or weaker leadership stability, may be merged, folded, or repositioned (for example as boutique, niche or specialized shops). For instance, FCB and MullenLowe might be merged under a combined network; TBWA or BBDO could be grouped under unified creative leadership; regional duplications may be trimmed. Many industry observers have flagged this as the most probable outcome for at least two or three of the six.
3. “Talent & Infrastructure Rationalisation”: Shared Services, Fewer Heads, More Efficiency
Even if core agency brands survive in name, much of their back-end, media planning, production, data analytics, technology, support staff, could be centralised under shared platforms. That would deliver the cost synergies promised by the merger. This also implies a wave of redundancies, leadership exits and structural reassignments.
Media Leadership: Amardeep vs. Kartik, While Sinha Hovers in a Stabilising Role
At the centre of the leadership churn is a quiet but unmistakable tussle between Amardeep Singh — recently elevated to CEO of IPG Mediabrands India — and Kartik Sharma, who leads Omnicom Media Group (OMG) India.
IPG Mediabrands’ long-time chief Shashi Sinha was named Executive Chairperson for India. Taking over as CEO is Amardeep Singh, founder of Interactive Avenues, which IPG acquired in 2013. Singh has been instrumental in modernising IPG’s media offerings and driving digital transformation.
Sinha remains a “power centre” because of his influence with clients, industry bodies, and policymakers.
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“Shashi brings the kind of institutional trust global boards crave during a merger of this scale,” said a consultant advising one of the holding groups. “But Amardeep represents growth and agility. The question is which persona the new entity will prioritise in India.”
Kartik Sharma enters the leadership race riding strong tailwinds. OMG has added over 10 major clients in 2025, worth more than $40 million, including Kimberly-Clark, Zurich Kotak General Insurance, Atomberg, Double A, Michelin, Watertec, and Bondbazaar. The network closed Marico which is its biggest India win since Tata Motors.
A senior executive noted: “If Kartik symbolizes OMG’s momentum, IPG Mediabrands brings legacy scale. The leadership pick will signal whether the merged company wants to reward growth or preserve dominance.”
Despite OMG’s recent upswing, IPG Mediabrands still commands a stronger historical foothold in India, with nearly 20% market share, compared to OMG’s smaller base.
But one industry leader warned, “In mergers, the upper hand often lies with the buyer — and this time it’s Omnicom. That tilts the media leadership equation in unexpected ways.”
Wildcard on Dheeraj Sinha, Group CEO of India & South Asia at FCB
On the creative front, the leadership picture is far clearer. Industry sources say Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific and CEO of McCann India, is poised to take on the top creative role in the merged network. Aditya Kanthy, CEO of Omnicom Advertising Group, is expected to steer the creative operations under his oversight. One senior insider said Joshi’s stature makes his elevation almost inevitable, while Kanthy’s track record adds “modernity and momentum” to the leadership equation.
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However, uncertainty surrounds the role of Dheeraj Sinha, CEO of FCB India, amid strong speculation that the merged group may consolidate FCB, DDB and Lintas under a unified structure combining McCann, TBWA and BBDO, a sweeping reorganisation that could dramatically reshape India’s creative landscape.
