Publicis Groupe chief executive (CEO) Arthur Sadoun has addressed Omnicom Group’s acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG) in a video memo circulated to its 107,000-plus employees.

In his speech, Sadoun cautioned staff not to get too comfortable being the world’s biggest holding group by revenues and predicted the deal would be “positive for the industry at large.”

Standing beside Snoop Dogg in the company’s annual holiday wishes video last week, the leader proudly announced the network was poised to claim the title of the world’s largest advertising group, with consensus estimates from financial research platform Visible Alpha forecasting Publicis to pull in sales of $14.5 billion by the end of 2024.

Publicis’ reign at the top could be short-lived, though, as Omnicom’s newly combined company boasts revenues of $25.6 billion, based on 2023 figures. Now, Sadoun acknowledged the business may not be a permanent fixture at the top of the table.

“I hope you are enjoying being the ‘top dogg.’ But don’t get used to it, because it may not last past 2025. As you know, Omnicom has decided to go shopping and has plans to buy IPG,” Sadoun told staff.

He was optimistic in his tone, though, stating the move towards “three main global players” among agency holding groups would help soften the blow of the financial pressures currently facing the ad market.

“Second, this is a big opportunity for us,” he stated, pointing to lessons learned from the failed Publicis-Omnicom merger a decade ago. “[We know that] an acquisition of this size will require every leader to be focused internally on integration if they want to be successful.”  

“On our side, our transformation is behind us. We have invested in data and technology in the last decade roughly what Omnicom will pay for IPG in one go. Our capabilities are fully integrated. Our model has been outperforming for the last five years,” Sadoun added.

You can watch the video Sadon shared with staff on Thursday (Dec. 12), and read the corresponding transcript in full below.

Bonjour,

I hope you are enjoying being the top dogg. But don’t get used to it, because it may not last past 2025. As you know, Omnicom has decided to go shopping and has plans to buy IPG. I know you have a lot of questions about this deal. So, I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts.

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