Wavemaker, Spark Foundry, PHD lead India’s media agency rankings in 2024: COMvergence

Mumbai: Wavemaker, Spark Foundry and PHD topped the list of India’s best-performing media agencies in 2024, according to the COMvergence 2024 New Business Barometer. Among holding groups, GroupM led by a wide margin, followed by Omnicom Media Group and Publicis Media Group.

COMvergence, an global independent research firm, tracked 157 account moves and retentions in India last year, with estimated media spends of $1.1 billion. Local pitches made up 62% of this total—consistent with the 60% global average.

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Amazon, Tata Motors, Kenvue, Tata Consumer Products, Volkswagen, Meesho, Hewlett Packard, Levi’s, Oppo and Spotify were among the most high-profile moves during the year.

Market movers

GroupM added $447 million in new business, driven by wins such as Amazon and Tata Consumer Products. Omnicom Media Group, with accounts such as Tata Motors, Volkswagen and HDFC Life, followed at $183 million, while Publicis Media Group clocked $71 million through wins including Kenvue and Relaxo Footwear.

The other agencies that made it to the top five were Madison Media and EssenceMediacom.

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“The top three categories in India for new business were retail e-commerce, FMCG and automotive,” said Priyanka Mehra, regional director, South Asia & India, COMvergence. “While the first half was active, the bulk of big-ticket results—including the Amazon pitch—were finalised in the second half of the year.”

In the first half of 2024 Volkswagen, Meesho, Hewlett Packard, Levi’s, Oppo and Spotify were among the major account moves. PHD led the agency table in this period with $63 million in new business value, followed by Initiative ($46 million) and EssenceMediacom and Zenith ($29 million each). GroupM, Omnicom and Mediabrands led among holding groups during the first half of the year.

COMvergence tracked more than 3,900 media account moves and retentions across 48 countries in 2024, amounting to $39 billion of spends—an 11% increase over 2023.

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