AD Agencies
Omnicom’s net income up 2% at $209 million in Q1 2015
MUMBAI: The world’s second largest advertising company Omnicom Group Inc reported a meagre two per cent rise in net income for the first quarter of 2015 despite seeing a decline in revenue. The company’s net income rose from $205.5 million (or 77 cents per share) to $209.1 million (or 82 cents per share).
Omnicom’s worldwide revenue in the first quarter of 2015 decreased one per cent to $3,469.2 million from $3,502.2 million in the first quarter of 2014.
Domestic revenue for the first quarter of 2015 increased 4.6 per cent to $1,958.2 million compared to $1,871.8 million in the first quarter of 2014. International revenue decreased 7.3 per cent to $1,511.0 million compared to $1,630.4 million in the first quarter of 2014.
For the quarter ended 31 March, 2015, organic growth increased revenue 5.1 per cent, acquisitions, net of dispositions increased revenue 0.4 per cent, while the impact of foreign exchange rates decreased revenue 6.4 per cent when compared to the first quarter of 2014.
Across regional markets, organic revenue in the first quarter of 2015 increased 4.8 per cent in North America, 9.3 per cent in the United Kingdom, 2.7 per cent in the Euro Markets and Other Europe, 6.7 per cent in Asia Pacific, 3.4 per cent in Latin America and 10.6 per cent in Africa/Middle East, when compared to the same quarter of 2014.
The change in organic revenue in the first quarter of 2015 as compared to the first quarter of 2014 in our four fundamental disciplines was as follows: advertising increased 7.7 per cent, CRM increased 2.6 per cent, public relations increased 3.1 per cent and specialty communications increased 2.6 per cent.
For the first quarter of 2015, Omnicom’s earnings before interest, taxes and amortization of intangibles (EBITA), a non-GAAP financial measure, decreased $2.1 million, or 0.5 per cent, to $405 million from $407.1 million in the first quarter of 2014. The company’s EBITA margin increased to 11.7 per cent for the first quarter of 2015 versus 11.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2014.
Operating income in the first quarter of 2015 decreased $5 million, or 1.3 per cent, to $377.7 million from $382.7 million in the first quarter of 2014. Operating margin in the first quarter of 2015 of 10.9 per cent was unchanged when compared to the first quarter of 2014.
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
