MAM
Starcom wins LVMH media account
MUMBAI: The Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH ) Watch and Jewellery account has finally found its media house in India. In a pitch against eight other media agencies, Starcom MediaVest Delhi bagged the account and it is now ready to spearhead their launch in India.
The Paris-based LVMH, one of the world’s leading luxury product groups, recently launched its watch & jewellery division in India. TAG Heuer and Christian Dior, two of the group’s star brands, will herald their entry into the country, said to be an extremely important and promising market for them, an official release states.
“We are thrilled and proud to be associated with LVMH. Starcom will handle all the brands under the W&J division: Christian Dior, TAG Heuer, Ebel and Zenith. The product category is still unexplored in our country and therefore our work will be extremely challenging. We cannot rely on past examples – we will have to create them. India is a key market for LVMH and our strategies coupled with their excellent team will ensure that India retains its priority and develops strongly in the coming years,” the release quoted Andrey Purushottam, managing director, Starcom MediaVest India, as saying.
“One of my key responsibilities is to spearhead our Delhi operations,” Ravi Moorthy, media director, Starcom MediaVest Mumbai. “Delhi is an exciting market and our recent big wins show the faith the clients have reposed in us in the face of established competition. Starcom has begun investing strongly in Delhi in terms of people and systems. As is our norm in a people’s business, we are going through a rigorous process in setting up a strong team at Delhi.”
Gilles Mangin, general manager LVMH Watch & Jewellery India, confirmed that “India will be an important pillar for the Watch & Jewellery business in the near future, so we needed to choose our media partner very carefully. Starcom showed the best understanding of the product category – luxury watches – which is not a sector widely advertised in India and needs careful analysis to avoid wastage. They also demonstrated professionalism and reactivity. Moreover, the W&J division will be the first one to advertise in India.”
AD Agencies
Omnicom Q4: Posts big revenue gains amid restructuring
Company trims underperforming units and launches $5B share buyback to reward investors.
MUMBAI: Omnicom has decided that in the world of global advertising, it is better to be a big fish in an even bigger pond. The marketing powerhouse, which recently swallowed its rival IPG, has kicked off 2026 by showing the market that it is not just buying growth – it is engineering it. In a series of bold strategic manoeuvres, the group has doubled its projected cost-savings target to a whopping $1.5 billion over the next three years.
The fourth-quarter results for 2025, released on 18 February 2026, paint a picture of a company in the midst of a massive structural makeover. Reported revenue for the quarter shot up 27.9 per cent to $5,528.8 million, a figure heavily bolstered by the first full month of IPG’s operations under the Omnicom umbrella. For the full year, revenue reached $17,271.9 million, marking a 10.1 per cent increase as the company integrated heavyweights like Acxiom Real iD and Flywheel Commerce Cloud into its next generation Omni platform.
However, bigger does not always mean tidier. The group reported a Gaap net loss of $941.1 million for the final quarter, or $4.02 per diluted share. This was primarily due to a massive $1.1 billion bill for severance and real estate repositioning, alongside a $543.4 million loss on the sale of non-strategic businesses. When these one-off integration headaches are stripped away, the underlying performance looks far more robust, with adjusted net income reaching $607.7 million and earnings per share of $2.59, comfortably ahead of the prior year’s $2.41.
The group is also trimming the fat elsewhere. Management has identified underperforming and non-strategic units representing approximately $2.5 billion in revenue for exit or sale. Meanwhile, smaller majority-owned markets bringing in $700 million are being moved to minority positions. This portfolio pruning is designed to focus the New Omnicom on higher-growth areas like media, creative content, and data-driven consulting.
Investors, it seems, are being kept sweet with a significant return of capital. The board has approved a fresh $5 billion share repurchase program, initiating an immediate $2.5 billion accelerated buyback. This comes on top of $549.6 million paid out in common dividends during the year.
Performance across the sectors was a mixed bag but generally positive in the heavy-hitting divisions. Media and advertising revenue surged 34.4 per cent in the fourth quarter to $3,322.6 million, while public relations grew 12.4 per cent to $500.8 million. On the flip side, branding and retail commerce saw a 7.0 per cent dip. Regionally, the US remains the engine room, with revenue jumping 51.9 per cent to $2,869.1 million in the quarter, while the UK saw a respectable 18.8 per cent rise to $533.2 million.
With a total debt of $9.1 billion following the IPG acquisition, the group is leaning on its cash-generative nature to keep its investment-grade credit rating intact. Free cash flow for the year stood at $2,226.1 million, up from $1,964.7 million in 2024. As the company moves into 2026, the focus is firmly on the Connected Capability model, essentially ensuring that its global army of talent is pulling in the same direction, and more importantly, within a much leaner budget.
