Challenges that lie ahead for Omnicom-IPG after EU’s green light

On Monday, the EU Commission gave its unconditional approval to Omnicom Group’s $13.25 billion all-stock acquisition of Interpublic Group. The deal merges the world’s third- and fourth-largest advertising holding companies into what will now become the largest advertising group globally. 

Announced last December, this mega-consolidation marks the most significant structural realignment the global advertising industry has seen in decades, coming at a time when traditional agency networks are under immense pressure to compete with Big Tech platforms and the accelerating dominance of AI-driven marketing solutions.

The merger puts an unprecedented spotlight on six major creative networks now sitting under one roof: FCB, DDB, BBDO, McCann, MullenLowe, and TBWA, raising deep questions around identity, integration and client conflict. 

In India, the shockwaves are likely to be even more pronounced, with the market entering a new era where the combined entity and WPP will stand as the two dominant forces shaping talent mobility, media buying power and agency consolidation.

The regulatory green light may have formalised the acquisition, but it has also set the stage for the hardest part. As industry leaders point out, the new entity must now confront a set of deep structural challenges.

Where cultures and systems might collide

As two massive global organisations come together, aligning cultures, working styles, and internal structures becomes the most critical determinant of success. This is where the acquisition moves from Excel sheets to everyday realities.

Ashish Bhasin, Founder, The Bhasin Consulting Group, believes this is the single most defining challenge. He explained that while financial and legal issues are handled by accountants and lawyers, the bigger concern is always the people front. “The hardest thing is always the people front. And this is an acquisition, not a merger; Omnicom is acquiring IPG. For stakeholders, especially employees and clients, the uncertainty is huge. Ultimately, two large organisations have their own culture and their own way of working. Aligning those cultures and making them move in one direction is a massive challenge,” he said. 

He added that without a common vision, cultural uncertainty quickly ripples through the organisation, creating anxiety at every level.

Building on this, Saurabh Varma, Founder & CEO, Wondrlab, said the real challenge isn’t the paperwork but the operating culture. “Combining balance sheets, P&Ls and office networks is the easy part. The cultural and operational integration, bridging creative, media, data and technology in a way that amplifies upstream business impact, is where the fate of this giant will be decided.”

Between the two perspectives lies a shared truth: the merger’s success depends less on financial efficiency and more on whether people, teams and cultures can collaborate meaningfully.

Client conflicts and relationship management

As the new entity brings together more than a dozen major global agency brands, client conflicts are unavoidable, and clients will want immediate clarity.

Introducing the concern, Nisha Sampath, Founder and Managing Partner, Bright Angles Consulting, stated, “The single biggest challenge will be to manage existing client relationships and mitigate their concerns.”

She highlighted the early turbulence clients experience during any large-scale consolidation, especially in categories where opposing brands sit across the same table.

Bhasin further emphasised how deep and complex these conflicts can run in real markets. He said, “Large organisations have different clients in every sector, which creates potential conflicts. Whether it’s FMCG, financial services or automobiles, this needs careful handling because no client wants to feel compromised.”

With multiple global agencies now operating under one parent, overlapping client portfolios and competing priorities inevitably create friction. Conflict management won’t be a one-time exercise; it will be a continuous, global-to-local balancing act.

Preserving agency identities 

With six creative networks under one roof, the question of identity preservation becomes unavoidable. As per media reports, agencies like FCB and DDB are already under global scrutiny about how they may evolve under the merged structure.

Pointing to a long-standing industry pattern, Sampath said, “Time and again, experience shows that the battle to preserve distinct identities is lost. Even strong brands end up getting merged and consolidated in the larger business picture.”

She highlights the emotional and strategic weight agency brands carry in markets like India.

Adding to this, Bhasin noted that global decisions rarely align with local realities. He said, “There will be casualties among agency brands. These decisions are usually taken globally without always considering what it means for individual markets, and that leads to a loss of brand value locally.”

The challenge, therefore, isn’t just structural, it affects legacy, culture, and the creative soul of each agency brand inside the network.

Talent and redundancies

Any merger of this magnitude inevitably triggers consolidation across support systems and overlapping functions. This could include everything from shared service hubs to integrated operating models.

On the implications of such mergers, Bhasin said, “When mergers of this scale happen, many thousands of jobs typically get cut because of synergies. Support systems like finance, HR and IT are usually the first to be impacted.”

Sampath added the India-specific dimension: “We have seen a pattern of greater cost-cutting and consolidation in India in the past. Here too, this is likely to be the case, creating greater talent churn.”

For India, where agency cultures are deeply relationship-led, the talent impact may reverberate faster and more visibly.

Shifting power and competition in India

India is set to be one of the most affected markets due to the sheer number of creative networks that now fall under one parent. The competitive landscape is expected to shift.

Varma highlighted the complexity that comes with this acquisition. He said, “Six powerful creative brands now sit under one roof, each with deep legacy, culture and client love. Preserving their distinctiveness while wiring them into shared media, tech and data capabilities will require a new operating model, not just reporting-line reshuffles.”

His point highlights that India won’t just be a follower market, it is one of the toughest organisational puzzles in the merger.

Placing this shift within the broader competitive framework, Bhasin said,  “In India, there will now be a strong, sizeable competitor to WPP. The Indian market will effectively have two large players, this new entity and WPP, along with a strong Publicis in the global top tier.”

This suggests that the merger will reshape pitches, talent flow, client negotiations and the overall balance of power in India’s advertising economy.

From a distance, this merger can look like the end of an era. In reality, it’s the beginning of a new one. The industry is at an inflection point where creativity, powered by precision and intelligence, can sit at the heart of business transformation. Scale may get you a seat at the table. But only integration, true, working, interoperable integration, will keep you there. And that’s the opportunity for all of us, not just for the merged entity.

-Saurabh Varma 

The Omnicom-IPG merger is more than a financial transaction; it marks a turning point for global advertising. As the world’s largest agency network takes shape, its biggest challenges, culture, identity, clients, talent and market alignment, are deeply intertwined.