ZenithOptimedia tops Recma’s 2013 Compitches rankings for APAC

Carat fared well particularly in China, Hong Kong and Thailand to climb three positions and come in second. Mediacom remained at number three but lost a point in the final tally. Another GroupM agency, MEC, improved its position compared the prior year, moving from fifth to fourth. OMD, Mindshare and UM share the fifth spot. 

Starcom was the biggest loser in the tally, dropping five positions due to low scores in India and Australia. Maxus’ index increased from 66 to 74, and the agency came in eighth, driven by good results in India, one of its key markets.

Havas remained stable. Vizeum lost 15 index points and fell four spots to 13, while Dentsu rose 22 points. Initiative gained 10 points to rank 10th on the list.

The report is based on a weighted, country-by-country ranking. Asia-Pacific represents 20 per cent of the points for 44 countries. China receives a higher weighting of six. Australia and India are weighted at three each. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan account for one point. Although Japan is one of the leading countries in APAC, it is not part of the study because of Dentsu’s dominant position in the market, where international players represent a small part of the industry.

Globally, MediaCom  finished 2013 as the most successful network, ahead of rivals Carat and ZenithOptimedia. Taking into account the past three years, Mediacom remains the leader, followed by OMD, ZenithOptimedia, Carat and UM, Recma said. 

“I think we had a stellar year last year,” Toby Jenner, MediaCom’s global chief business development and marketing officer told Campaign Asia-Pacific. “MediaCom are 10 per cent ahead of the competition thanks to the wins we had last year and our refreshed thinking. The outcome is that clients are seeing us making a big difference.”

On a group level, GroupM showed the best performance in 2013, with a cumulative score that accounted for 31 per cent of the total points distributed between the six media-agency networks.

The rankings also provide a window into the performance of Publicis-Omnicom Group, even though it doesn't officially exist. Although 37 per cent bigger in billing volume than GroupM, the would-be group came in behind GroupM in the ranking, with a 29 per cent share of points.