Omnicom Media India has emerged as the top-ranked media agency group in India in the latest RECMA Network Diagnostics Report 2026. The independent agency research firm places the network just under 35% in qualitative share, ahead of all rival groups in the country.
Globally, the group retained its position as the best-performing global media group for a second consecutive report, with No.1 rankings in Asia Pacific, North America, EMEA and LATAM.
What the ranking actually rewards
RECMA’s bi-annual diagnostics report is not a simple billings table. It evaluates around 700 agencies across 45 markets on 19 key performance indicators split across vitality and structure.
Those indicators go beyond billings and new business wins to capture client retention and relationship stability, access to digital, data and content resources, and consistent performance across markets. In other words, the score tries to measure agency strength rather than agency spend.
India’s top six are an Omnicom story
Three of the six highest-ranked media agencies in India belong to Omnicom Media: PHD, Initiative and OMD. Lodestar UM received a Good rating. PHD and OMD posted the highest Vitality scores among ranked agencies, while PHD led the market in year-on-year client portfolio growth.
Across Asia Pacific, OMD held first position and PHD took third, with both in the region’s top five for vitality and structure. OMD retained its APAC and Southeast Asia lead for the third consecutive diagnostic, with a 10.2% qualitative share in the region.
The business momentum behind the score
RECMA summed up the result in blunt terms, saying the group “is emerging as the new industry powerhouse”. The network leads the report’s Activity Volume/Billings view with about 30% industry share and tops the qualitative diagnostic at just under 35%.
The recognition follows a busy new business run. October 2026 media assignments included:
- The Coca-Cola Company in North America
- Lidl across Europe
- Lavazza and Lufthansa Group globally
- L’Oréal in the DACH region and The British Council
Across 2026, the group has added or retained Adidas, Aviva, CVS, Delta, Dyson, IBM, Novo Nordisk, Uber and Xiaomi. It says year-to-date billings won or retained through competitive pitches have crossed US$9 billion—higher than any other holding company. In India, recent wins include Netflix, AMFI, OpenAI, Adidas, Dr. Reddy’s, Xiaomi and Amazon Music.
Why this should change your agency scorecard
For marketers, the ranking is a reminder that agency selection often over-weights pitch wins and last quarter’s billings. RECMA’s model rewards the slower signals that decide whether a relationship will hold: portfolio stability, data and commerce depth, and the ability to deliver consistently across markets.
Kartik Sharma, CEO, Omnicom Media India, framed that ambition as helping clients “turn the growing complexity of the Indian media landscape into a competitive advantage”—by connecting talent, technology, data and commerce capabilities instead of running them as separate solutions.
RECMA also noted that Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG is strengthening the group’s portfolio, with all agencies benefiting from more integrated data and digital specialist units. That is a structural point worth watching, not just for Omnicom but for what it signals about how agency networks are being evaluated.
Source: MediaNews4U
