Is 2023 a key year for Content Production?

While working with our clients, many of the key discussions recently have been about production.  Are we doing it effectively/efficiently? Is there a better way? Who else is out there?

For the last few years the key players in the market have remained relatively consistent — but is this now about to change…

It is not yet a full three months into the year and we have already seen two huge players from the Top 6 Holding Groups in their quest for end-to-end content production.

Publicis

As the year started, Publicis were the first to show their cards.  Publicis have for some time been one of the market leaders in content production, primarily through their agency Prodigious who  were already said to be plugged into the Publicis network and a key part of the delivery of the ‘Publicis One’ model.  Although, in reality I’ve never been 100% convinced that its really the case.  February’s announcement of a raft of new senior appointments and internal promotions looks to be a big shake up and will elevate Production within the group to a more significant cog in their offering.  In their own words; ‘this will position production as the link between creative and media, with data connecting all parts of the marketing supply chain’.  It remains to be seen how quickly, and to  what extent Publicis will be able provide a truly global proposition but it’s for sure a show of intent

Dentsu / Tag

The news broke this week that Dentsu have entered into a definitive agreement with Advent International for the acquisition of Tag Worldwide Holdings Ltd.  While this came as a bit of a surprise to many, it seems like a fantastic move from Dentsu to elevate their ability to service their global clients content needs.  It was only last year that Dentsu Creative was formed, with the consolidation of a number of agencies including McGarry Bowen, 360i and Isobar.  This was ultimately to: ‘simplify client engagement and inject creativity in everything Dentsu International does, all backed by a depth and breadth of creative capabilities that are unparalleled in the market.  Assuming the deal for Tag goes through, they will very soon be able to add a significant new string to that bow with an impressive content production capability alongside this creative offering.  In recent times, it has felt that Dentsu was in some ways being left behind by the top holding groups – but in my view, this could now bring them back into the fold.

And what about the rest - can they keep pace?

So where does this leave the rest of the market?  WPP have always had a strong Production offering through Hogarth.  Omnicom has EG+ and Interpublic has Craft, and to a somewhat lesser extent Havas has the Havas Studio.   We also see BrandTech with a more unique offering in Oliver for custom built production teams and also S4Capital with a more digital focussed offering in Media.Monks.

 The moves from Publicis and Dentsu will of course put pressure on WPP, Omnicom, Interpublic and Havas.  To my mind, it’s now down to Havas to try to keep pace with the rest — this could be through organic growth of their Havas Studio, or through acquisition as Dentsu have done.  The one party I have yet to mention is Jellyfish.  Jellyfish, acquired Splash Worldwide in 2021 to bolster their digital services offering with a production and localisation solution.  Since 2022, Jellyfish have themselves been in talks over a sale to BrandTech (itself founded by former Havas chief executive David Jones!) but those talks seems to have gone very quiet of late.

 Could this bring Havas into the mix?  Would Jellyfish be a good option for them to quickly grow and scale their studio and enable them to compete in this newly competitive environment of Content Production?

 It’s such an interesting time right now in the content production space; with the increasing potential of AI in generating content quickly & cheaply and the use of virtual production becoming more widespread.   It’s more important than ever that the Holding Groups don’t get left behind as the market continues to evolve, I look forward to seeing who blinks next…