Rating of advertising agencies of the Russian Federation from AdIndex: Media Instinct remains the leader

According to AdIndex estimates, leaders have changed in the top three largest advertising agencies in the Russian Federation: in terms of contract volume, SberMarketing came in second place, which was occupied by OMD OM Group, and SkyTecKnowlogy, which occupied ninth place a year ago, came in third. Media Instinct remained the leader. Agencies with a low share of foreign clients and local companies have predictably outperformed international ones, AdIndex notes. However, ADV and Okkam consider the estimates underestimated by at least half, planning to increase the volume of media purchases in 2023 and take a leading position.

AdIndex prepared for Kommersant an annual rating of agencies involved in the sale of advertising on TV, radio, in the press, outdoor advertising and the Internet. It is compiled on the basis of data on advertising outputs from research companies Mediascope, AdMetrix and Digital Budget.

The top 3 agencies at the end of 2022 have changed: SberMarketing has taken the second place, having replaced OMD OM Group, it confirmed the receipt of contracts for 17.6 billion rubles. Carat (now Mera), which occupied third place a year earlier, is now in fourth place with a turnover of 16.6 billion rubles, its position was taken by SkyTecKnowlogy (formerly SkyTec), which was in ninth place. Media Instinct retained its leading position, with purchases amounting to RUB 22 billion. It is specified that the top 10 agencies account for 57% of agency purchases and 38% of the entire market.

According to AdIndex, the actual loss of the advertising industry in 2022 amounted to 7.3% in monetary terms. The ACAR previously estimated the total volume of advertising in 2022 for four media segments (Internet, radio, press and the UN) at 392 billion rubles, which is 2% less than a year earlier.

Advertisers have been cutting budgets since the start of the pandemic (see Kommersant on March 18, 2020). The market began to recover in 2021, but after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, foreign advertising platforms (YouTube, Google Ads, etc.), as well as almost all the largest foreign advertisers, left Russia.

It was possible to achieve a “soft landing” due to the training of market participants in overcoming the crises of 2009 and 2015, when the industry lost 28% and 10%, respectively, says Irina Pustovit, the compiler of the rating. “In addition, agencies with a low share of foreign clients, as well as local players, were in a better position than international ones,” she notes.

According to AdIndex, OMD OM Group, the leader of the Russian media purchasing market, continues to increase its lead over its closest rival, Okkam Group (formerly dentsu Russia; Mera, IKS, People & Screens, iProspect agencies are included). In 2022, the difference between their turnovers turned out to be more than twofold, although in 2021 the delta between them was only 25%.

At the same time, a conflict arose around the rating: Okkam and ADV (Havas Media, Arena, UM, Initiative, Adlabs, HADI) sent an official ban on the mention of the group’s companies in the AdIndex rating and refused to provide data. AdIndex emphasized that they publish ratings for these groups “for reference, based on data from open sources in the absence of confirmation from them.”

ADV told Kommersant that the volume of media placements for the group differs from AdIndex by about 2.5 times. “AdIndex does not have client lists of agencies of our group, the published information is not true,” they noted. Even a simple check on publicly available data from the Federal Tax Service will give the group revenue of more than 60 billion rubles, which differs from the AdIndex estimate by about half, emphasizes Okkam CEO Mikhail Shklyaev. The volume of media purchases of the ADV group in 2023 will be higher than last year, which will allow us to strengthen our position in the top 3 advertising groups, according to the company. Okkam says that “a more accurate estimate for the group can be made closer to the fourth quarter.” The NMi Group also “has some questions” about the rating numbers. “But we, together with other holdings, are ready to support our colleagues in finalizing the methodology,” they note there.

The market volume in 2023, taking into account retail media, can reach the indicators of 2021, Starlink (part of Rodnaya Speech Group) predicts. Thus, CEO Marat Kunikeev estimates the current growth of the agency’s billing at about plus 40% by 2022 due to victories in several major tenders. On the whole market, according to OMD OM Group, the basic forecast of 7% growth in monetary terms remains. However, due to the weakening of the exchange rate in the current year, the group’s experts expect a decline in dollar terms.

Yurasova Julia