INTERNATIONAL NEWS: AMV and Zenith once again top agency rankings

<p>Agencies have enjoyed a surge in spending, according to the latest </p><p>figures from ACNielsen MMS, which show substantial billings hikes for </p><p>several creative and media agencies, partly fuelled by the dotcom </p><p>boom. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO (AMV) and Zenith Media have both maintained </p><p>pole position in their respective billings tables. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>AMV increased billings by 4.54 per cent to £416.81 million (about </p><p>US$589 million). On the media side, Zenith rose by an impressive </p><p>15.91 per cent to £641.54 million (about US$907 </p><p>million). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MediaCom TMB also enjoyed a significant hike in billings of more than 27 </p><p>per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency rose from sixth to third in the rankings, largely owing to </p><p>its Volkswagen Audi Group win last autumn. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The newly merged Starcom Motive enjoyed a leap from tenth to fifth place </p><p>on the media table and a 40.87 per cent rise, taking the merged total to </p><p>£421.77 million. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>J. Walter Thompson rose from sixth to third place on the creative table, </p><p>fuelled by a 10.7 per cent rise in billings to £290.63 million. </p><p>Its rise was partly due to the fall of Lowe Lintas, which moved from </p><p>second place to fifth. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But significant leaps or falls in the rankings were few and far </p><p>between. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Large increases in billings have been mostly uniform. This has resulted </p><p>in agencies either maintaining their position or only moving </p><p>slightly. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Publicis' billings rose by 9.07 per cent to £259.02 million, yet </p><p>the agency stayed in seventh place in the rankings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the same time, OMD's 15.89 per cent billings surge was not enough to </p><p>move it up from last year's fourth position. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Paul Taylor, the managing director of OMD UK, said: "The dotcoms have </p><p>certainly produced a catalyst in the first two quarters of this </p><p>year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Inflation has been fuelled by new entrants, including the dotcoms." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>HHCL & Partners, too, performed well, with billings rising by 26.82 per </p><p>cent to £106.14 million. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Roose & Partners rose from 31st to 24th place with a billings hike of </p><p>50.78 per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ted Roose, the chairman of Roose & Partners, said of the increase: </p><p>"Velvet Toilet Tissue has become very active, Mitsubishi has come on </p><p>stream, and there is a dotcom element with the launch of Virgin </p><p>Cars." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>AMV AND ZENITH RETAIN THEIR HOLD ON TOP SPOTS </p><p>AGENCIES </p><p>Rank Agency Billings Billings Year on Year </p><p>'00 '99 year ending year ending % change </p><p> June 00 June 99 </p><p> (pounds m) (pounds m) </p><p>1 1 AMV BBDO 416.81 398.69 4.54 </p><p>2 3 BMP DDB 306.07 280.04 9.29 </p><p>3 6 J. Walter Thompson 290.63 262.52 10.70 </p><p>4 4 McCann-Erickson 286.40 268.70 6.58 </p><p>5 2 Lowe Lintas 273.92 331.74 -17.42 </p><p>6 5 Saatchi & Saatchi 259.07 267.70 -3.22 </p><p>7 7 Publicis 259.02 237.47 9.07 </p><p>8 8 M&C Saatchi 250.86 216.24 16.00 </p><p>9 10 TBWA GGT 237.92 212.41 12.01 </p><p>10 11 Rainey Kelly/Y&R 226.26 209.35 8.07 </p><p>11 9 Ogilvy 219.84 214.98 2.26 </p><p>12 12 Bates UK 209.71 173.52 20.85 </p><p>13 15 D'Arcy 203.34 165.43 22.91 </p><p>14 16 WCRS 180.77 154.98 16.63 </p><p>15 13 Grey Advertising 179.82 168.46 6.74 </p><p>16 14 Euro RSCG 165.88 165.61 0.16 </p><p>17 18 Leo Burnett 149.49 118.67 25.97 </p><p>18 17 Bartle Bogle Hegarty 138.85 130.98 6.01 </p><p>19 20 HHCL & Partners 106.14 83.69 26.82 </p><p>20 19 Banks Hoggins/FCB 100.42 90.83 10.54 </p><p>21 27 St Luke's 77.27 41.08 88.01 </p><p>22 21 BDH TBWA 53.64 62.05 -13.54 </p><p>23 25 Delaney Lund 52.96 49.15 7.75 </p><p>24 31 Roose & Partners 52.59 34.88 50.78 </p><p>25 22 Leagas Delaney 50.67 52.14 -2.82 </p><p>26 23 CDP 45.27 51.44 -12.00 </p><p>27 30 Golley Slater 43.23 35.38 22.17 </p><p>28 34 Mortimer Whitaker 41.75 29.99 39.21 </p><p>29 26 WWAV Rapp Collins 41.12 43.97 -6.48 </p><p>30 32 Duckworth Finn 35.84 34.25 4.63 </p><p>Source: AC Nielsen MMS. </p><p>MEDIA AGENCIES </p><p>Rank Agency Billings Billings Year on Year </p><p>'00 '99 year ending year ending % change </p><p> June 00 June 99 </p><p> (pounds m) (pounds m) </p><p>1 1 Zenith Media 641.54 553.48 15.91 </p><p>2 2 Carat 560.72 492.91 13.75 </p><p>3 6 MediaCom TMB 442.01 347.70 27.12 </p><p>4 4 OMD UK 424.54 366.32 15.89 </p><p>5 10 Starcom Motive 421.77 299.39 40.87 </p><p>6 3 Universal McCann 402.43 387.66 3.81 </p><p>7 5 MindShare 384.43 356.86 7.72 </p><p>8 8 New PHD 319.40 311.55 2.51 </p><p>9 7 Initiative Media 319.12 324.90 -1.77 </p><p>10 9 MediaVest 311.50 311.10 0.12 </p><p>11 11 CIA Medianetwork 261.00 264.74 -1.41 </p><p>12 15 Manning Gottlieb 236.21 172.72 36.75 </p><p>13 12 Optimedia 226.55 206.83 9.53 </p><p>14 14 Media Planning 194.10 200.32 -3.10 </p><p>15 17 Walker Media 164.33 110.28 49.00 </p><p>16 13 BBJ 156.66 203.65 -23.07 </p><p>17 16 Western 155.63 159.80 -2.61 </p><p>18 18 MBS Group 82.15 71.70 14.57 </p><p>19 28 BJK&E 63.71 31.35 103.23 </p><p>20 25 Brilliant 63.38 42.47 49.23 </p><p>21 21 Feather Brooksbank 63.18 56.67 11.47 </p><p>22 23 MediaVest Manchester 58.88 48.05 22.52 </p><p>23 19 CDP Media 58.48 70.72 -17.30 </p><p>24 22 John Ayling & </p><p> Associates 43.34 52.41 -17.29 </p><p>25 29 Booth Lockett Makin 40.77 29.15 39.84 </p><p>26 27 New PHD Compass 39.13 33.78 15.81 </p><p>27 26 Media Campaign </p><p> Services 35.60 38.43 -7.34 </p><p>28 24 WWAV Rapp Collins </p><p> Media 31.85 43.35 -26.54 </p><p>29 33 TCS Media Group 30.50 22.35 36.44 </p><p>30 36 AMS Media Group 29.00 20.38 42.26 </p><p> Source: AC Nielsen MMS. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>