NEW YORK: Omnicom Group reported that its PR discipline had performed very strongly during the third quarter of 2006, generating $290.9 million in revenue, representing an increase of 13.1% versus Q3 2005.
Tom Harrison, president and CEO of Omnicom unit DAS, said all of the holding company's PR firms performed well in Q3.
"Literally every one of our PR groups grew significantly [this quarter]," he told PRWeek, "and some of them had the best months in the histories of the companies."
Harrison said the discipline's growth came from a variety of sources, including both organic growth within the current base of clients or signing new clients. Harrison also attributed the strong performance to the increased importance placed on PR by client CEOs. Harrison added that this development was good for the industry, as well as the agency.
"The one thing that I've noticed in talking to CEOs is that clients are really beginning to understand the true value that PR can lend either to a corporation or to a brand," he said. "I do believe the tide is rising and clients are beginning to understand [PR's] true integral value to brands and corporations. They are tapping into it more to help expand their markets and grow their brands."
Worldwide Omnicom revenue increased over 10% to $2.8 billion from $2.5 billion in Q3 2005, and PR represented 10.5% of the marketing services' revenue in the quarter.
"Our PR business is now performing at a level that we've been expecting for quite a while," said John Wren, president of Omnicom, during the earnings teleconference. "This is reflective in both the quality of these firms and the quality of their work."
