Global agency network group Omnicom Media Group (OMG) hit the headlines back in 2023 with a pledge to invest significantly in the North, with plans for a new Newcastle office set to bring up to 170 jobs to the region.
Now, after over a year and a half at Portland House in Newcastle’s bustling city centre, how are these ambitious plans shaping up?
“We’ve moved through three different office spaces within Portland House,” Pete Coates, managing director at Omnicom Media Group’s Newcastle office, tells Prolific North.
“Starting with a modest 10-desk setup just last February, we quickly outgrew it, and later moved into a 24-desk space.”
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Today, OMG occupies the entire fourth floor of the building, boasting a team of over 38 staff.
“It has been my proudest moment, witnessing our growth journey through spaces within the building. Having gone from nothing to that in just over 12 months was really quite inspiring. Every single person we’ve hired has come in with a great attitude and a willingness to go above and beyond.”
Coates, a born and bred Geordie, previously worked at the BBC and later led client groups at iProspect UK. After seeing OMG’s plans for the North East, he knew he’d be the perfect fit to spearhead the new office and joined as MD in early 2024.
“I believed in Newcastle’s potential and I know the city inside out. There is a rich stream of exceptional talent here in the city and sometimes it doesn’t get noticed.
“But when OMG were out looking for locations in the UK to open a new office, it did get noticed, combined with the new business growth potential there.”
A “unique” agency model
With strategic locations now spanning London, Manchester, and Newcastle in the UK, OMG operates under a unique “agency as a platform” model designed to foster collaboration and agility across its network.
“Our footprint now forms a nice triangle in the UK. If you think about proximity to brands, we kind of have all bases covered,” he explains.
“There’s a good culture here for people to really collaborate and work together. When we set Newcastle up, we thought long and hard about what our model was and how we would talk to talent or clients about it.”
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While many network agencies apply one of three common models for Northern operations such as: the silo, service centre, or “shop front” model, Coates believes OMG’s approach doesn’t follow the typical agency playbook.
“The problem with those models is that clients want access to a wide range of capabilities without layers of management and complexities. The world changes so fast so they want an agency they can trust that can deliver at a moment’s notice, with access to skills and capabilities.”
Rather than confining offices to specific remits or standalone functions, OMG’s model gives teams across the UK the freedom to “seamlessly” collaborate on projects based on client needs.
“We’ve designed our business in Newcastle so that clients dictate the structure we build. That agile model means we can scale quickly and add capabilities when needed. It’s inspired by the way the big networks in the US operate – where multiple teams can work across time zones but still feel cohesive.”
This model is a big selling point to talent, which was a major driver behind why OMG UK decided to invest in Newcastle. And the talent is “absolutely” there in the North East.
“We’ve done really, really well at attracting people because of our growth ambition in Newcastle and because we offer the opportunity to build and develop your skills working on some of the biggest brands in the world.”
After plenty of interest, and a little black book that’s starting to fill up fast with potential talent, he believes OMG is becoming a “destination employer” in the city.
“We do offer something that’s quite different. With the talent we have been recruiting, we’ve hired some people who’ve got network agency experience, but we’ve had a lot of people who haven’t.
“Our growth plans are also heavily focused on bringing entry level talent into the business as well. We’ve been really smart in building a structure that brings teams in, rather than like a hodgepodge of individuals doing different things.”
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20 per cent of OMG’s Newcastle hires are at entry level who are “taking their first steps” into the media agency world, from school leavers to graduates and career switchers.
“We’re very focused on building partnerships with educational organisations and businesses in the city to promote careers in our industry as a starting point, because that’s a job that needs to be done by the industry as a whole.”
But there still needs to be an “education” around what media agencies are and the career pathways around it.
“I left university not even knowing media agencies were a thing – and now I’m running one,” he says.
“That’s why we’re actively partnering with Northumbria University and Newcastle University.”
“We have been the fastest-growing network from a new business perspective…”
Coates acknowledges the 170-job target in Newcastle is an ambitious goal but with the pace of the group’s growth, he’s confident it’s an achievable number.
“We are 100% focused on building modern structures and models that work for our clients and for our people. If we’re going to maintain that really strong culture, you have to build the structures in order to deliver that. Ultimately, as a group, we have been the fastest-growing network from a new business perspective for two years in a row.
“Growth like that enables us to fuel the growth of our business here in Newcastle.”
OMG’s culture-first approach extends to mental health and wellbeing for its staff too: “One of the first things is hiring people in leadership positions who care about people,” he explains.
“The key to management is finding the crossover between what the business needs and what individuals want to achieve. If you can do that, through conversations and communication, you create shared success on both sides.”
Although there is “inevitably” pressure in any workplace environment, solid communication is how to avoid some of those workplace cultures that may be considered toxic to some.
“I’ve really noticed just how approachable everybody here is, at every level. Within our business, it’s a really open culture with easy lines of communication.”
OMG also commits to an annual team survey where leadership reads every single comment from staff, as part of a wider effort to strengthen its culture.
“We’ve got the infrastructure that we need across the group to establish culture, but we just need to lift and shift that by making sure that we hire the right people who want to lean into this and deliver it.”
AI – and what’s next
With AI continuing to dominate agency discussions, OMG is taking a grassroots approach.
“It is heavily embraced,” Coates says. “We’ve empowered people at all levels to play, experiment and develop solutions that could help them in their day-to-day roles.
“Then we identify what ideas can be scaled to help others. It creates a real culture of creativity and innovation around AI, and this gives us the possibility that anything could potentially happen as it’s being sourced from the ground up.”
While OMG’s wider merger discussions with IPG were off limits, Coates shares what’s next for the Newcastle office.
“You can expect more growth from all different angles. We’re actively pursuing new business opportunities, using our base in Newcastle as a value-add for clients.”
With an already fast-growing team working across PPC, planning and buying, paid social, programmatic, adtech solutions and more, he says over the next six to 12 months the Newcastle office will start to bring in further diversification across skillsets and capabilities.
“And across the wider group? I think it’s just more of the same. I now see why that offer is so attractive to clients. The mix of great people, smart specialists, and collaborative culture makes us a really strong package.
“Expect more growth from OMG!”
