Omnicom’s Big Move, AI Brand Clarity, and Looking Ahead
Lessons in Innovation, Focus, and Effective Marketing
This week, I delve into the Omnicom acquisition of IPG, building on the earlier take that I shared in a Wall Street Journal piece titled, Marketers Prepare to Navigate ‘Huge Distraction’ of Omnicom’s IPG Acquisition. I also discuss OpenAI’s Shipmas product marketing campaign (spoiler alert: I like their announcements more than the marketing), touch on Google’s latest salvo across the bow in AI search and explain the different brand development challenges for ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude.
Meanwhile, Marketing with AI for Dummies, continues to sell very well and is leading to even more speaking and advisory work. And be sure to scroll to the bottom for photographs from the highly successful AI Trailblazers Growth Summit.
I’ll be slowing down for the holidays before heading to Houston for board meetings at the start of January and will then fly directly to Las Vegas for CES. Maybe I’ll see you there!
The New Marketing Technology Powerhouse
This month’s announcement that Omnicom would acquire IPG marked a watershed moment in the advertising industry. As someone who has watched the industry evolve over decades, I view this acquisition as more than a simple consolidation play—it’s a calculated bet on the future of data-driven marketing. The move aims to help both Omnicom and IPG close a critical gap with Publicis. While the $30 billion combined market cap is impressive, the true narrative lies in the technological arsenal these two holding companies intend to integrate and leverage for competitive advantage.
A New Tech Offering - At the core of this acquisition is the integration of both holding companies’ data platforms, with a focus on aggressively embedding these capabilities into every agency and account. Omnicom's Omni platform, which already serves as a comprehensive marketing orchestration system, will now be enhanced by IPG's Acxiom, acquired in 2018 for $2.3 billion. Add to this Omnicom's recent $835 million acquisition of Flywheel Digital, and you have a potentially formidable stack of complementary technologies.
The scale of this integration became clear during Omnicom CEO John Wren's recent investor call. He emphasized how their capabilities have "doubled" following the Flywheel acquisition, pointing to the combination of AI technology and proprietary transactional commerce data as table stakes for the industry. This represents a significant shift from just three years ago.
What makes this merger particularly interesting is how these technologies can complement each other. Omni's consumer behavior insights will now be enriched by Acxiom's identity resolution capabilities and Flywheel's real-time commerce data. When combined with IPG's Interact behavioral tools, this potentially creates a unique ability to understand, predict, and influence consumer behavior across all touchpoints.
Marketer Concerns - Yet despite this technological promise, I maintain some reservations about the merger's broader implications for marketers. Marketers will likely face disruption as senior agency leaders becomes less engaged with their client businesses as they figure out how to integrate the two holding companies. They may even depart their own holding company entirely. Marketers will miss the attention and will, instead, aggressively get sold the new, combined offerings even if they don’t need them.
Creative will further lose its prominence as media (especially principal based media buying), data and technology gain even more prominence within the new holding company. And the impact on talent will be substantial, with job cuts extending beyond back-office roles to client-facing positions especially in account management. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see some agencies get merged together within the new holding company either.
The only real winners in all of this maybe the Omnicom shareholders. And that too, isn’t a guarantee just yet.
AI Titans Clash: The Struggle for Brand Clarity
As I’ve discussed previously, Google is evolving from a traditional hyperlink-based search results paradigm to a conversational, AI-driven experience, mirroring the interactive models of ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude. The drama was upped a notch this week when ChatGPT rolled out its Search product globally during its “Shipmas” campaign just as word leaked that Google will be launching out a secondary AI interface for Search results (AI answers will be a tab on the search results page similar to Images, Videos, Shopping & News). This tab will behave more like Gemini’s web interface. I can’t wait to play with it.
Despite the scale difference, Google processes over 8.5 billion searches daily compared to ChatGPT's estimated 60 million – the feature gap between these platforms is narrowing as they will eventually have both a GenAI Search & GenAI Content interfaces. Google remains a formidable competitor, leveraging its unparalleled understanding of user intent, advanced advertising capabilities, and vast financial resources.
However, ChatGPT has captured the imagination of the world and is moving in the direction of having a compelling Search product to complement its existing conversational GenAI interface. Its large-language-models are also regarded as best in class. This narrowing gap between the two underscores a deeper issue that’s starting to bubble to the surface: Silicon Valley's persistent struggle to bridge technological capability with compelling marketing differentiation. Let’s unpack that question while also bringing Perplexity.ai and Anthropic’s Claude into the picture.
OpenAI, taking on too much with Shipmas? Take ChatGPT from OpenAI, which tries to position itself as the innovative powerhouse of AI. It excels in areas like coding, creative writing, and problem-solving, leveraging its reputation for innovation to foster user empowerment. Sometimes it feels like it can do no wrong.
Yet, OpenAI's recent "Shipmas" campaign also showcased the pitfalls of fragmented marketing. The twelve-day rollout of features and products showcased technical advancements but, in my view, fell short of strengthening OpenAI’s core brand or making a significant awareness or consideration impact with the general public or businesses. The campaign felt like a series of product demos with mixed clarity on availability, target audiences, and how the offerings aligned with a compelling and unified business and product vision. Even the order of the announcements left me uncertain about the underlying strategy.
For example, Sora—arguably one of the biggest announcements—was launched, only to be temporarily closed and seemingly forgotten. o3 was announced but not made publicly accessible (the other significant announcement), and while Canvas (my favorite) was rolled out to everyone, many likely missed the launch video. Twelve days of product announcements during the busy Christmas season felt overwhelming and diluted, making for an exhausting launch approach.
Furthermore, some of the bigger announcements didn’t receive the attention they deserved because each day brought a new message, regardless of its relative importance (was 1-800-CHATGPT really as significant as Sora or o3?). In fact, in a striking irony, around the time of the Shipmas announcement of the o3 model, The Wall Street Journal published a story suggesting that OpenAI’s most important innovations were falling behind, referencing a potential GPT-5. That, in itself, speaks volumes about how the messaging was challenged regardless of whether it was the Journal’s fault or OpenAI’s.
Perplexity, Benefiting from Focus - Perplexity AI, on the other hand, has carved out a distinct niche with its narrower focus and neater brand positioning. It markets itself as the "fact-checker of AI," emphasizing real-time accuracy and source citations—a promise of trustworthy information that appeals to users prioritizing reliability. This focused approach has helped it stand out in a crowded field.
However, as Google integrates similar capabilities into its search interface, Perplexity's differentiation faces growing challenges. Its recent foray into commerce is intriguing but remains, for now, a marginal initiative with limited scale and minimal merchant adoption.
As Perplexity ventures into broader territories, it risks succumbing to the "ChatGPT fallacy"—a loss of clarity in product and brand positioning as it attempts to serve everyone, everywhere, with everything. Maintaining focus while scaling will be essential to avoid diluting its core value proposition and retaining a competitive edge.
Claude, Putting Safety First - Anthropic’s Claude, meanwhile, presents a different brand and product approach to differentiation in the crowded AI landscape. Unlike its competitors, Claude emphasizes safety and alignment as central tenets of its brand positioning, appealing to users and organizations prioritizing ethical AI deployment. By framing itself as the assistant with guardrails and reliability, Claude positions its brand to resonate with those seeking trustworthy and responsible AI solutions.
This focus on ethical AI not only addresses growing concerns around misuse but also sets Anthropic apart from rivals who may prioritize raw capability or speed of innovation. As the market evolves, Claude’s commitment to safety and trust could solidify its position as a reliable and distinctive player in the AI space. Not surprisingly, this focus has been helping Anthropic get greater traction in the Enterprise in the last year and often at the cost to OpenAI. It’s also led to people forming the most human relationships with it according to The New York Times!
What Can the LLMs Do - The growing lack of clear differentiation between Google, OpenAI, Perplexity, and to a lesser extent Claude, presents a challenge. All these platforms claim to deliver accuracy, versatility, and trust, resulting in blurred distinctions and an increasingly crowded consumer and enterprise market. However, some are more deliberate in their marketing discipline than others.
Observations of user behavior reveal a key insight: most users tend to stick with the first platform they try, rather than actively comparing alternatives based on brand differentiation or product features. This highlights an important reality—investing heavily in technology alone is not enough without strong, clearly defined brand positioning. Who knows? Maybe one of these LLMs will advertise during the Super Bowl this February to show America why they’re different!
As competition intensifies in the global AI market—projected to reach $1.85 trillion by 2030—the importance of perceived differentiation will only grow. Platforms must go beyond simple feature comparisons and focus on building distinct, memorable brands that resonate with user values and aspirations. The future of AI search and conversational tools hinges not only on technological innovation but also on fostering meaningful human connections—or, in other words, mastering effective marketing. This is something Google has excelled at over the past two decades.
Bringing in Expertise - This highlights the importance of technology companies leaning on time-tested marketing strategies led by experienced professionals who deeply understand the discipline, rather than relying solely on the instincts of technical founders who may lack the expertise or experience to design and execute sophisticated campaigns. Companies thrive when marketing leaders are empowered to implement proven playbooks with minimal interference. The last thing a company needs is a technical founder assuming they have all the answers about marketing; such overreach can stifle growth and limit the brand’s potential business impact. OpenAI, Perplexity, Claude, and others would do well to take this lesson to heart as they recognize the need to elevate their marketing and fight to differentiate themselves across the world.
Looking Ahead
The marketing technology and large language model landscapes are evolving at a breathtaking pace, presenting both opportunities and challenges. From transformative mergers like Omnicom and IPG to the rise of AI-driven search and the proliferation of large-language-models, the future belongs to those who can balance technical innovation with brand-centric astute go-to-market strategies.
The winners in this space will not be defined by their technology alone but by their ability to build formidable brands, tell compelling stories, establish emotional connections, and adapt to new paradigms of efficiency and creativity. And yes, it applies equally to the agencies and the large-language-models. Those who master these dynamics will lead the next chapter of business , thriving in an era where differentiation and innovation alongside brand development are more critical than ever.
Where I’ve been
Below are some photographs from the AI Trailblazers Growth Summit in New York where I shared my Marketing with AI Trends for 2025 which build on the research I had done for Marketing with AI for Dummies. I also conducted an insightful fireside chat with a friend and former Visa colleague, Alex Craddock, the new Chief Marketing & Content Officer at Citibank.
All in all, it was a privilege for my co-founders and me to engage with fellow business leaders, both on stage and as guests, in meaningful discussions about the future of AI in Marketing, Media and Innovation. Special thanks to our speakers, guests and partners - Optimizely, Transmission, Writer, Zeta Global and ADWEEK who joined us for that important day. More information can be found at aitrailblazers.io. We are already planning summits for next year. Get in touch to learn more about partnering.
Barely a week after the AI Trailblazers Growth Summit, I gave a talk to 150 agency leaders in New York and the following week also spoke on a panel at a Zeta Global Data Summit with David Edelman, author of Personalization, Ted Schweitzer of Direct Booking IQ, and Joe Stanhope of Forrester. Marketing with AI for Dummies continues to attract a lot of attention leading to speaking engagements and advisory needs among the Fortune 1000 companies.
What I’m reading
Big Ideas in Tech from A16z (Andreessen Horowitz)
The GenAI App Step You’re Skimping On (MIT Sloan Mgmt Review)
Recent Savvy AI Articles
Search Wars Part 2. Google May Win (December 2024)
Marketing with AI for Dummies launches! (November 2024)
8 Questions that should worry you (June 2024)
The Future of Search (May 2024)
AI Myths vs. Reality: What You Need to Know (May 2024)
Smart Leadership for AI Adoption (April 2024)
Compelling perspective Shiv! Most insightful!