The number of media and creative agency pitches climbed sharply in 2016 in a further sign that marketers are shopping around more than ever for the right partners.

Media pitches increased 16% while creative and digital pitches grew 9% with PHD and BBDO respectively the most successful agencies in terms of revenue wins, pitch consultant R3 found.

In its study, R3 examined 8000 new business wins across creative, media and digital worth a combined $3b in revenue.

The consultancy noted the rise in media pitches came amid “somewhat of a transparency crisis in the industry”.

Greg Paull, Principal & Co-Founder

“Despite 2015’s numerous headlines dubbing it the year of ‘Media-palooza,’ we’ve actually seen more overall activity this year across the board,” said R3 principal and co-founder Greg Paull.

In the creative space, BBDO held off sister Omnicom agency DDB, while Ogilvy, which saw most of its wins in the first half of the year including Motorola and GSK, complete the top three.

Of the 3,400 media pitch wins from 80 different agencies, more than 2,000 came in the second half of 2016.

PHD’s VW win and 185 others saw it top the table in terms of revenue, followed by Omnicom’s Hearts and Science.

Starcom moved up significantly off the back of the global Fiat Chrysler and Mars wins to finish the year in the top 10.

The study found that the number of media wins in the first half of the year was down 6% on 2015, while creative wins were up 30% over the previous year. The phenomenon that was dubbed “Roster-Palooza.”

“It seemed likely marketers would be more active in reviewing and adding to their creative agency rosters throughout the remainder of  2016,” R3 said.

“And while they did track roughly 300 more creative wins than in H2 of 2015, there was actually a bigger percent increase for media agencies, who won 16.6% more business in 2016 than in the previous year.”

Paull added: “Rather than becoming the year of ‘Roster-palooza,’ 2016 could really be called ‘Media-Palooza,’ Part 2.

“The second half of the year saw big spenders like AT&T, Fiat Chrysler and 21st Century Fox making decisions about their agency partners, but it is interesting to note that while the number of media wins for the year is up, revenue is actually down 13% from last year.”

Omnicom cane out top of the holding groups – unsurprising given the success of its agencies – adding 6.5% to its overall revenue.

WPP was relegated to second place.

Source: mUmBRELLA