UM has earned the highest Canadian ranking of RECMA’s latest Canadian Qualitative Evaluation, with OMD and Initiative rounding out the top three.

The report, which is published by the independent research institute twice a year, assesses media agencies’ performance based on 19 criteria and highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the agencies. Agencies earn points in each criterion to tally the overall ranking and profile ranging from Dominant to Average.

Paris-based RECMA (or Research Company Evaluating the Media Agency Industry in English) analyzed the six main international groups alongside independent agencies Cossette Media, Jungle Media and Horizon Media.

UM had a total score of 20 points, which was the highest for Canadian agencies, and achieved the Dominant profile. OMD came second with 18 points, while Initiative ranked third with 17 points. UM has the highest score in Vitality, while Initiative and UM lead the market in Structure.

EssenceMediacom scored the highest New Business Balance – wins minus departures, not including retentions – in 2024. EssenceMediacom came out on top thanks to major wins such as the Government of Canada and The Cabinet Office Communications.

Spark Foundry (Molson Coors, Kimberly-Clark), Cossette Media (BRP, RONA, i-Health), OMD (Gap) and Media Experts (Honda, Westjet) round out the top five in New Business Balance.

At the group level, Publicis Media led the New Business race in 2024, followed by Omnicom Media Group and Plus Company.

In addition to the Canadian report, RECMA publishes a biannual global ranking. In the global ranking, which looks at nearly 700 agencies across 45 markets, OMD remains the global leader for the ninth-consecutive time, leading in both Vitality and Structure in the global ranking.

RECMA ranks agencies on two sets of criteria: Vitality and Structure. Vitality is based on the agency’s dynamism through various indicators, such as competitiveness in pitches over three years, new-business balance over 12 months, volume growth over three years, changes in top management and awards won.

Structure criteria focus on resources such as the number of experts in digital, data and content, as well as the agencies’ client portfolios.