FCB has a lot to be proud of this year, but the celebration is bittersweet. It might feel funny to win an accolade when, as Omnicom completed its acquisition of IPG in November, FCB was folded into BBDO — and has ceased to exist.
But the machinations of holding company spreadsheet logic are distinct from the fact that FCB fired on all cylinders during what it didn’t realize was the final lap of its 151-year legacy.
Leadership has spent the past year focusing on clients, in part by being physically present globally. For Meredith Kelly, global head of marketing at Škoda Auto, that’s what made FCB a great partner. “Sometimes you pitch, you get to see the superstars, and then you never get to work with them again. They have been my team throughout,” she said.
Still, with Omnicom in the process of eliminating 4,000 jobs, clients are wary of what could happen to their teams. Patricia Corsi, chief growth officer at Kimberly-Clark, added: “I am counting on the leaders of both companies to make sure that they are taking care of the best talent.”
FCB, for its part, is no stranger to challenges. Losing Pfizer in 2024 was a big blow — but for global CEO Tyler Turnbull (who transitioned to CEO of McCann Worldgroup in the acquisition), it was a test of resilience.
“We all go in cycles,” he said. “The true test of the management team is how you manage the down cycle.”
As we say so long to FCB, we look back at how it earned the title of ADWEEK’s 2025 Agency Network of the Year.
Networked work
This year, more FCB offices contributed to more work and wins than ever. Efforts to integrate more than 120 offices began in 2024, when FCB began facilitating cross-team pitching to win global clients.
The approach led to FCB winning 60% of pitches, adding 75 brands and driving new business revenue of $45 million to date.
“The bigger ideas don’t have a specific geography; they just have really good talent,” said global chief creative officer Andrés Ordóñez (now CCO of McCann Worldgroup).
That led to standout work, from the Grand Prix-winning “Caption with Intention” for the Chicago Hearing Society to the USA Today Ad Meter-topping “First Delivery” for Budweiser.
It also attracted new clients, like Kimberly-Clark, Cox Digital, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. And it drove a net revenue lift of 5% year-over-year, excluding the 2024 loss of Pfizer.
Let’s Rumble
Creative Rumble, which brought together teams across markets and disciplines to crack a brief quickly, enabled FCB to “collaborate like never before,” Turnbull said.
FCB did about 25 Rumbles over the past year and a half. One for Kimberly-Clark tapped talent from 13 offices and generated 470 pages of ideas, Ordóñez said.
Kimberly-Clark’s Corsi said the Rumble has supported her mission to push the creativity of KC’s brands. “When people are pushing for crazy ideas … there are some moments where I’ve said, ‘I feel uncomfortable, but I want to sleep on it.’ Those are magic moments. In the Rumble, you get that,” she said.
Patience and relentlessness also drove FCB’s success. “Caption with Intention” was six years in the making, and seven years of partnership with AB InBev underpinned “First Delivery.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time making sure our business is moving in the right direction,” Turnbull said. “That gives us the freedom and trust to invest in and support ideas we believe in.”
FCB evolved its creative process, too. It launched a global AI Council to educate and upskill its workforce. The agency led in daily use, number of prompts, and agents created on IPG’s AI Console. “It is giving us time back to put into the idea, versus building a deck to sell the idea,” Ordóñez said.
As the sun sets on FCB, time will tell what remains. If leadership at its new home is smart, they’ll preserve the collaborative and relentless spirit that made FCB one of the greats.
Stats
Key Wins: Kimberly-Clark (Global) Blue Cross Blue Shield (Chicago), Cox Digital (Chicago), Department for Transport (London), ecobee (Canada), Green Cross Health (New Zealand), New Era (New York), SickKids (Canada), State Bank of India (India)
Revenue: Net revenue grew 5% from Sept. 1, 2024 to Aug. 31, 2025, excluding the loss of Pfizer.
Strategic Moves: FCB’s “Better Together” strategy busted silos and integrated global teams, including putting creative and media under one roof in New Zealand and Brazil. Creative Rumbles led to ideas that netted FCB 295 creative awards, up almost 8% year-over-year. And a focus on AI transformation has propelled FCB to lead the IPG network in AI use, with more than 1,000 agents built by its staff this year. All this despite the distraction of Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG.
Diversity: FCB’s global network is 54% female and 46% male. In the U.S., the workforce is 60% female and 40% male, with an even split in leadership roles VP and above. 68% of U.S. employees identify as white, 10.9% as Hispanic/Latino, 8.8% as Asian, 8.7% as Black/African American, and 3.4% as Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
The Work
Chicago Hearing Society | “Caption with Intention”
Inspired by a deaf designer and a child of deaf adults (CODA), FCB created a caption system that allows viewers to experience the emotion behind the dialogue. The work won three Grands Prix and a Titanium Lion at Cannes, and was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, incorporating it into its official list of representation and inclusion standards.
Budweiser | “First Delivery”
FCB’s USA Today Ad Meter-topping Super Bowl 2025 spot for Budweiser brought the iconic Clydesdales back to the Big Game. In the ad, a young foal tells their story of perseverance through his journey to return a lost keg to a Budweiser brewery.
Kimberly-Clark | “Drops of Hope”
Poise reimagined its incontinence pads as a health screening tool to bridge the preventative care gap in U.S. health deserts, where millions of women lack essential healthcare access. Women can send in their used Poise pads to a doctor, who can extract urine to detect various health conditions.
