Holding companies are having an identity crisis. Between mergers, acquisitions, whistleblowers, and the constant drumbeat of AI hype, clients are overwhelmed and confidence is shaken. So BBDO is trying something different: actually caring about client experience.
Revolutionary, I know.
Omnicom's creative flagship just created a new role — Global Chief Client Experience Officer — and hired Daale Carter, formerly president of Energy BBDO, to fill it. The move is a direct response to what Carter calls "the Year of Distraction."
"There are a lot of capability stories out there," Carter told Digiday. "There aren't a lot of stories or pictures about the client's experience. We're really trying to look at how we use client experience as a true differentiator that we showcase."
The Diagnosis
Here's the uncomfortable truth Carter is acknowledging: in the push to scale, clients got lost in the shuffle. Holding companies spent years building bigger and bigger machines — acquiring agencies, merging networks, creating "platforms" and "ecosystems" — and somewhere along the way forgot that actual humans with actual problems were supposed to be on the receiving end.
Carter's not wrong about the distraction. The Omnicom-IPG merger alone has dominated industry conversation for months. Add in WPP's restructuring, Publicis's AI pivot, and the constant churn of account reviews, and it's no wonder clients feel like an afterthought.
Account Management Is Dead. Long Live Business Leadership.
One of BBDO's symbolic moves: killing the term "account management" entirely. It's now "business leadership."
This isn't just rebranding. It's a philosophical shift. "Account management is seen as the gateway or the owner of the client relationship when actually it's the responsibility of every single person that touches client business," Carter explained. "Clients want to be led. Clients don't want to reach out to their agencies and have agencies just be responsive. They want agencies to truly lead them."
The criticism of traditional account management has been around for years: too transactional, too focused on keeping clients happy rather than making clients successful. BBDO is betting that renaming the function forces a mindset change.
AI Overload
Carter shared an illuminating anecdote about the current AI moment. A client came to BBDO after writing their own scripts using AI tools. The scripts, the client admitted, were "devoid of any level of humanity or relativity."
"What they really were saying was, 'I want you to show me how you're using AI to be forward-facing or to be future fit as you think about the creative process,'" Carter explained. "They didn't necessarily want to write their own scripts using AI. They were looking to see us guide them in terms of how they should be thinking about AI."
This is the real opportunity for agencies right now. Clients are drowning in AI options. They don't need more tools. They need someone to tell them which tools matter and how to use them. That advisory role — the thing agencies used to do before they got distracted by programmatic dashboards and content factories — might be making a comeback.
Post-Merger Reality
When asked about client sentiment following the IPG-Omnicom merger announcement, Carter's response was revealing: "They just wanted to be kept abreast of what the changes are and how we're building."
She acknowledged the "Year of Distraction" for the industry, the agencies, and clients alike. But BBDO's strategy has been simple: stay focused, maintain strong relationships, don't get distracted by the noise.
"Despite all of this, you cannot get lost because we are committed to the client experience at the core."
Whether that commitment survives the inevitable integration challenges ahead remains to be seen. But at least someone is talking about putting clients first. In this industry, that's worth noting.
