On the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a crowd of marketers, executives, technologists, and curious press gathered not just for flashy gadgets and AI demos, but for a statement about the future of marketing itself. At the heart of that statement was Omnicom’s latest bold move: the unveiling of the next generation of Omni, an ambitious marketing intelligence platform that its leaders are positioning as the connective tissue for modern brand strategy, execution, and growth.
At a moment when marketing has become simultaneously more fragmented and more dependent on data, Omnicom’s Omni aims to do something deceptively simple: make the infinitely complex landscape of consumer engagement feel like a single, coherent operating system for brands. But beneath that simplicity lies a remarkable integration of technologies, talent, creativity, data, and artificial intelligence — all engineered to help brands move with more confidence in a platform-dominated, rapidly shifting ecosystem.
From the stage, executives framed Omni not as just another analytics tool or creative workflow, but as a unified foundation that spans the entire marketing lifecycle. At its core is a powerful blend of advanced data capabilities, real-time commerce signals, identity resolution systems, workflow orchestration, and AI intelligence — all designed to knit together strategy, creative work, media planning, execution, and performance measurement into a seamless, adaptive whole.
The renewed platform draws heavily on Omnicom’s newly expanded asset base, including technologies and talent acquired through its recent acquisition of the Interpublic Group. That deal, closed in late 2025 after months of speculation and regulatory scrutiny, brought into Omnicom’s fold several powerful tools — including Acxiom’s identity infrastructure and the Flywheel Commerce Cloud — that now form the backbone of Omni’s data and signals ecosystem.
According to executives, Omni now claims a database of 2.6 billion verified global identities and trillions of behavioural and commerce signals, giving brands an unprecedented view of consumers’ behaviours, preferences, and journeys across channels. That identity layer, branded as Acxiom RealID™, is designed to provide a “consistent source of truth” that marketers can rely on — a goal that was once aspirational but has become critical as privacy rules tighten and cross-platform measurement becomes more difficult.
But Omni is more than a database. In the context of a world where every brand’s campaign is built on cookies that have disappeared and data that is uneven at best, Omnicom’s new platform promises an integrated system that connects traditionally siloed parts of the marketing process. Creative ideation, media planning, commerce activation, optimisation, and measurement become a single, interoperable workflow. Tasks that once required manual handoffs and repetitive coordination now flow seamlessly, theoretically enabling teams to respond faster and more accurately to shifting consumer trends.
One of the most significant design choices underpinning Omni is its AI architecture, which Omnicom leaders call “agentic.” Unlike systems that simply generate content or analytics in isolation, Omni’s intelligence layer is intended to act as a decision-support engine that augments human judgment rather than replaces it. The AI framework can surface insights, recommend optimisations, and highlight emerging opportunities — but with built-in transparency and human oversight so that strategy is guided by expertise, not black-box automation.
This emphasis on human-centric AI reflects a broader trend rippling across the marketing world: while agencies and brands increasingly adopt intelligent tools, the fear of losing creative control or strategic nuance remains pervasive. Omnicom’s pitch is that Omni frees up time and mental bandwidth for creativity, strategic thinking, and deep consumer understanding — rather than deskilling teams or pushing them to chase the next algorithm.
That human-plus-AI balance is one of the platform’s key selling points, according to Duncan Painter, CEO of Omni, who told press that the platform’s power “comes to life through our people.” Behind the dazzling tech and massive datasets, Omni is positioned as a tool to support strategists, creatives, analysts, investment managers, and media traders — empowering them to do better work faster.
The timing of Omni’s launch is strategic. Marketing budgets are under pressure, measurement is becoming more opaque, and agency holding companies are racing to redefine their value in a world increasingly shaped by AI, walled gardens, and platform-driven media ecosystems. Omnicom’s unveiling of Omni signals to clients and competitors alike that it is not only keeping pace with these changes but intending to shape them.
Analysts say the integration of creative, media, commerce, and identity systems in a single platform could reset competitive dynamics in the agency world, potentially redefining how global holding companies approach big-ticket marketing challenges. One industry observer described the emerging “platform wars” as a battle between identity-first and connected-intelligence frameworks — with Omni staking Omnicom’s claim firmly in the latter camp.
Yet the sheer scale of Omnicom’s ambitions with Omni raises questions about execution. Integrating vast datasets, disparate technologies, and workflows across a global client base is a monumental task. Success will depend not only on technological horsepower but on cultural alignment and client adoption. Many brands have long struggled with martech sprawl — an accumulation of tools that promise clarity but result in complexity. For Omnicom, Omni must prove that it can break down, not replicate, that complexity.
At the CES launch, Omnicom’s leadership also emphasised the platform’s flexibility — designed to integrate with existing martech stacks and scale with clients’ readiness levels. In practice, this approach acknowledges the enormous variability in how brands operate: some are deeply embedded in complex martech ecosystems, others are still building their data infrastructure. Omni aims to serve both without forcing a one-size-fits-all migration.
For clients navigating an environment where brand loyalty is harder to secure, media costs are rising, and measurement frameworks are constantly shifting, Omni promises a rare commodity: clarity. By aligning every signal, channel, and outcome in real time, Omnicom says brands will be able to connect every action to measurable growth at scale.
Yet as with any industry pivot this grand, the proof will ultimately be in the results. Will Omni deliver the measurable business outcomes it promises? Will it genuinely reduce friction in workflows that have historically been stubbornly siloed? And will the platform play well with others in the broader martech landscape?
Answers to those questions may emerge over the next year, as clients begin to test Omni across a range of campaigns and markets. For now, the platform’s unveiling marks a defining moment for Omnicom — and perhaps for the future of marketing itself. In a time when identity, data, creativity, and AI are each contested battlegrounds, Omni represents a rare bet on unification — a gamble that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts
Discover more from Creative Brands
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
