MUMBAI: In India, it might be miles ahead but WPP group's media behemoth MindShare is not Number One in the US. That is not to say it is not on its way to closing the gap with top ranked Starcom MediaVest group (owned by Publicis).
As part of its efforts to emerge as the largest US media buying entity in 2003, MindShare has taken in more than $500 million in media billings from new business gains in the first half of 2003. A report in mediapost.com says this has been the strongest performance in a year where major shifts have been conspicuous by their absence.

Starcom MediaVest meanwhile, has sustained a net media billings loss of more than $150 million, according to the first half 2002 edition of the MAP Barometer.

According to Advertising Age estimates based on RECMA (Research Reports on Media Agency Networks), MindShare placed $8.65 billion in US media buys during 2002. By comparison, Starcom MediaVest placed $10.85 billion.

After MindShare, Omnicom's PHD unit and Publicis' Zenith Optimedia group, rank as the next best net new business winners, with more than $200 million in incremental billings through the first half of 2003.