Omnicom is reshaping its retail media offering following its acquisition of IPG, moving shopper marketing agency TPN under the Flywheel banner in a bid to compete with Publicis.
TPN, founded in Dallas in the early 1980s as The Promotion Network and acquired by Omnicom in 2001, will now be fully absorbed into Flywheel, with the brand being sunset. The move is described by Flywheel as an “operational integration” rather than a traditional consolidation, combining TPN’s 40 years of shopper marketing expertise with Flywheel’s 15 years of retail media data.
“By unifying shopper, brand, and retail media under one coordinated ecosystem, we will shape and elevate the new standard for how brands plan, activate, and measure across the entire commerce journey,” said Alex McCord, CEO of Flywheel.
As part of the integration, former TPN president Sarah Cunningham has been named Chief Retail Experience Officer at Flywheel, reporting to McCord. Phil Camarota, ex-Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at TracyLocke, is now Flywheel’s CCO. Chris Rueckert, formerly SVP of Commerce at TPN, has moved to Flywheel in the same role. There have been no confirmed layoffs tied to the transition.
Flywheel is also moving to a client-focused ‘pod’ structure, with cross-trained teams serving as strategic consultants across retail media, shopper marketing, ecommerce, and product detail pages. According to Mike Feldman, SVP of commerce at Flywheel, this approach will allow teams to adapt more effectively to client needs and respond to automation in media buying driven by AI.
Looking ahead, Omnicom’s connected commerce solution will also leverage assets from IPG’s Acxiom and Kinesso, including data and identity solutions, to bolster its performance-driven retail media capabilities.
“Transitioning TPN into Flywheel underscores Omnicom’s commitment to leading the next wave of connected commerce,” said Duncan Painter, CEO of Flywheel Commerce Network and Omni.
