Both IPG and WPP released their Q1 earnings on Thursday, with spending pullbacks from tech clients not enough for either company to dampen optimism about their media and data offerings.

IPG

Organic revenue at IPG was flat at a 0.2% decline.

Philippe Krakowsky, CEO of IPG, said that while media, healthcare and data practices continued to perform well, it was offset by “softness” in a few areas, calling out spending pullback from clients in the technology sector. The results also suffered in part due to comparison to Q1 2022, where revenue grew by 11.5%.

Despite this, Krakowsky said the company’s results are still in line with its internal forecasts, especially as business wins in the first quarter are expected to benefit its revenue as the year goes on.

The company’s Media, Data & Engagement Solutions segment – which includes IPG Mediabrands, Acxiom, MRM, Huge and R/GA – had an organic revenue decline of 0.7%. Organic revenue among the company’s creative and integrated agencies was down 0.9%, while the communications and specialist agency segment had organic revenue growth of 3.3%.

By region, organic revenue was down 0.9% in the U.S., IPG’s largest market. The “All Other Markets” segment – which includes Canada, the Middle East and Africa – had organic growth of 9.3%.

For the rest of the year, the company is maintaining guidance of between 2% and 4% organic revenue growth.

WPP

Organic revenue at WPP was up 2.9% in the quarter.

Media was the major revenue driver in the quarter, with 6.1% organic growth at Group M. Revenue in the company’s creative agencies was relatively flat at 0.7% growth; like IPG, WPP said there was lower spend from clients in the tech sector, particularly at Wunderman Thompson, though this was offset by client wins at Ogilvy.

Organic revenue in PR was up 2.2%, with the specialist agency segment up 1.9%.

By region, WPP’s North America segment grew 1.9%. However, revenue in Canada was down 4.1%, although that came after four periods of strong growth through 2022.

WPP’s guidance for the full year remains unchanged, expecting between 3% and 5% organic revenue growth.