Starcom
Starcom is a media agency subsidiary of Publicis Groupe, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, providing media planning, buying, and campaign management across TV, digital, and social channels to enterprise advertisers in Europe, the US, and APAC.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersOslo, Norway
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Starcom does
Starcom is a media agency subsidiary of Publicis Groupe, headquartered in Oslo, Norway at starcom.no, providing media planning, buying, and campaign management services to enterprise clients. Its service offering spans TV, digital, out-of-home, experiential, and social advertising channels, exemplified by its role as media agency for DIRECTV Advertising's multi-channel Upfront Week 2026 campaign in New York. The unit operates as 'Publicis Starcom' within Publicis Norway's integrated agency house in Oslo, which co-locates Starcom with sister agencies Kitchen/Publicis Leo, MSL, Publicis Performics, Foundry, and Nucleus under a 'Power of One' model that delivers cross-disciplinary client teams.
The agency generates revenue through professional-services fees and media commissions on enterprise advertising accounts. Customer logos disclosed in the data set are limited to DIRECTV Advertising (active) and Ancestry (lost £21M UK media account). Starcom's geographic footprint spans Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore, reflecting its position within Publicis Groupe's global network rather than independent international expansion. Underlying technology is services-led: no proprietary platforms, APIs, or SDKs are disclosed, and AI capability appears limited to off-the-shelf tools referenced in Publicis Norway thought-leadership content.
Strategic posture is mixed. The DIRECTV Upfront 2026 win signals continued US enterprise relevance, while the loss of Ancestry's £21M UK account and the departure of long-tenured Head of Digital Robert Millett to DoubleVerify indicate account and talent erosion. Parent-level activity — including a new SMB-focused Performics agency and the Kitchen-to-Publicis Leo rebrand — suggests portfolio restructuring around Starcom rather than standalone Starcom growth investment.
Starcom firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Starcom
- Website
- https://starcom.no
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Starcom is a media agency subsidiary of Publicis Groupe, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, providing media planning, buying, and campaign management across TV, digital, and social channels to enterprise advertisers in Europe, the US, and APAC.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Starcom industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Media Agency Services
- NAICS
- Advertising Agencies (541810), Media Buying Agencies (54183)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Enterprise/Creator Video Hosting & OTT SaaS Platforms (MPACAAAL)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Celebrity/Influencer-Led Virtual Brands (THAFAJAE)
Keywords
Where Starcom is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oslo
- HQ country
- Norway
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Starcom business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Media Agency Services: Starcom generates revenue through media agency fees and commissions for planning, strategy, and execution of advertising campaigns across multiple channels including TV, digital, out-of-home, and social platforms.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Starcom product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Starcom is a media agency that provides media planning, media buying, and campaign management services to enterprise brand owners and advertisers. Offerings span digital-out-of-home, experiential activations, digital video, and social advertising channels, executed on behalf of clients such as DIRECTV Advertising and Ancestry. The agency operates as part of Publicis Groupe's global media network.
Product overview
Starcom operates as a media agency brand within the Publicis group, which has consolidated three of Norway's leading agencies (Kitchen, MSL, and Starcom) under one roof. The Publicis house offers five agencies specializing in advertising, media, performance marketing, PR, and customer experience, with 180 employees serving 109 clients. Starcom functions as the media agency within this integrated agency structure, providing media services alongside its sister agencies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Media Planning Strategic media planning service that develops cross-channel campaign strategies for enterprise advertisers, covering channel mix, audience targeting, and budget allocation across digital-out-of-home, experiential, digital video, and social.
- Media Buying Media buying service that procures advertising inventory across digital-out-of-home, experiential, digital video, social, and other channels on behalf of brand advertiser clients such as DIRECTV Advertising and Ancestry.
- Campaign Management End-to-end campaign management service for enterprise advertisers, covering execution, optimization, and reporting of multi-channel media campaigns.
Companies that use Starcom
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Starcom technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Starcom partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- DIRECTV AdvertisingcoreStarcom US worked as media agency for DIRECTV Advertising's multi-channel marketing campaign during Upfront Week 2026 in New York. The campaign featured digital-out-of-home placements, experiential activations, digital video, and social advertising. Starcom collaborated with creative agency TBWA\Chiat\Day LA to execute the campaign which sustained through upfront buying season.
- AncestryminorAncestry previously had part of its UK media account worth £21 million managed by Starcom unit of Publicis Vita. This account was subsequently shifted away from Starcom.
- DoubleVerifyminorDoubleVerify hired Robert Millett, former Head of Digital at Starcom for nearly a decade, as Business Director to lead expansion in Victoria, Melbourne. Millett's expertise in digital media from his Starcom tenure supports DoubleVerify's APAC expansion.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Starcom competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- OMD Worldwide: OMD is Omnicom's global media agency network with converged TV and digital buying capabilities — a direct competitor to Starcom for converged-TV mandates from advertisers like DIRECTV.
- Mindshare: Mindshare is the global media agency network of WPP, offering media planning, buying, and campaign execution across TV, digital, and OOH — directly comparable to Starcom's media agency offering under Publicis.
- PHD Media: PHD is Omnicom's strategic media planning and buying network. It competes with Starcom for global enterprise media accounts and shares converged-TV/OOH expertise.
- MediaCom: MediaCom is WPP's global media agency providing integrated media planning and buying. It competes head-to-head with Starcom for enterprise media assignments like the Ancestry UK account.
- Zenith: Zenith is Publicis' sister media agency alongside Starcom, offering media planning and buying globally. It is the most direct in-house comparable to Starcom within the same holding-company structure.
- Initiative: Initiative is IPG Mediabrands' global media agency, comparable to Starcom in serving multi-market enterprise advertisers across digital, OOH, and converged-TV channels.
- Carat: Carat is Dentsu's flagship global media agency offering media strategy, planning, and buying. It directly competes with Starcom across multi-market enterprise advertisers.
Regional players
- Dentsu Creative Norway: Dentsu operates competing media-agency brands in Norway (e.g., Carat Norway), directly contesting Norwegian enterprise advertisers with Starcom and sharing the Nordic market.
Broad incumbents
- WPP / GroupM Norway: GroupM houses Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, and Essence — competing media agencies under WPP. It is the largest holding-company rival to Publicis' Starcom for Norwegian and global media budgets.
Others
- Publicis Media (parent division): Publicis Media is the corporate parent division that bundles Starcom, Zenith, and other media-agency brands. Although Starcom is owned by it, Publicis Media sets the strategic, pricing, and technology context within which Starcom operates.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Starcom social profiles
Digital presenceStarcom financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Starcom leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Starcom funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Starcom M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Starcom
What does Starcom do?
Starcom is a media agency that provides media planning, media buying, and campaign management services to enterprise brand owners and advertisers. Offerings span digital-out-of-home, experiential activations, digital video, and social advertising channels, executed on behalf of clients such as DIRECTV Advertising and Ancestry. The agency operates as part of Publicis Groupe's global media network.
Is Starcom a public or private company?
Starcom is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Starcom founded?
Starcom was founded in 2003. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Starcom based?
Starcom is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, in the Europe region.
How does Starcom make money?
One revenue line is on record: media Agency Services.
Who are Starcom's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are OMD Worldwide, Mindshare, PHD Media, MediaCom, Zenith, Initiative and Carat. Dentsu Creative Norway is listed as a regional player. WPP / GroupM Norway is listed as a broad incumbent. Publicis Media (parent division) is listed as an others.
Does Starcom have an API?
No public API is recorded for Starcom.
What industry is Starcom in?
Starcom's product category is Media Agency Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAAAL, Enterprise/Creator Video Hosting & OTT SaaS Platforms, with a secondary code of THAFAJAE, Celebrity/Influencer-Led Virtual Brands. Its NAICS code is 541810 and its SIC code is 7310.