If you follow the advertising business at all, you know that last year’s proposed tie up of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) and Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) has been dominating the news for months now. In a deal structured as a merger of equals, management at the two firms have stressed that the goal of the transaction is to create a company which can more effectively compete with both other advertising agencies and non-ad agencies such as big data analytics companies.

So far though, commitment to the deal seems shaky on both sides as the CEOs of both companies have made conflicting statements about when – and if – the deal will ultimately close, how exactly the merger would make them more competitive and the likelihood of regulatory approval. The market even seems cool on the idea with shares of Omnicon off by more than 10 percent so far this year and Interpublic flat, despite solid first quarter results. Aside from creating the largest global advertising firm, it’s just tough to see how the tie-up would create any real competitive advantages.

So rather than betting on a merger of Omnicon and Interpublic going through, the best play on the global advertising market is UK-based WPP Group (OTC: WPPGY).

With 3,000 offices in 110 countries, WPP is currently the largest advertising firm in the world with GBP11 billion in revenues last year.

While it has enjoyed consistent organic growth over the years, over the past decade revenue at WPP has grown by better than 10 percent annually while net income has grown by an even more attractive 16 percent. About half of that growth has come about due to an aggressive acquisition strategy, with WPP consistently purchasing a dozen or more smaller firms each year and creating an ever growing network of both large and boutique firms around the world.

That broad network has helped make WPP clients extremely sticky; if a company decides it’s unhappy with a WPP company’s work or to change creative direction, other WPP companies can compete for that business and keep the revenue within the larger holding company’s network. And since each WPP company is run as an essentially independent entity, it doesn’t create potential conflict of interest problems with same-industry clients while giving them a wide menu of creative and service choices.

In addition to traditional advertising services, thanks to the diversity of WPP’s network of companies it also offers media buying services, data analytics to develop highly targeted companies, public relations and branding and identity development assistance. It also offers highly specialized services catering to the health care industry, such as the major global pharmaceutical firms.

That structure gives WPP a significant competitive advantage in a market where companies, despite having internal marketing capabilities, are increasingly reliant on outside firms for assistance in navigating an increasingly global market. Major brands such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) or GE (NYSE: GE) are no longer able to focus their marketing efforts in just a handful of countries at a time. Rather, those global brands must run a number of concurrent campaigns tailored to local consumer tastes across the globe.

Largely thanks to those shifting dynamics in the advertising world, WPP offices were able to win more than USD1.5 billion in business away from its three primary competitors in the first quarter alone. That new business includes global marketing efforts for Vodafone (NSDQ: VOD) and PepsiCo’s (NYSE: PEP) marketing business in China.

Total revenue in the quarter came in at GBP2.57 billion, up 1.5 percent in currency-adjusted terms from the same period last year. On a constant currency basis, revenues gained 9.6 percent with about 7 percent attributable to organic growth and the remainder from acquisitions.

On a regional constant currency basis, some the biggest revenue gains came from the UK and North America which grew by 12.2 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively. While currency headwinds drug emerging market revenue growth down by 4.1 percent versus the same period last year, backing those effects out would have show growth of 10.8 percent.

While WPP didn’t release per share data for the first quarter, management said that despite the currency headwinds it is on track to grow its earnings per share by between 10 percent and 15 percent this year from GBP0.80 last year. It also anticipates allocating between GBP300 million and GBO400 million to new acquisitions while repurchasing at least 2 percent of its outstanding shares.

Consistently delivering strong revenue and earnings growth thanks to is strong competitive advantage in the advertising market, WPP Group is a buy up to USD120.