Agency Report Card: Creative agencies in 2010

Agency heads have described 2010 as “bounceback year” as Western MNCs looked to cut at home and spend in Asia. And while the end of the recession did not necessarily imply recovery for all, most will be able to look back with a sense of relief, if not satisfaction. 

Indeed, this year’s Agency Report Card shows that the majority of agencies maintained their performance on 2009 - although there were exceptions. In particular, last year saw DDB continue to grow, along with Dentsu and Grey Group.

Score key 
10=Unparalleled; 9=Outstanding; 8=Excellent; 7=Good; 6=Satisfactory; 5=Adequate; 4=Below average; 3=Poor; 2=A year to forget; 1=Survival in question

Asatsu-DK
Bates 141
BBDO
BBH
Cheil Worldwide
DDB
Dentsu
DraftFCB
Euro RSCG
Grey Group
Hakuhodo
JWT
Leo Burnett
Lowe & Partners
M&C Saatchi
McCann Erickson
Ogilvy & Mather
Publicis
Saatchi & Saatchi
TBWA
Wieden & Kennedy
Y&R

Asatsu-DK

Regional head Kazuhiko Narimutsu
Score this year 4
Score last year 5 

The dynamics and pressure of the Japanese market took their toll on ADK in 2010. Business declined by 4.5 per cent and the agency lost money, prompting some tough decisions. Senior managers took pay cuts ranging from 20 to 35 per cent and CEO Koichiro Naganuma stepped aside. Despite the gloom, some important initiatives were introduced. ADK launched a new neuromarketing group to explore brain patterns and how they reflect brand decisions, and partnered with retail giant Lawson and NTT DoCoMo to introduce a concept of in-store display with the potential to reach more than 9,700 Lawson outlets across Japan. The network also expanded its footprint abroad, with the launch of a second agency in Malaysia, Dai-ichi Kikaku and served as lead consultant for the Shanghai Expo’s Japan Pavilion and Chinese Private Enterprise Pavilion. 

Creatively, ADK’s work for Hoyu and Mitsubishi won at Cannes while Levi’s, Asahi and Domino’s Pizza campaigns picked up awards at the New York Festival and Adfest, but the agency has enjoyed better metal years.

Reassuringly, ADK continues to have the right mindset and talent mix for growth although it still barely registers in the regional Agency Image Survey. The biggest challenge facing new boss, former COO Yoji Shimizu will be recovering from the buffeting of the last few years. With long-standing chief executive Koichiro Naganuma having recently taken personal responsibility for the decline and stepped aside, it will be up to former COO Yoji Shimizu to ensure that ADK continues to hold its own within Japan’s ‘Big three’ triangle.

Bates 141

Regional head Tim Isaac
Score this year 6
Score last year 7

Rebuilding its brand and strengthening internal operations meant Bates 141 underwent a number of changes in 2010. Most notable was a management restructure, which included the departure of regional chief executive Digby Richards and chairman of 25 years Jeffrey Yu. Tim Isaac stepped up to fill the vacant position. 

Other departures included Southeast Asia director Peter Skalberg and Singapore managing director Edward Pank. Frederique Covington became managing partner for Southeast Asia and head of strategy for Asia but subsequently left the agency for Microsoft.

Elsewhere, Sonal Dabral was appointed managing partner and head of creative for Asia while Conrad Chiu expanded his role of Hong Kong CEO to encompass Greater China as managing partner. This followed a problematic period in China, which saw the Beijing operation scaled down and VP Randy Xiao leave after just 12 months. In the Agency Image Survey, regionally, the network has relatively high awareness but ranks lower for overall perception.

Unsurprisingly, the network has been relatively quiet on new business, but did manage to claim new billings totalling US$7 million. These included regional assignments for HSBC, Diageo in Vietnam, and ITC, Colgate and Max Bupa in India, one of the network’s stronger markets and the strongest creatively according to the Creative Rankings - although the agency’s overall position was relatively low. Going forward, Bates is expected to focus on emerging markets like Indonesia, where Shubho Sarkar has been named CEO, as well as specialist below-the-line operations.

BBDO

Regional head Chris Thomas
Score this year 8
Score last year 8

The BBDO Proximity network enjoyed another solid year in Asia, spurred by the strength of  operations in Australia and New Zealand. Although the agency lost out to DDB as Network of the Year at Spikes Asia, Colenso BBDO Auckland brought home a significant number of creative awards including world’s number one for emerging and young creatives in Gunn’s Young Guns report. In Australia the agency increased its stake in Clemenger, which it has part-owned since 1973, from 47 per cent to 74 per cent. Clemenger’s US$2 billion in billings made the move BBDO’s largest investment in the region in a decade, and part of a concerted push for regional expansion by Omnicom Group. 

Further regional reinforcements were made as Carol Potter was promoted to CEO of a newly formed Greater China region heading up a strong triumverate with newly promoted MD Tze-kiat Tan and ECD Wai-foong Leong.

In India, Proximity extended its footprint with the establishment of a Mumbai office headed by Ranjeev Vij in response to growing digital demands in that market. Jean-Paul Burge became president for Japan and Southeast Asia as well as overseeing Singapore. Somkiat Larptanunchaiwon became CEO in Thailand, and Jonathan Teo and Richmond Walker ECDs in Singapore and Malaysia respectively.

Staff retention may have been strong, but big single business wins were largely absent, with the exception of Johnson & Johnson’s global baby products account and the Platinum Guild International in China. BBDO finished the year outside the top 10 in Campaign Asia-Pacific’s New Business League.

BBH

Regional head Charles Wigley
Score this year 6
Score last year 6

Having picked up major new business from the likes of the Singapore Tourism Board, Coca-Cola and Unilever the year before, 2010 was a year of consolidation for BBH. Nonetheless, the agency remains strong, particularly in Southeast Asia, where it posted growth of 29 per cent year-on-year. In India there was further good news, a series of smaller wins contributed to growth of 155 per cent at the fledgling office.

BBH is growing thanks to strong management - John Hadfield and Frances Great were rewarded for their performance with respective promotions to CEO and MD - and a willingness to look beyond long-term clients such as Levi’s - relinquished in July after a period of 28 years. A challenge will be balancing this growth with the ‘boutique’ status BBH is proud of.

The past 12 months saw the agency broaden the scope of its relationships with key accounts Perfetti Van Melle, Coca-Cola and Diageo, as well as taking on new appointments from clients such as YTL Communications in Malaysia. However, the awards haul for the year was small and the agency remains relatively low down the awareness and perception table in the Agency Image Survey. In terms of work, major new campaigns were lacking, but the agency made an unexpected detour to experiment with a reality TV series, and is taking steps to raise its digital game. A staff training partnership was formed with Swedish digital school Hyper Island and former OgilvyOne China digital director Thijs Jacobs came on board as creative technologist. Darius Karbassioun also joined as engagement planning director in China. 

Cheil Worldwide

Regional head Nack-hoi Kim
Score this year 5
Score last year 5

Having concentrated on establishing itself as a separate entity to its main client Samsung last year, Cheil Worldwide is still struggling to decide what to do with its independence.

The year saw relatively little in the way of new external business, aside from a respectable US$6.5 million appointment by China Mobile in Beijing, where Cheil opened for business in February.

Instead, the focus was on stabilising operations and, where possible, extending them. The longest awaited of these came with the opening of Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB) in Mumbai in partnership with Madison Media. President Bruce Haines said Mumbai had been chosen above “risky” Singapore, with Sydney and Shanghai as potential follow-ups. Further expansion came in the shape of One Agency, unveiled as a below-the-line complement to the acquisition of BMB and the Barbarian Group.

Again, the new network’s scope remains undecided in Asia where Thailand was highlighted as a priority following the appointment of SJ Kimm as president Cheil Southeast Asia and Kimm pointing to the market as a key growth area along with Vietnam and Australia.

In Seoul meanwhile, two major hires were made in former Diamond Ogilvy chief creative officer Wain Choi as executive global creative director and Jeffrey Curtis, previously of Lowe Thailand, as global creative director. These were countered by the departure of global interactive ECD Andrew Berglund, and the loss of Samsung’s creative account to Leo Burnett in Malaysia. Cheil’s international success will depend on attracting and retaining talent, and the quality of work produced outside the confines of Samsung.

DDB

Regional head John Zeigler
Score this year 9
Score last year 8

DDB came into its own in 2010. The network consistently ran in the top two positions in Campaign’s New Business League with more than 300 new business wins and billings exceeding US$300 million. Its appointment by Huawei in India was its biggest non-globally aligned win, followed by Telstra in Australia and DBS in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Creatively, it enjoyed its most successful year ever at Cannes and Spikes Asia, where it was named Network and Creative Agency of the Year. Meanwhile, John Zeigler, DDB and Tribal each took prizes at the Agency of the Year awards in their respective categories. 

During 2010 DDB announced a number of management changes. Richard Thomas was promoted to president of global accounts and chief integration officer. The agency also raised its profile with the launch of a Greater China sub-regional network, headed by Dick van Motman. The new structure brings together five offices: Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Taipei.

Meanwhile, the already successful DDB Group New Zealand merged full-service, data driven creative agency Rapp and digital marketing agency Tribal DDB as Rapp Tribal. Though impacted by the departure of ECD Dirk Eschenbacher, Tribal remains strong, as does Rapp. After reinvigorating Rapp in 2009, revenue increased by 35 per cent with new business wins totaling $65 million. While DDB’s regional network presence in the Agency Image Survey is high, it will need to raise its profile in China where it remains relatively low.

Dentsu

Regional head Tatsuyoshi Takashima
Score this year 6
Score last year 5

With an eight per cent rise in revenue, things began looking up for Dentsu in 2010.

The agency introduced a number of important initiatives inside and outside Japan, expanding its integrated marketing capability more than most. Few companies have diversified their business as much with added value services, and 2010 was no exception. At home, Dentsu announced an expanded alliance with Apple for the iAd service, and the launch of management consulting group, Dentsu Consulting to compete with the McKinseys and BCGs of Japan by helping clients with more upstream business services. The operation is led by Naoihiko Oikawa, a heavyweight with decades of relevant experience. In China - where Dentsu has its largest presence outside Japan - a similar unit, Dentsu Marketing East Asia was launched to help Japanese companies entering China with planning, procurement, production, distribution and sales strategies. Other initiatives in the market included a minority investment in SunTrend, one of the country’s best shopper marketing agencies, a 49 per cent joint venture with Blue Focus, one of China’s top PR agencies and increased attention in Hong Kong with the opening of a branch of Media Palette.

Outside China and Hong Kong, diversified services were a priority with the establishment of Singapore-based Dentsu Sports Asia, led by Kiyoshi Nakamura, to leverage sports marketing assets and Dentsu’s long-term relationship with Toyota leading to a new office in Australia. Creatively, 2010 was a very positive year, and Dentsu enjoyed the highest perception of all Japanese agencies in the Agency Image Survey.

DraftFCB

Regional head Mark Pacchini
Score this year 3
Score last year 3

At the end of 2009, DraftFCB’s executive chairman Howard Draft announced his intention to install “supersets of talent” in selected hubs in Asia to raise the agency’s low profile in the region, while also looking to make acquisitions in mainland China. Sadly, no one could say this vision was realised in 2010. 

A huge management overhaul of its China operations received a blow when Gary Tse, former CEO and chairman of Greater China, resigned after 23 years. Next to go was Simone Tam, former MD of DraftFCB Hong Kong, after 17 years. Former CEO of Saatchi Guangzhou Pully Chau, stepped into Tse’s shoes half way through the year and with her appointment came a slight upswing as the agency picked up Mengniu Dairy, Valspar, Kunlun Mountain Mineral Water, COFCO’s Fulinmen cooking oil and food and China Construction Bank. Towards the end of 2010, Mark Pacchini, former president of Greater China, was named president DraftFCB APAC, succeeding Anil Kapoor, named chairman emeritus of DraftFCB Ulka (the agency’s strongest in the region). 

A major win in the India market was Air India, but the network’s highlight was its global US$700 million Nivea win by German healthcare company Beiersdorf. Previously the incumbent in 51 markets, DraftFCB expanded this remit to nearly 90 countries. In terms of awards there was little to shout about. Neither did the agency fare well in the Agency Image Survey. In terms of awareness it placed in the bottom half of the ranking, while in terms of overall best agency DraftFCB failed to register at all. 

Euro RSCG

Regional head Oliver Pluquet
Score this year 6
Score last year 7

Although noticeably quieter than 2009, last year saw the Havas-owned agency roll out a number of new offerings and attempt to strengthen its digital capabilities, naming Andrew Knott to the newly created position of chief digital officer. The agency did benefit from some key global digital alignments, specifically being placed on Unilever’s first global digital agency roster, being named IBM’s global digital agency-of-record and being awarded the global digital business for EDF.

 Euro also named Daniel Lee to the newly-created position of regional digital director Southeast Asia for Euro RSCG 4D. Shortly after, the network launched a social media arm bringing together social and digital efforts under one brand. In May, the network launched its public relations offering in Southeast Asia - Euro RSCG PR Southeast Asia - to be headed by Nor Badron as MD of the hub in Singapore. However, the new arm has yet to see any significant wins.

A big blow for the agency was Victor Ng’s resignation after two years heading the creative team. Ng is still to be replaced. On the flipside, the agency promoted Matthew Fanshawe to the newly created role of regional MD. Euro continued to expand on its partnership with Pernod Ricard, picking up the Jacob’s Creek Australian Open account, winning the integrated Chivas Brothers business in Japan, including media, the regional integrated account for Dulux, and Reckitt Benckiser moved global ad duties for its newest brands, Durex and Scholl. In the Agency Image Survey, Euro improved but still placed in the lower half of the table for both awareness and overall best. 

Grey Group

Regional head Nirvik Singh
Score this year 5
Score last year 4

The appointment of Nirvik Singh to the role of chairman and CEO of Grey Group Asia-Pacific at the end of 2008 gave the agency a new approach, which it continued to build on in 2010. The network has certainly come out of its shell after a quiet 2009 and indeed was recognised as WPP’s strongest creative performer at year’s end. 

Grey Group continued to nurture its global relationships with key clients such as P&G, British American Tobacco and GlaxoSmithKline. Its new business record was also strong and the agency maintained a top-four position in the New Business League. In terms of high-profile wins, the network scooped Panadol globally, worth US$100 million, with a third of the business in Asia. Other regional wins included Reliance Communications, Allianz, Abbott Infant Nutrition Similac and Gain.

In China: ChangYu, Coca-Cola Ice Dew and Danone. G2, Grey Group’s global brand activation agency network, also announced a majority-stake acquisition of DPI, one of Greater China’s leading integrated shopper marketing consultancies. 

The network raised its creative profile with the hire of Ali Shabaz as chief creative officer for Grey Group Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, as well as executive creative directors Randy Rinaldi, Pornthep Piyarat and Attlee Ku. In India, Hari Krishna now heads up Grey Mumbai, Ketan Desai leads Grey Delhi and Vijay Jacob is Grey India VP/Head of South. Success at Cannes and Spikes Asia was matched by the Agency Image Survey indicating Grey Group had significantly raised its game in China. That said, regional awareness of the agency remains low.

Hakuhodo

Regional head Junji Narita
Score this year 5
Score last year 5

After a disappointing and extremely challenging 2009, Hakuhodo ended 2010 with new management, Junji Narita became chairman and chief executive, a new diversified offering, a stronger mindset and a plan for the future.

New initiatives remained firmly concentrated on the domestic market. In keeping with the spirit of Hakuhodo’s proprietary approach to research and insights, the company invested in a new ethnographic division Hakuhodo Ethnovision. Led by Hiroshi Shirai, the ex-GM of the marketing planning division, the group promised to dig deeper than ever before into the anthropological aspects of human behaviour. A global alliance was formed with Marketshare, with former Procter & Gamble CMO Jim Stengel a prominent player. 

From front-end to back-end, 2010 was also a year of investment in measurement services. X-Advance, a new online evaluation tool, was rolled out across key clients. Two further arms -Engagement Business Unit and Owned Media Value Consulting - were launched to strengthen digital expertise and build client efficiency and effectiveness online. 

There was some - arguably overdue - activity outside Japan. Most significantly, the agency identified Bangkok as a regional hub, with Wooh Hoh as Regional ECD and Bee Lee as CD joining to provide greater leadership on the creative front. 

At Cannes, work shone for Sony, K’s and KDDI and the agency also picked up wins at the London Advertising Festival. Still the number two agency in Japan, Hakuhodo continues to dream of global expansion. Improved conditions in the region make this a real possibility.

JWT

Regional head Michael Maedel
Score this year 7
Score last year 7

JWT maintained its reputation as one of Asia’s most compelling creative shops and the network showed a strong performance at creative awards shows with India performing particularly well at Spikes Asia. That said, the agency failed to reach the creative highs it hit in 2009, and China was especially quiet at the global and regional shows.

JWT saw senior management hires across the board in India, China, Singapore and Australia, most notably Adrian Miller joining as CCO in India and Donald Chan taking the helm in China after a short stint at TBWA. However, the resignation of Desmond So, CEO of JWT Hong Kong, was confirmed in January this year, with Dennis Wong, ex CEO of Euro RSCG Hong Kong, set to take over. JWT’s ECD Steven Lee also decided to leave the agency.

The agency raised its game in new business, taking Microsoft 7 (China) and securing BhartiAirtel (India), the Federal Government Department of Health in Australia, adding another Kraft brand in the Philippines, and Denizen. Local new business wins included China Unicom, Wamda and Sinian Dumpling. However, at the beginning of the year Baileys parted company with JWT and called a pitch for its US$60 million global ad account.

The network strengthened its digital offering with hiring David Jessop as business director, Billy Chan as group account director and Munhoe Tung as creative director to lead its digital team, XM. Overall, JWT managed to raise its profile in the region. The agency ranked sixth in terms of overall awareness among marketers in the region. 

Leo Burnett

Regional head Jarek Ziebinski
Score this year 6
Score last year 5

Last year saw a resurgence for Leo Burnett. With Jarek Ziebinski having completed his first full year in charge of the region, the results started to show. Winning 27 Cannes Lions, including a media Grand Prix for the Sydney office, it was by far the best return from an Asia-Pacific agency. Later in the year, Leo Burnett added to this haul with a total of 40 awards from Spikes Asia, including two Grand Prix and four golds. Unsurprisingly, the agency’s Sydney ECD Andy DiLallo occupied the number-one spot in Campaign Asia-Pacific’s creative rankings for the best part of the year. 

On the new accounts front, Leo Burnett’s progress was not quite so dramatic but still showed steady growth. Tan Kien Eng’s appointment in late 2009 as CEO Malaysia and Singapore, has seen the agency secure some significant clients in the two countries including Samsung, Proton and Max Factor in Malaysia, and UOB in Singapore. Elsewhere, the Ebay win in Australia, McDonald’s in the Philippines and Chrysler in Japan have all contributed to the agency’s business growth.

But while Australia, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong were big positives in 2010, China remains a challenge. Aside from  P&G out of Guangzhou, the mainland is a work in progress. The departure at the end of 2010 of Greater China CEO Michael Wood could herald a rethink of the agency’s strategy in China, although in Eddie Booth, Leo Burnett has a ready and experienced replacement. Another key talent loss was Nick Handel. No worries from marketers though, in the Agency Image Survey, the network ranks third in overall awareness and is second best agency.

Lowe & Partners

Regional head Rupen Desai
Score this year 4
Score last year 3

Although starting from something of a low base, 2010 was arguably the year that Lowe finally started to make progress in Asia-Pacific. Traditionally strong in Thailand and Vietnam thanks to its Unilever business, the network looks to now be reaching further afield. In July it appointed Rupen Desai as Southeast Asia president with the intention of strengthening Singapore as a regional hub. In fact, talent was a key focus for the agency in 2010. On the creative side, the agency had to balance new hires with some major losses. In Thailand, Paul Grubb’s departure to Publicis was followed by the appointment of Pom Chaiyaporn. In China, Norman Tan was named as country CCO following the relocation of Ng Tian It back to Singapore. Ng resigned six months later and Dominic Stallard and Clinton Manson arrived in Singapore to replace him as joint CCOs. 

One continuing challenge for Lowe in Asia is to prove that it is more than Unilever’s in-house agency. So far, progress in this respect has been slow, although Vietnam is showing the way forward, winning clients such as Vietnamobile, Pernod Ricard and Total Lubricant. Elsewhere, the adding of Indomie to the agency’s Indonesian accounts, F&N Dairies in Malaysia, Idea cellular in India and Taobao Mall in China are at least adding variety to Lowe’s business.

In terms of marketer perceptions, Lowe is an average to poor performer. According to the Agency Image Survey, the network ranks 12th out of 22 agencies in overall awareness, but slips to 14th in terms of the best agency ranking. 

M&C Saatchi

Regional head Chris Jaques
Score this year 4
Score last year 3

With the addition of 110 new local clients and  billings over US$160 million, 2010 was reasonably kind to M&C Saatchi. The agency established a new office in Guangzhou, launched Shark, a regional shopper marketing practice, and consumer rewards company, TRCO. The company also established regional design practice, id, in Hong Kong and Mumbai, and expanded its Clear Brand Consultancy. 

In terms of new wins, the highlight was the addition of the David Jones business in Australia where the agency also kept its hold on Brand Australia and ING, and retained the Optus business. It continues its 13-year relationship with ANZ, which it serves across Australia and Asia. M&C Saatchi also won a four-year contract to rebrand Australia. 

In China, where Chris Jaques vowed to create an “annoyingly aggressive” operation, M&C Saatchi appointed Angela Hsu to the newly created position of CEO North & Central China, and installed Louis Cacciuttolo as CEO in Guangzhou. In China, they won the creative business for Watsons.

Less positive was the agency’s second departure from the Singapore market where plans to expand the team to 25 did not pan out. Meanwhile, in China, the departure of Rob Campbell from Sunshine, M&C Saatchi’s branding consultancy that Campbell launched in Shanghai two years ago, was an unmistakable blow. M&C Saatchi does not enter into any regional or international award shows but enjoys a top three position in terms of awareness in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets, according to the Agency Image Survey. 

McCann Erickson

Regional head Exco team
Score this year 7
Score last year 8

The most significant event in 2010 for McCann Worldgroup was undoubtedly the appointment of Nick Brien as global head, replacing John Dooner. Brien immediately oversaw a restructure that split the Asia-Pacific region into four geographies - India, China, Japan and Southeast Asia/ Australia - and stripped Michael McLaren of his Asia-Pacific duties. Having installed Charles Cadell for Southeast Asia and Australia, TH Peng for China, Prasoon Joshi for India, and McLaren for Japan, the idea is for the new Exco to run the region collaboratively. 

Away from personnel shifts, 2010 was a year of ups and downs. A positive was the continuing strong performance of McCann Healthcare Worldwide, which increased billings to US$305 million and added 32 staff.  Major wins included SS Pharmaceutical in Japan, Ministry for Health, Family Affairs in Korea, and Pfizer Animal Health in Australia. Outside the healthcare sector, wins included the Bank of Philippine Islands and Drypers in Thailand.  In India, ESPN T20 Champions League, Brittania Cookies, Reliance Big Entertainment and Artsana India and the Thai Tourism creative business. 

A major blow in Malaysia was the loss of Proton, taking away an estimated $14 million account. Staff retention appeared to be an issue in 2010 - at the senior and creative levels. Angsana Chongsrichan, Margaret Chan, Mark Ingrouille Philip Rowell, Farouk Maddon and Sylvester Song left. Agency Image Survey results suggest McCann Erickson is valued for its creativity and global presence, but not value for money. 

Ogilvy & Mather

Regional head Tim Isaac
Score this year 9
Score last year 9

The goal in 2010 for Ogilvy in Asia-Pacific was to return the agency to pre-crisis levels and restore profitable growth to the Hong Kong office, the network’s fourth largest agency. As well as the global UPS account, major wins included MetLife in Japan, Boehringer-Ingelheim in Australia and Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore. Ogilvy won Intercontinental Hotel Group Singapore for the China and Japan markets and in India picked up ICICI Bank and Spice Handsets and retained Unilever, Amex, IBM, BAT and General Motors. 

Ogilvy added to its trophy cabinet during the year, including two IPA effectiveness awards and 12 prizes at the Asian Marketing Effectiveness awards. Ogilvy & Mather Taiwan became the first agency in Taiwan to win a Yellow Pencil at the D&AD show. Other high points included the expansion of digital business with Thomas Crampton’s Digital Influence division almost tripling revenue from 2009.

The agency’s importance in the global network was emphasised when Ogilvy Worldwide promoted Paul Heath to the newly created role of worldwide director for Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, in addition to his primary role as CEO of Asia-Pacific. Heath set out to assemble a global executive committee consisting of regional heads David Mayo, president of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Asia-Pacific, Hugh Baillie from the UK, Simon Pearce from New York and Fernando Musa from Brazil. At the senior level, more hires were made as the network focused on talent development. Acquisitions continue and a joint venture with Apex Communications in Chengdu expanded the agency’s business in western China.

Publicis

Regional head Kevin Ramsey
Score this year 7
Score last year 7

The year for Publicis began with the hiring of Kevin Ramsey as chairman and CEO of the Asia-Pacific region. The former McCann Worldgroup regional head quickly brought in his old agency’s Southeast Asia area director Mark Ingrouille as CEO of its Thailand operations and Asia-Pacific director of business development. Other key hires included Richard McCabe to the newly created role of regional planning director and Paul Grubb, who joined as executive creative director in Thailand.

New business flowed along nicely, although this took the form of a series of smaller, solid wins rather than anything spectacular. The stand out new business was the global creative and digital account for Siemens Energy, out of the Publicis Malaysia office, which surprisingly also pulled in the full communications assignment for the entire product portfolio of the Maggi brand from long-term incumbent Ogilvy. 

Creatively, however, Publicis Asia-Pacific has had little to shout about judging from award show results. Three Cannes design golds for the ‘Beer/Mountain/Sky’ campaign and a gold and silver from Spikes Asia was a decent haul but a poor return compared to the agency’s creative rivals. Vice-chairman and chief creative officer Calvin Soh will see much room for improvement in this respect.

Following a year of consolidation and organic growth, 2011 could be a year for Publicis to really push its offering. According to the Agency Image Survey, Publicis still scores low among marketers for both awareness and performance, suggesting the agency still has some work to do to build its reputation in the market.

Saatchi & Saatchi

Regional head Ian Rowden
Score this year 4
Score last year 5

Elsewhere, it was a year of consolidation for the agency as it battled to regain status in key markets in the region. TBWA’s commitment to China remained strong and the agency installed Ian Thubron as group president, redefining Hong Kong, Taiwan and China as TBWA’s Greater China region. Overseeing 500 staff across TBWA, Integer, TBWA Hakuhodo and Tequila Digital, Thubron’s appointment is part of a restructure intended to refocus the agency in this critical market. As part of the restructure, Jeff Ma was appointed managing director TBWA Shanghai, while Ruth Ang was promoted to Senior VP, TBWA Greater China. Less promising was the departure of China CEO Donald Chan after less than 12 months in the role. 

In terms of disciplines, the agency has concentrated on its digital offering, hiring over 200 digital experts across the region. Tequila Digital Australia’s managing director Charles Clapshaw was named to the new role of president Tequila Digital Asia-Pacific. Other appointments included Scarlett Lok as head of digital for TBWA Greater China, Louise Kristensen as head of digital for TBWA Tequila Hong Kong and Brent Farrell to digital managing director of Singapore. The Agency Image survey found TBWA to be creatively strong. For the year ahead, TBWA’s initiatives in the Greater China region are to be watched. 

Wieden & Kennedy

Regional head Kel Hook
Score this year 5
Score last year 5

It was a quiet year for Wieden & Kennedy, with the agency concentrating its resources on producing work for its established clients rather than chasing new business. 

India, China and Japan continue to be key markets. In India, the agency was awarded the creative duties on the Budweiser brand from AB-InBev. In the same market, Wieden launched key creative campaigns for a range of clients, including Royal Enfield motorbikes and value flyer IndiGo Airlines. In China, it rolled out new work for Converse focusing on skateboarding, following up on its 2009 positioning that put the brand at the centre of the underground music scene with the ‘Love noise’ project.

Creative wins were few and far between, although the agency’s Tokyo office did pick up a gold and silver in the digital category at Spikes Asia for its ‘Nike music shoe’ campaign. 

Awareness of the agency in Asia-Pacific remains low. Only Cheil scores lower in terms of marketer awareness. Better news is that Wieden’s reputation rises in terms of performance, with the agency sitting comfortably mid-table. 

In terms of talent, the big addition in 2010 was the hiring of Rob Campbell as regional head of planning, based out of Shanghai. Campbell replaced Nick Barham, who was appointed as Wieden’s co-ECD. Campbell’s industry knowledge and innovative approach to planning should sit well within the agency’s culture. Looking ahead into 2011, industry eyes will be on the Levi’s business, which the agency took from BBH.

Y&R

Regional head Matthew Godfrey
Score this year 4
Score last year 4

The big change for Y&R this year came about at regional leadership level, with Matthew Godfrey, formerly of Publicis, coming in to replace Ambar Brahmachary in March. Godfrey will surely be tasking himself with raising the profile and achievement of an agency that has been punching below its weight in Asia and that came into 2010 on the back of losing one of its biggest accounts - Singapore Tourism Board.

Godfrey certainly hit the ground running, with the agency winning the Tiger Beer regional account in May after a final shoot out against Ogilvy and then taking the symbolic Singapore Navy business from incumbent Saatchi & Saatchi. One of the big highlights of the Y&R year, though, was its creative success, which has in previous years been lacking. Y&R Jakarta took home the first Cannes gold in the history of Indonesian advertising, while the Asia network also picked up metal at Spikes Asia and NY Festival for work for clients including LG, Cadbury and Australian Defence Force. But while Y&R is  picking up momentum in Southeast Asia, it is still something of an outsider in other markets. 

In China, the agency started the year with the departure of Greater China president Tom Kao, and the position remains empty. In October, Shanghai MD Henry Chan, seen as one of the main drivers of Y&R’s business in China, also stepped down. Better news came in April when the agency won the creative account for Gap, which opened its first stores in China in November. It will be interesting to see how Y&R builds on ground made in 2010. Shifting some of the regional focus out of Singapore and more towards China will help.

This article was originally published in the February 2010 issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific.