In a legendary career, he has seen more changes in the industry than most people have seen in their lifetimes. But even the recent events concerning the Omnicom Group has made the industry veteran sit up and reflect on a decade of mergers and acquisitions that have changed the landscape of the global advertising industry.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal suggested organisational and financial problems at Omnicom, driving its share price down by over 20 per cent, and pulling down many others with it. Grey's price fell five per cent.
Talking to media in an exclusive interview recently at the Grey Conference in Phuket, Thailand, Meyer said that he had been frequently approached as an acquisition target, but had preferred to pursue his own strategy rather than join the emerging mega corps of Omnicom, Interpublic Group and WPP Group.
"Omnicom is a serial acquirer. The benefits are significant, but the disadvantage is a lack of co-ordination, said Meyer. Omnicom made 73 acquisitions in 2000 and 2001. "Grey has always pursued a singular and not complex vision - and pursued that line of distinction. We offer the client simplicity and a clear way of how to manage their complexity."
It is not that Grey is a minor player, with 465 offices in 159 cities in 90 countries and billings of US$12.1 billion in 2001. Over the past eight to nine months, Grey has added US$350 million to its billings worldwide, winning accounts such as Cisco Systems and Clairol globally as well as Bell South, Advil and Smuckers in the US.
The company is unmistakably a global player in the advertising industry.
However, in a world of mergers and acquisitions, Grey would rather go it alone and take its chances with a strategy founded on a singular corporate vision and an integrated marketing offering.
"This way we can devote all our energy to servicing the client and not have to look inside to sort out internal structures."
Not only is the corporate world changing, but so too is the industry itself, with advertising in its traditional form fast becoming one of a basket of marketing services.
"We believe the industry is moving more and more in the direction of offering a synchronised marketing approach to the industry that is multi-disciplinary, said Meyer. "You're no longer just promoting the agency, but a variety of resources that are applicable for the bigger accounts. We have the responsibility to develop a complete agency."
That means incorporating disciplines such as direct response and interactive.
Meyer singled out the latter as an especially powerful tool for FMCGs, offering opportunities to build relationships, loyalty and customer knowledge.
"If you remain an advertising agency alone, then you'll have to become a boutique agency. But to be able to win large accounts, you need to build a marketing agency and have the skill to be able to allocate full marketing budgets."
Solving company's marketing problems is not only a growing trend in the US, but also is increasingly relevant in Asia, where 40 per cent of all Grey's revenue is non-advertising related. This is compared to a figure of 52-53 per cent worldwide.
"The future is to create a singular voice for our agency and increasingly lead clients in the use of all disciplines. Our challenge is to develop all of these disciplines and most importantly work out how they can work together. The organisation of these disciplines is critical, said Meyer.
"The drivers of business will be the increasing recognition that a multi-discipline offering increases sales, and among clients, that a targeted message is required. This will enable companies to target more sophisticated consumers in fiercely competitive markets."
While customer sophistication is increasing, so is Grey's product offering.
The company has spent the last two years perfecting a brand-planning tool, Emotional Trigger Points, which is a research technique designed to "identify the emotions most relevant to product categories and services", said Meyer.
The tool may be in the soft launch stage, but there is no sign of a soft approach at the top at Grey.
After more than three decades in his current position, Meyer continues to lead rather than follow market trends as he attempts to reinvent the traditional advertising agency wheel.
