ANALYSIS: Direct - Tempus steeling up for new regional push. Tempus is aiming to offer a complete communications solution

<p>Tempus Group has promoted Mark Austin from chief executive officer </p><p>of CIA Asia-Pacific, to the newly-created position of Tempus </p><p>Asia-Pacific chief overseeing all the companies within the marketing </p><p>communications conglomerate: CIA, strategic marketing consultancy Added </p><p>Value, design and brand identity firm Brown KSDP and digital agency </p><p>Outrider. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Austin's new role is to manage the group, so all the business units work </p><p>together as a unified force, allowing Tempus to persuade existing </p><p>clients to use all the services in the group. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>To achieve this goal, a new central business unit - Tempus Partners - </p><p>has been established to work with clients and liaise with all the </p><p>companies in the group. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is also employing "communication channel planners" to take-over the </p><p>account planning function currently offered by ad agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The strategy behind this move is to strengthen Tempus' relationship with </p><p>clients by ensuring clients rely more on Tempus Group and less on </p><p>outside ad agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Tempus claims to have the breadth of expertise to solve a client's major </p><p>marketing problems and wants key clients working with Tempus from "top </p><p>to bottom", says Austin. In other words, working with Brown KSDP and </p><p>Added Value early on and then having CIA and Outrider help implement </p><p>campaigns. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Austin argues the benefit to clients is "we're part of the same team so </p><p>companies in the group work well together". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He says one reason Added Value - Europe's largest marketing consultancy </p><p>- joined Tempus Group was because it could develop a comprehensive </p><p>strategy for a client. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"But the client would then go to their ad agency and the strategy would </p><p>evolve into something completely different because of some creative idea </p><p>that was developed". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now that is less likely to occur because Added Value can call on sister </p><p>company CIA to help with implementation rather than relying so heavily </p><p>on outside companies, he says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Austin claims Tempus Group is the "agency of the future" and advertising </p><p>agencies are "dinosaurs". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He says it makes more sense for Tempus to have CIA rather than own an ad </p><p>agency because media buying and planning has come to the fore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Media buying and planning used to be relatively simple because you only </p><p>had a few TV stations, magazines, newspapers and so on to advertise in," </p><p>explains Austin. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There was very little difference you could make with the media </p><p>selection so it was right to lead with the creative work and focus on </p><p>that to differentiate your brand." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"You also had ad agencies saying to the media planner 'we have three </p><p>TVCs and some print ads, come up with the media plan'." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"So how creative could you really be with the media?" Austin asks </p><p>rhetorically. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"But media fragmentation and new technologies coming in - laptops, </p><p>mobiles and so on - have changed that." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Media planning has become far more complicated ... consumers have more </p><p>mediums to choose from. There is so much clutter that marketers have to </p><p>be more innovative when it comes to media planning. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"They need to find new ways to connect brands to consumers" - a role </p><p>that the Tempus Group is better positioned to do than ad agencies, </p><p>according to Austin. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He says "not having an ad agency allows us to be more objective because </p><p>we can consider all the communications channels - public relations, </p><p>direct marketing, internet marketing and so on" - and recommend the best </p><p>communications solution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is no surprise that when clients got to an ad agency with a </p><p>communications problem they generally come up with an advertising </p><p>solution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The reason for this is obvious - ad agencies are in the advertising </p><p>business and they have a vested interest to recommend that clients </p><p>advertise. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But Austin says when CIA, for example, pitches for an account it tells </p><p>the client "we are independent, we're not influenced by any ad </p><p>agency." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>AUSTIN'S RISE TO THE TOP OF TEMPUS ASIA-PACIFIC </p><p>- 1989 Started Austin West Media in the UK </p><p>- 1995 Singapore managing director of CIA Asia-Pacific. Helped establish </p><p>the business in partnership with Batey Ads </p><p>- 1997 Regional managing director of CIA Asia-Pacific </p><p>- 1998 Appointed to the board. CIA Asia-Pacific ends partnership with </p><p>Batey Ads and goes it alone </p><p>- 2000 Appointed CEO of CIA Asia-Pacific. CIA wins Singapore Airlines </p><p>global master-media contract. </p><p>- 2001 Appointed CEO of Tempus Group Asia-Pacific, CIA's parent company </p><p><BR><BR> </p>