ANALYSIS: Strategy - ATC sees light with multi-agency set-up. Multi-agency consolidation is seen as packing greater punch. Alfred Hille reports.

<p>Major brand names, including Coca-Cola, Philips and Motorola, have </p><p>been consolidating their advertising business under one agency roof in </p><p>recent months, but the Australian Tourist Commission has made a dash in </p><p>the opposite direction. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Late last month, the national tourist office replaced its global agency </p><p>D'Arcy with multi-agency agreements, for the first time in at least four </p><p>years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The lynchpin of the new multi-agency arrangement is Whybin Lawrence TBWA </p><p>in Sydney, which is tasked with looking after Australia's global brand </p><p>effort. The other agencies will be responsible for tailoring campaigns </p><p>for their regions. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In Asia, TBWA won the creative account, while the media brief went to </p><p>Omnicom sibling, OMD. Dailey & Associates snagged the assignment for the </p><p>Americas. In Europe, the creative business was won by Delaney Lund Know </p><p>Warren, with the media side going to BJK&E. Navigator won in New </p><p>Zealand. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The reasons advertisers usually give for consolidating their accounts </p><p>are achieving brand consistency, making the communication process more </p><p>efficient and maximising limited financial resources. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Interestingly, the ATC - labouring under the tyranny of distance and </p><p>faced with costs outpacing budget growth - has given the same reasons </p><p>for going the other way. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Brian Boote, ATC Asia regional manager, consumer marketing, says </p><p>economics are the major impetus for the change. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Costs generally have been going up faster than our budgets so we cannot </p><p>maintain the brand strategies of the late 1990s. Also, the Australian </p><p>dollar has fallen against the greenback by 20 per cent over the past few </p><p>years, which makes life even more of a challenge," he adds. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Advertisers generally consolidate their accounts with one or two </p><p>agencies if they want to adopt a more cost-effective advertising </p><p>strategy. This is more of an issue these days, given the general </p><p>concerns about the direction of the global economy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The ATC, however, took a different approach and began initiating the </p><p>change early in the year. It formulated a new attack strategy to achieve </p><p>a greater share of the global tourism market with a smaller budget. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But in order to achieve its objectives, the tourism body - with an </p><p>annual global advertising budget set at A$30 million (about </p><p>US$15.5 million) - had to go over its key markets with a </p><p>finetooth comb. At the same time, it needed to put forward new products </p><p>and messages via an integrated communication platform. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We drilled down further for clues on how we should be doing things </p><p>better and smarter and came to a number of conclusions: North America </p><p>needs branding and tactical efforts; television and print branding and </p><p>promotion for Asia; branding but no TV in Europe," Boote says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He also said that he and his colleagues decided that it wasn't necessary </p><p>to appoint a single, global agency in order to improve cost </p><p>effectiveness and advertising impact. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We needed two things: better targeting with improved knowledge of the </p><p>markets on the ground; and to reach our target audience in an impactful </p><p>and appealing manner. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We let the chips fall where they may. We could have appointed a single </p><p>agency to run the communication business on a global basis but only if </p><p>that agency could demonstrate its capabilities in all of our key markets </p><p>around the world," says Boote, himself a 20-year veteran of the agency </p><p>world with stints in Clemenger/BBDO, Ogilvy & Mather, Clemenger Direct </p><p>and JWT Direct Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Asia is Australia's biggest market; 58 per cent of tourists originate </p><p>from this region, including Japan and New Zealand. At 24 per cent, </p><p>Europe is the second biggest market, followed by the Americas, which </p><p>contributes 12 per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But although the ATC chose the multi-agency route, the organisation's </p><p>main global branding work remains the brief of one agency - Sydney-based </p><p>Whybin Lawrence TBWA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We know that as markets develop, they become more sophisticated and </p><p>demand greater attention and different executional strategies," comments </p><p>Boote. Which is why the ATC stressed that one of the top pitch criteria </p><p>was to appoint what it felt was the best agency to work in each of its </p><p>major regions. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It split Asia into two regions: north, centred in Hong Kong; and south, </p><p>headquartered in Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The split was aimed at taking into account increasing differences in </p><p>demographic and psychographic developments. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TBWA and OMD swept away the competition but Boote said it was a </p><p>coincidence that Omnicom agencies took both regions as well as the </p><p>global brand advertising task and the media assignment. "The best </p><p>agencies won in separate pitches. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>There was no connection among the different outcomes, but clearly the </p><p>synergy will benefit us." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Boote also said that new products matched with new advertising messages </p><p>- similar to its recent "Rediscover Australia" campaign in Singapore and </p><p>Malaysia - would be rolled out in due course. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We launched new products which have been positioned in a new way </p><p>because we know that a significant number of people around the world </p><p>have already visited Australia or they already have a great deal of </p><p>knowledge about the country. So we highlighted different parts of the </p><p>country, activities and sceneries in order to encourage repeat </p><p>visits. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"You have to constantly innovate your products and advertising message </p><p>to keep things interesting and fresh in the eyes of consumers. If you </p><p>don't, you lose market share. It's sort of like simply calling on Hong </p><p>Kong people to visit Macau. Nothing is going to happen unless you offer </p><p>at least one new attraction," says Boote. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the ATC has reverted to a multi-agency set-up and in the process </p><p>bucked the consolidation trend, Boote felt there was no correct </p><p>client-agency structure. "It depends on the times, the brand, the </p><p>objectives, and a myriad other factors and variables." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, Boote did stress that some of the fundamentals would not </p><p>change: "No one knows the product and the brand like the client. But no </p><p>one can bring objectivity like an agency. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Ultimately the job of an agency is to add value to how people view a </p><p>brand. If both sides understand this, great advertising will follow." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>