Clients' 'holistic' approach leads to change in global network priorities

Global agency networks are giving roughly equal importance to advertising and marketing communications, because clients are increasingly adopting a holistic approach to their communications strategy. This can easily be seen in such giants as Interpublic Group, WPP and Omnicom, all of which have an array of communications tools at their disposal - media planning and buying, including new media; promotions; public relations; and branding and design in addition to advertising. The situation is similar in Cordiant Communications Group plc, the parent company of Bates and CCG.XM among others. Chairman and CEO Michael Bungey said that three years ago, advertising accounted for 80 per cent of the group's revenue with the remainder earned from marketing communications. Today, it's advertising at 52 per cent and marketing communications at 48 per cent. He predicted that advertising would soon be overshadowed by its younger cousins. "I think that marketing communications already outstrips advertising on a general basis. For us, that hasn't yet happened, but it will do in the near future," Mr Bungey told MEDIA. Cordiant's commitment to marketing communications is underlined by a range of companies operating in this field such as 141 Worldwide, Fitch and PSD. The group has also made its first venture into PR following the acquisition of an Australian operation, PPR. Said Mr Bungey, "PPR will be developed in Asia. Hopefully, it will go global over the next few years." However, he stressed that the advances made by marketing communications have not been at the expense of advertising at Cordiant. Marketing communications, he said, was expanding at a much faster double-digit rate, while advertising was growing at around six per cent annually: "It's not a case of the pie shrinking. It is actually growing." Mr Bungey said the emphasis on marketing communications came mainly from the fact that clients were now embracing a whole host of communications capabilities to build brands in an integrated and holistic manner. "Branding is one of the prime discriminators of similar products produced and sold by many different companies. Take automobiles as an example; there aren't any bad cars - some are good while others are better, and so the only discriminator is how they are branded. "It is, therefore, a must to nurture and guard a brand. Unless constantly fed, the brand will weaken. Companies recognise this. They also recognise that they have many different ways in which to build a brand," Mr Bungey said.

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