Conflict no hurdle for GroupM unit

Is Siemens-BenQ's media business safe from GroupM? The question might be regarded by some in the media business as a mischievous one. However, as everyone must surely be aware of by now, MediaCom's dramatic success in Nokia's US$150 million regional shootout has demonstrated -- once again -- Group M's ability to ride roughshod over the conventional conflict thinking of yesteryear. For the record, in Asia, the WPP behemoth now buys some or all media for five of the six largest mobile phone manufacturers in the world. Pertinently, the largest of these consolidations -- Nokia, Motorola and Samsung -- have taken place after the rollout of the GroupM structure, and are less the result of legacy relationships than a validation of the network's consolidated buying clout. Add in MEC's global Sony Ericsson relationship, and GroupM's hold on parts of the LG account, and the picture becomes clearer. It is a picture given sharper clarity by MindShare's recent wins of such accounts as Unilever and Nestlé in several regional markets markets. Only Gillette, which moved its business out of MindShare after being acquired by P&G, bucks the trend. The Nokia switch, from 10-year incumbent ZenithOptimedia to the recently-acquired MediaCom, is perhaps the most audacious of all. Previously part of Grey Global Group, MediaCom had rarely suggested anything substantive in this region, despite a sterling reputation in the US and Europe. Critically, the Nokia win now means that MediaCom becomes the mobile giant's de facto global media agency, given that it already handles the US, European and Latin American briefs with some aplomb. "This particular one doesn't surprise me that much, because they are playing the card of keeping MediaCom fairly separate," says a regional media agency head. "As a client it would make perfect sense to me, and they have had a good experience in Latin America." Another agency head agrees, saying: "Nokia wanted a more global alignment with their key suppliers. When you look at it from a global alignment level and, given Zenith's presence as the incumbent, Zenith was the underdog." Across the industry, few are surprised to see Zenith's tenure on the account end, despite its longstanding relationship with Nokia in Asia-Pacific. Says another agency head involved in the pitch: "It was clear that Zenith was dead in the water before the whole thing had even started. But I was surprised the client was willing to compromise that much given that they said conflict was a major issue at the outset." The pitch itself was a lengthy and complex affair, driven as much by Nokia's procurement department as by its marketing brass. OMD and Universal McCann bowed out after the first stage of the process, leaving Zenith and MediaCom to battle it out in the final round. An added wrinkle came in the form of a restructuring of Nokia's marketing team midway through the pitch. Despite the lengthy nature of the pitch, furthermore, one source involved in the process notes that while the requirements were onerous, it is unlikely that a pitch consultant would have brought any significant benefits in this case. "There was a lot of checking and counter-checking and was complicated by the restructuring in the middle of the pitch," says the source. "A pitch consultant wouldn't have made a difference because a pitch consultant doesn't know Nokia." The key for Group M, say sources, lay in convincing the client that the MediaCom concept was actually a real one, given its reputation as something of an unknown quantity in the region. For Zenith, meanwhile, the loss is cushioned by the agency's success in securing parts of Nestlé's global business in 2005, particularly in India and its recent win of Hyundai's Indian and Southeast Asian account. "Net-net, it wouldn't be too much of a blow, as they have been successful in picking up the Nestlé business," says another media agency source.