CReATION: OgilvyInteractive in AsiaNet alliance

<p>In a world where strength is increasingly dependent upon </p><p>consolidation, Young & Rubicam and the WPP Group aren't the only animals </p><p>of the advertising world changing shape. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Another WPP agency, OgilvyInteractive, recently realised it takes two to </p><p>tango as far as one-stop-shop client fulfillment is concerned. It has </p><p>teamed up with AsiaNetCorp, a company with its fingers in some of North </p><p>Asia's most delectable 'Net pies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to OgilvyOne Worldwide president Asia-Pacific, John Goodman, a </p><p>need to back up creative content, communications, branding and design </p><p>with "the back-end of the business" - technology, the "engine room" and </p><p>ecommerce functionality, spurred the alliance. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There were no agencies that we came across that can marry these things </p><p>together properly, so clients are stuck in this position of having to </p><p>try and manage their portfolio themselves," Mr Goodman said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"What we've tried to do is take what we know - which is brand building </p><p>and communications and what AsiaNet does - which is technical expertise </p><p>and infrastructure, and unite them." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Enter the rebranded Ogilvy AsiaNet, a potential booster to </p><p>OgilvyInteractive's Asian network dominance and 1999 US$8 million </p><p>revenues for Hong Kong alone, and an agency that can capitalise on the </p><p>corporate portfolio of AsiaNetCorp's 19 regional companies. This </p><p>includes 'Net-enabling technology firms such as AsiaNet TP Corporation, </p><p>a Web-based CRM software development and systems integrator for computer </p><p>manufacturers in China, Korean online media and advertising company </p><p>DKIMS Media & Advertising, and Easyclub Co, a Korean B-to-B and B-to-C </p><p>online shopping mall. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The difference between us and some companies that buy smaller dotcoms </p><p>is that we go in as majority shareholders, and we go in to manage," said </p><p>AsiaNetCorp president and CEO, Mr Dennis Lui, adding, "We are now more </p><p>focused on enabling technologies and ebusiness solutions, and are </p><p>actively shying away from B-to-C led business." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While refusing to disclose the financial details of the alliance, Mr </p><p>Goodman noted that CRM and mobile technology were key areas of interest </p><p>for Ogilvy, which conveniently double as core strengths of AsiaNet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And gaining a foothold in chief AsiaNet markets such as Korea, China and </p><p>Taiwan has been an indisputable driver. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"To get where we wanted to be would have been a five-year operation, and </p><p>in five years we probably wouldn't want to be there because this is such </p><p>a volatile market - this way we've got to where we wanted to be in the </p><p>space of three months," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Positioning the Hong Kong office as the first in the Northern Asian </p><p>roll-out set for 2000, Mr Goodman noted that a 50-strong staff team </p><p>would kick-off operations; comprising both of the existing </p><p>OgilvyInteractive staffers and staff seconded from AsiaNet companies. He </p><p>did, however, deny that the alliance was spurred by the glut of agency </p><p>staffers leaving en masse to join dotcoms: "There's a constant problem </p><p>with the sudden spurt of people joining dotcoms and although that's </p><p>dying away, there is still a market under-supply of talented people. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The fact is that we're still growing too fast, and although the AsiaNet </p><p>resource helps, we still can't put people out fast enough to cover </p><p>everything that we do." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As clients increasingly clamber for interactive agencies to cover all </p><p>brand bases, he believes it takes an agency of epic proportions - and </p><p>the infrastructure to boot - to deliver for the likes of the FMCG </p><p>superplayers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Some of the smaller agencies get very frustrated because they can't </p><p>deal with the multinationals and the larger companies - they don't </p><p>understand how the decision-making process works and how to actually </p><p>achieve things for those companies," Mr Goodman said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>