FCB severs links in Indonesia to start own shop

<p>JAKARTA: FCB has split with Advis, its local partner in Indonesia, </p><p>bringing an end to a five-year commercial relationship between them. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>FCB decided not to exercise its option to buy into Advis. A new, locally </p><p>incorporated agency, known as FCB, has been set up in the country. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>FCB has kept network accounts including Kraft, Compaq, New Zealand Milk, </p><p>Sara Lee and SC Johnson. Advis has kept locally-held accounts including </p><p>Ericsson. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The intention has always been for us to be able to control our own </p><p>fate," said FCB Singapore chief executive and Southeast Asia area </p><p>director Bhaskar Rao. "We are committed to Indonesia because our clients </p><p>are committed to Indonesia." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said that the agency's first prioirty was to bed down its </p><p>international clients, but that it was also in the process of pitching </p><p>for local clients. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It's very exciting - the place has the smell of a start-up about it," </p><p>said FCB Asia-Pacific president and chief executive Ben Barnes. "We'd </p><p>been looking into a split for the last year. We tried to work through </p><p>everything internally, but it just didn't happen. The agency was out of </p><p>context with the rest of the network." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The new office, with a team of 35, reports to FCB's Southeast Asia </p><p>headquarters in Singapore. "We hope to support a great deal of the work </p><p>there out of Singapore," said Rao. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>