A duel looks set between the Tempus and Aegis groups in Japan after
the two media independents established footholds in the country
recently.
While they are unlikely to challenge the supremacy of Dentsu and
Hakuhodo in the media buying field, the two agencies are looking to make
an impact in strategic with Japanese clients operating at the regional
and global levels and foreign companies operating in Japan.
Tempus, CIA's parent, announced recently it had acquired a majority
share in International Creative Marketing (ICM), one of Japan's leading
market research companies.
At about the same time, Carat's parent company Aegis purchased a
majority stake in Strategic Planners International (SPI), an independent
media planning and consultancy based in Tokyo.
ICM has been in business for about 20 years, with clients such as
Coca-Cola, Nippon Lever, Kirin and Nike.
SPI was set up in 1995 and now services such clients as Adidas, Club
Med, Disney, Fujitsu, Warner Lambert and Volkswagen.
CIA Asia-Pacific regional managing director Mark Austin said that as
Japan is world's second-largest economy, the Tempus/ICM deal opens up
another area of opportunity.
"Having an important Japanese business as a partner of Tempus will, we
believe, present significant opportunity for new client acquisition for
both CIA and our Tempus businesses across this region and globally," he
said.
Meanwhile, Aegis chief executive Douglas Flynn said SPI's media planning
and consultancy operation was "second to none" in Japan and that the
alliance "gets around the problem of being a second tier organisation
after Dentsu and Hakuhodo in the media planning discipline".
However, both media independents have adopted a 'softly, softly'
approach.
Mr Austin said: "Japan is an extremely difficult market for foreign
companies to successfully enter, especially in the marketing services
sector."
Mr Flynn said although Japan accepted the idea of media specialists,
Japanese agencies seemed to represent the media as much as the clients:
"These media relationships appear difficult to crack."
Despite this, however, both groups were optimistic that their respective
strategies would pay off, although it was likely that they will
initially find success with Japanese companies with overseas
ambitions.
The two groups are also likely to find a receptive audience - both local
and foreign companies - when it comes to media planning but that's not
to say that the Japanese planner is any worse.
As with the rest of Asia-Pacific, the time of the media specialists
appear to be nigh because of the fragmentation of media, right down to
the delivery of ads to WAP users, who may represent a significant
demographic in their own right.
This, too, appears to be true in Japan which is why the Tempus and Aegis
groups have decided they need to enter, albeit tentatively, into this
market.
Mr Austin cited his oft-quoted phrase that strategy lies with media and
not with creative-driven agencies.
"We believe that there is a genuine desire amongst many clients
operating in Japan - whether they be foreign or Japanese companies - for
a new way of working with marketing and communications agencies that
challenges the out-dated, conventional agency models.
"We believe, therefore, that by building our 'agency of the future'
vision carefully and strategically, we will be best positioned to
fulfill the aspirations of this increasingly disillusioned client base."
