FOCUS: YEAR-END REVIEWS - Universal McCann survives economic downturn by maintaining focus on delivering results

Without going over and re-stating the obvious over the past 12 months, no doubt nearly everyone has had a great year with the economic turn around and increasingly positive business off-take. But I guess that statement doesn't exactly satisfy everyone because we've also got to recognise that the dotcom 'rush' and certain market economies are still lagging and we have seen they have taken their toll on some in the industry. Fortunately, we can say that Universal McCann hasn't been affected in this area. Generally speaking, that's largely because we've focused on the important things that deliver positive solutions for our clients. We haven't chased equity arrangements with dotcoms in exchange for work completed, nor have we diverted from our core business focus. I don't pity those agencies that chased equity or royalty deals in the dotcom rush. But here's what we have done over the year that's been uniquely different and focused on our clients core needs ... We've launched the Universal McCann brand across most markets in Asia. We've hopefully communicated that it's not simply a situation of following the unbundling trend but one of delivering greater integration with our media insights providing crucial input as part of the overall communications development process. Unbundled media services tend to be by their separated nature juxta-opposed to a cohesive operating condition that's needed to deliver total communications. As part of our deliverables, to achieve our positioning, we've kitted up our offices with new cutting edge tools and operating systems. And, we've undertaken a massive investment into our proprietary consumer and product-based research, which is called Media In Mind. We've also focussed on training our people to ensure that not only can we effectively manage and deliver our approach, but so that we can continue to provide a growth and learning opportunity for our stars. All that's now paying dividends for our clients, and we expect greater returns next year. News of our approach has also been welcomed on a wholesale level from both existing and new clients who have continued to award us with new assignments. No doubt they are just as excited to see more substantial and value driven returns and to say we've had a good year in this respect would be a massive understatement. This year has also been a foundation year to lay down some basic engine room facilities. It has been a year to get some points on the board with some areas of increased specialisation that have traditionally been considered by the industry outside of a media agency's focus or primary domain. Greater justification and the need to deliver return on investment is increasingly important. That's why we're gearing up our modelling expertise and interactive specialisation. We're also expanding our programming portfolio, out of home media facilitation, and digital management in terms of broadband, WAP (Web application protocol), mobile technology etcetera. These are just some of the skills that we'll be talking about in the new year. It's all part of our insurance to our clients in the new media paradigm to be part of the total communications era.

Sign In

Trouble signing in?

Reset Password: Click here

Contact Customer Support at

Customerservice@campaignasia.com