HEADLINES: Carat S'pore sets pace with Q1 account wins

<p>Carat Asia-Pacific has won more than US$45 million in new </p><p>billings in the first three months of this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Carat Singapore, which only opened in early January, has attracted new </p><p>business to the tune of US$6.7 million, including Carlsberg Beer, </p><p>Great Eastern Life Assurance, Gardenia Bread, Meyson Jewellery and </p><p>Swensen's restaurants. The agency also won three regional clients - </p><p>Nokia Networks, Seagate Technology and Alfred Dunhill - which will be </p><p>managed from Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Carat's Asia-Pacific billings, according to regional director Alex </p><p>Abplanalp, currently stands at around US$780 million and he </p><p>expected that the US$1 billion mark could be breached within the </p><p>next 12 to 18 months. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said that media specialists have been educating the client side for </p><p>the past three years and that it seems that the effort is coming to </p><p>fruition. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In the past three years, we were about building networks and convincing </p><p>clients about the value-added benefits we can bring and unbundle their </p><p>media business," he told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Clients increasingly see that they cannot get the best of everything </p><p>from just one agency but they can get the best from several </p><p>agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Since 85 per cent of an advertising budget normally goes into media, I </p><p>believe we will see an escalation of media unbundling over the next two </p><p>to three years. It will be much more than what we are seeing now." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>