Ideology dares to be different with its own winning formula

A marriage into a big multinational advertising family is not something Taiwan's most creative independent agency, Ideology, is considering. This stance flies in the face of the global trend in which many reputable local shops in Asia have merged with an international advertising brand. Despite the fact that Ideology has been 'proposed' to by 12 multinational networks, the agency has stood firm. Ideology founder and chairman Cheng Sung Mao said his refusal to merge with multinational companies was simple: the agency could not think of a compelling reason to ally with a foreign partner. "They (the multinationals) said they need us for the region (expansion), but they can't answer my question: 'What can you really bring to us?'," said Mr Cheng. There was no struggle against the temptation to resist a buyout attempt and this feeling was underlined when Mr Cheng said that merging with a multinational brand was not something glorious in Taiwan. Founded 12 years ago with a four-member team, Ideology now has 100 staff while its billings last year totalled NTW$1.392 billion. Ideology was established at a time when many local agencies in Taiwan were being bought out by multinational networks. Local agencies faced two dilemmas: merging with an international brand but losing its original brand name or missing out on the life of a multinational. "We wanted to do something different, and that's why we called ourselves Ideology," said Mr Cheng. As the name suggested, Ideology aimed to create a unique positioning and focal point - ideology - to communicate with consumers. As Mr Cheng put it, "We don't see ourselves as an agency," but as the creator of the ideology behind brand communications. Deep insights into local culture and consumers allow Ideology to take a bold advertising approach, which can demonstrate the agency's distinctive approach. "When we set up Ideology, we never thought of becoming the most creative agency," said Mr Cheng. "There are two sorts of agencies: others and Ideology. We don't like to bother others and the others don't bother us." Despite the fact that Ideology was always the biggest winner at advertising awards, he said the agency had in fact struggled hard to get good results at awards. "We didn't intend to be compared with and to compete against others, but we participated because we wanted to support this sort of event," said Mr Cheng. Prior to setting up Ideology, he worked at several multinational and local agencies on account servicing and strategic planning. "We wanted to do something (for advertising), but it would be difficult to pursue in the agencies we had worked for." Asked about his biggest achievement to date, Mr Cheng said: "We accomplished our goal when we started the agency." Asked if Ideology's unconventional philosophy would affect business pitches, Mr Cheng admitted there were certain clients the agency would find impossible to handle. Ideology launched with two clients: Denmark's chewing gum Stimorol and Taiwan's Seaweed. Today, the agency handles more than 20 clients ranging from government-owned China Telecom to Toshiba television. As the Internet is an inevitable move in communications, Mr Cheng launched an interactive company idcyber this year. "Advertising should be the forerunner of everything, we see what's ahead of us is the dotcom," said Mr Cheng, who started to invest in several portals in Taiwan three years ago. It has become the norm for traditional advertising groups to launch interactive subsidiaries to service the holding agencies. However, Mr Cheng said the Internet is becoming part of the advertising discipline which should be integrated into the agency's total services. In the arena of Internet development, Mr Cheng did not rule out the possibility of merger and partnership in the future. The Internet is one arena in which local and overseas alliances are important because it quickened the further development of the medium. Meanwhile, both local and multinational agencies have jointly formed media independents to strengthen their media clout, but Ideology has no intention of going this route. "I cannot see a true media independent in Taiwan - they were formed for the purpose of making profit and the increase of their bargaining power," said Mr Cheng. "They (media independents) are fighting for themselves not for the clients - what they said was different to what they actually did." China is the focus of expansion for advertising groups in the region, but Mr Cheng said Ideology did not consider the mainland as a potential business destination. "Just because everyone goes there doesn't mean we have to go there too," he said, stressing that the agency just did not have the "power" to expand into the mainland. "As a local Taiwan agency, it is simply too tough to find local partners and clients in the mainland, where all the well-known brands are multinationals".

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