Impiric hit as IBM finetunes line-up

<p>SINGAPORE: IBM's decision in the US to consolidate its direct </p><p>marketing and interactive accounts internationally with OgilvyOne and </p><p>Wunderman/Impiric is having dire consequences in Asia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Impiric, as the agency is known in Asia, is about to lose IBM's </p><p>below-the-line account in the region to OgilvyOne. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The only exception will be Australia and Japan. But the loss in other </p><p>markets has resulted in Impiric reducing its workforce, starting with 10 </p><p>retrenchments in Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency lost out because IBM's US technocrats decided in August that </p><p>Wunderman/Impiric would be its agency partner driving "product demand </p><p>generation (PDG)" worldwide, while OgilvyOne would lead "strategic </p><p>solution demand generation" (SDG) worldwide. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>PDG is product-based advertising, while SDG is more brand focused. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Since IBM will run mostly SDG campaigns in Asia, the company has chosen </p><p>OgilvyOne. OgilvyOne's sister company Ogilvy & Mather is already </p><p>handling IBM's above-the-line advertising in Asia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The earlier decision to consolidate with two agencies - bumping Havas' </p><p>Brann Worldwide off the roster - was made to reduce costs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>IBM also wanted to ensure that whichever agency handled direct marketing </p><p>would also work on online marketing because both are direct response </p><p>mediums. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Interactive marketing is becoming an increasingly utilised marketing </p><p>tool and requires us to better integrate interactive and traditional </p><p>demand generation techniques," IBM said in a statement. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This agency realignment (to Wunderman/Impiric and OgilvyOne) leverages </p><p>best-in-class agency skills and experience and facilitates significant </p><p>agency fee reductions." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Wolfgang Haf, Impiric's Asia-Pacific president, was unavailable for </p><p>comment as was John Goodman, OgilvyOne Asia-Pacific president. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Both agencies are owned by WPP and,according to industry sources, WPP, </p><p>instigated the agency consolidation by approaching IBM with the promise </p><p>of fee reductions if it used fewer agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>