INTERVIEW: Carat's O'Brien on the Dentsu deal and plans ahead

The cash-deal that saw Dentsu acquire all Aegis stock for a huge US$4.9 billion was seen as a move that will have a seismic impact on the industry, but one that prompted many to question the cultural fit of Japanese structures and the European approach to business.
 
O’Brien says it’s too early to tell what challenges lay ahead, instead suggesting that being part of the largest media group in Asia can only be a positive for the agency’s clients and staff. He added that he expects very few changes to the way Carat operates, pointing that it is still “very much business as usual”.  And it’s clear that O’Brien is likely to work hard to protect Carat’s independence.
 
In a separate interview just days before the takeover was announced, O’Brien made clear it was Carat’s independence and nimble structure that attracted him to the agency.
 
“The Carat vision is all about redefining media,” he said. “Carat invented the media independent category; out of that spawned change, which is why I like the Carat brand.”

O’Brien said at the time that he is fascinated by change, believing that you only grow when you are in an uncomfortable environment. He said this personal philosophy is part of the reason his career has taken him around the globe, including stints in emerging and more disruptive markets like Latin America and Thailand.  
 
“I started in Latin America, not for any other reason than the fact it was a developing market; it was different, it wasn’t finished,” he said. “The UK is good, but it is incremental change. Places like Latin America are about massive change. We went in there and we totally reinvented it.”
 
Since taking on the CEO role for Asia-Pacific back in March, O’Brien said he has been keen to continue Carat’s focus on innovation. One of his key objectives is to redefine the role of the media agency through a focus on delivering business value to clients through a more effective management of data.

“Whether we use old media, new media whatever words you want to use, it doesn’t really matter unless there is an end result,” he said. “That’s our challenge, that’s what we are focused on.”

He said the agency’s single P&L operating structure allows for flexibility, innovation, and investment in new ways of working. “If we want to over-invest in search we can do, it doesn’t matter if that doesn’t make money because you are funding it out of the whole group and is based on an opportunity and what we think is important,” he said.  

But he added that success also comes down to the right investment in talent, adding that his aim is to build “the best bloody team in the industry in this region”.

Given Carat’s focus on flexibility and quick reaction times, O’Brien said the agency looks to recruit talent that is comfortable in a fluid environment pointing out that people who enjoy the comfort of “rigid process driving” do not tend to work out.

“You want to work with people that are collaborative, who want to work together and don’t want to just build their own little fiefdom,” he said. "For us we want people who are comfortable in our type of environment. We have a very fluid environment; it is constantly changing and we are constantly changing."