IPG appointment clouds Coke pitch

<p>The Coca-Cola China account has been put up for pitch, however, the </p><p>exercise has been clouded by the fizzy drink giant's recent appointment </p><p>of the Interpublic Group (IPG) to develop a global communications </p><p>strategy for its flagship Coke brand. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Three agencies are battling for the account, estimated to be worth </p><p>upwards of USdollars 13 million annually. They are IPG's </p><p>McCann-Erickson, and Bcom3's Leo Burnett and D'Arcy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While D'Arcy is the AOR, Burnett has been responsible for the main </p><p>thematic work and McCann has been appointed to work on the upcoming </p><p>Chinese New Year promotion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The pitch aims to consolidate the account into one agency. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, there is concern over how non-IPG agencies will operate under </p><p>the IPG umbrella and also how this will impact Coke's new "Think local, </p><p>act local" strategy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While firm answers aren't likely soon, it is believed that Coke is </p><p>attempting to give itself a more consistent image through a single </p><p>"brand architecture" as it emphasises local branding across more than </p><p>125 markets globally. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We don't yet know what these brand stories are going to look like, but </p><p>it's a common sense thing to do to avoid chaos," said worldwide D'Arcy </p><p>president Susan Gianinno. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"What they are doing is similar to building a brand vision of sorts and </p><p>I imagine it to be conceptual, which means interpretation and adaptation </p><p>will be allowed on a market-by-market basis rather than local agencies </p><p>becoming simple executors of ideas," she told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It's a message that Coke has relayed to its roster of agencies worldwide </p><p>since appointing IPG. IPG consists of McCann, The Lowe Group, Draft </p><p>Worldwide, Initiative Media Worldwide, Octagon Sports Marketing and the </p><p>Allied Communications Group. Together they will work with Coke to </p><p>determine how best to communicate the brand in local markets, given a </p><p>global context. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But industry sources said that the global assignment could give IPG </p><p>agency networks an unfair advantage in the years to come. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But D'Arcy worldwide president and CEO John Farrell disagreed, saying </p><p>that Coca-Cola's new set-up represented the spreading of a new trend </p><p>first seen in North America just a few years ago. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said: "All agencies, including us, are increasingly getting into </p><p>assignments that are really more about brand consultancy, not just a </p><p>communications execution." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Farrell pointed to Sprint in the United States, which has had three </p><p>agencies, including D'Arcy, over the past few years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The assignment (for Sprint) called for the construction of a brand </p><p>architecture and at one stage we had the responsibility to brief other </p><p>agencies on the work to be carried out. But, initially Sprint had three </p><p>agencies and three years on, it still has three agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He added: "It really does depend on the nature of the conceptual </p><p>architecture that's developed, and the client is really the ultimate </p><p>arbiter of how they want to see that infused and working </p><p>market-by-market with their agencies." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Leo Burnett's Asia-Pacific business development director, Charles </p><p>Edwards, also said local markets would ultimately determine local </p><p>strategy. However, he believed the arrangement with IPG was only related </p><p>to the US market for the time being. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"As far as we have been advised, IPG is related to the US only to </p><p>explore ways to reassert Coke's brand essence. That doesn't include </p><p>developing ads, but concepts which could lead to advertising ideas," he </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>(See also page 8). </p><p><BR><BR> </p>