MEC shared the results with Campaign Asia-Pacific. RECMA could not be reached for comment before publication time. The organisation normally does not make big public announcements but rather releases its result to the agencies themselves.
The report evaluates media agencies’ success in winning new business pitches, taking into account client budgets, contenders and degree of involvement in global/regional pitches.
MEC Asia Pacific ranked as the best overall performing agency in the region, and received 'A' grades for competitiveness in Singapore, Australia and China.
The agency credited its success in retaining key clients following competitive reviews, including Chanel in China and Mitsubishi in Australia, as well as new business for the region including Sony Electronics, Tiger Airways and GE.
Stephen Li, CEO of MEC Asia Pacific, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that the agency's success came from two areas: the support of GroupM and MEC's "unique" positioning as a communications planning agency.
"Increasingly, client expectations of media agencies are changing, and a lot of the clients we talk to now, certainly the clients that are compelled by our offering, are clients that look at us as a comnmunications agency more than a quote-unquote media agency," he said. "Buying mass media is just part of our business now. The kinds of conversations we are having are more business-centric, and are happening at a more senior, c-suite level rather than a procurement level."
Li also mentioned MEC's analytics capabilities and channel-neutral approach as important factors in pitch success.
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