Multinationals bolster China agency arsenal

<p>Two multinational agency networks - J Walter Thompson and DDB - </p><p>have announced that they are adding significant below-the-line </p><p>capabilities to their communications arsenal in China, a move that </p><p>underlines the growing sophistication of the mainland market. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>JWT is setting up Image Factory and Rave to handle below-the-line </p><p>strategic services and large-scale events respectively. Both are </p><p>wholly-owned by JWT. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>DDB, in its bid for supremacy in Greater China, has acquired Crimson - a </p><p>below-the-line, integrated services company - and renamed it Beyond DDB. </p><p>It has also taken ownership of independent Omnicom CRM support services </p><p>company, Rapp Collins. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency is now restructuring itself in order to be ideas-centric </p><p>rather than advertising-centric, which includes plans to establish a </p><p>management consultancy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>DDB Greater China president and CEO Aaron Lau said the aim was to be "an </p><p>enemy of the ordinary". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He added that the restructuring was aimed at meeting client needs within </p><p>the framework of an intensely competitive marketplace. "Clients aren't </p><p>coming to us and saying, 'Give me an ad to promote my product,' they're </p><p>saying 'Give me a solution that will keep me ahead of the game'." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Diversification of advertising services is an inevitable trend in the </p><p>mainland, where big clients, particularly foreign brands, are </p><p>designating a larger proportion of their marketing budget to </p><p>non-traditional activities such as sponsorships and PR events. In </p><p>addition, advertisers are assigning promotion-oriented campaigns to </p><p>smaller agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MNC agencies, therefore, are increasingly feeling the need to establish </p><p>a total communications framework in a bid to safeguard their business </p><p>prospects. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We have created an integrated yet flexible total communications </p><p>capability within which each unit can operate autonomously or as part of </p><p>a great whole," said JWT China CEO Tom Doctoroff. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said the network's Beijing office is expected to grow more than 80 </p><p>per cent in billings this year, largely because it had won the Ford </p><p>business and several local accounts, including China Construction </p><p>Bank. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Both Image Factory and Rave have a direct link with JWT's account </p><p>servicing team which allows for the sharing of strategic thinking, ideas </p><p>and resources. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Image Factory is set up to "provide longer-term strategic and </p><p>implementation service for integrated below-the-line programmes," said </p><p>Mr Doctoroff. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Additional reporting by Iris Lai. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>