HONG KONG: Ogilvy & Mather has parted ways with Hong Kong trading
and distribution company A. S. Watson Group after winning Coca-Cola
brands' Fanta and Sprite across 11 Asian markets in a global
realignment.
Client concerns prompted O&M to end its 11-year relationship with the
company for its water and Mr Juicy brands from January 2000, although
O&M will only be working on Coke's carbonated brands.
O&M's Greater China group chairman Joseph Wang said both sides expressed
concerns about sharing the same agency. "Watson's aware that Coke has
Bonaqua (its water brand) and juices, while Coke was concerned about
sharing market information, particularly as growth for Coke will come
from its non-carbonated categories."
The parting of ways comes despite pioneering steps by the agency to
strengthen in-house security measures across Asia. Wang said the agency
had commissioned a third-party for a US$100,000 audit of security
measures in force at its five Greater China offices since the agency
handles Motorola as well as interactive and PR assignments for
Nokia.
Wang said agencies would need to tackle the security issue soon because
the bigger an agency group becomes, the more difficult it is to avoid
taking on clients in the same category.
