SHANGHAI: Procter & Gamble is understood to be planning to put its
media booking task, currently handled by a local broker, up for pitch
with a view to aligning the function for its US$100 million China
account with one of its three roster agencies.
Since 1999, the media booking function has been handled by Deluxe
International, a local broker which was established in 1995.
Sources claimed that P&G's decision to review the function was sparked
by the consumer goods company wanting to have better control of ad
bookings on its slimmed down budget.
Globally, the company has been reducing advertising spend in line with
the recessionary climate. In China, the company was spending as much as
US$150 million a year ago.
Said a source of the review: "It all comes down to a question of the
broker's role in China. A lot of companies are carried away by rate card
discounts, but often you find that what has been booked bears little
resemblance to the spot plans which have been developed."
Industry observers predict that the booking role will go to one of the
agencies on P&G's roster, which includes MediaCom, Starcom's Quest Media
and Zenith Media.
Of the three, Quest Media and Zenith are said to have the strongest
chance of taking over the booking role.
"Quest Media handles the scheduling, which could give them a real shot
at the account," said an agency source.
The joint-venture Quest Media operation was set up in 1999 when the
Bcom3 team of Starcom and D'Arcy's Media Vest joined forces to
successfully pitch for P&G's agency of record media assignment.
Quest Media took the business off Zenith, which was P&G's agency until
early 2000. Zenith held the account for eight years, which helped it
grow into a major media buying company in China.
