There has been a tangible sense of excitement coursing through the corridors of MEC’s regional headquarters of late. And perhaps a little nervousness too.
A bright, young executive from Europe will soon touch down in Singapore to head up the region. Which is good news. As long as he stays longer than the last one.
Joost Dop (well-guessed, he’s Dutch) takes on a role vacated by David Morgan in July last year, who disappeared after six months in the job.
A widely expected promotion for North Asia CEO Bertilla Teo, who has shared the role with Stephen Li (South and Southeast Asia) since Morgan went, hasn’t happened, and the Dutchman starts in January.
But with a four-month placement as a post-graduate trainee 17 years ago as his only experience of Asia (unless you count 10 years of yoga), few could blame the industry for suspecting that history will repeat itself.
After all, it’s sensible to presume that the former head of MEC Netherlands will take time to settle in a city that couldn’t be more different to the canals and coffee shops of Amsterdam.
Likewise, Dop’s Dutchness will take Asia a while to get used to. “Joost is very Dutch. He’s open, passionate and very direct,” says his current boss Melanie Varley, the chief executive of MEC Europe, Middle East and Africa.
“He’s also a rather young CEO (Dop is 41 years old). He will have to listen and learn, and temper the desire to rush in and do things quickly,” she says.
But then MEC Asia-Pacific is not known for its shrinking violets. Intan Sukmawati, who runs the Indonesian office; Manjiri Kamat, her equivalent in Malaysia; and Vince Cheng in Taiwan are strong personalities well known for their ambition and hunger to grow their businesses.
Then there’s Teo. “No one is more direct than Bertilla. She’s likely to get on very well with Joost,” says one MEC source. “There are no prima donnas or egos at MEC - that’s our culture. We can’t wait to work for someone who won’t take any crap.”
The last comment is a barely - veiled reference to relations with MEC’s WPP stablemate MindShare, which casts a large shadow within the GroupM family (MindShare is almost four times the size of MEC by billings, according to Recma). But Dop co-ran GroupM in the Netherlands, so is familiar with the politics of sibling rivalry.
“Internal fights are pointless; it’s poisonous to fight over clients,” says Dop. “If there’s an enemy, it’s outside GroupM.”
Although he’s quick to add: “But I’m a competitive guy, and I play to win. I must ensure that we are higher on pitch lists than MindShare, Maxus or MediaCom. That’s what I get paid for.”
MEC hasn’t lost any sizeable clients this year, so Dop joins a steady ship. But 2007 has proved a “modest” year for new business, after a stellar 2006, reckons R3.
Michelin (in China, Malaysia and Thailand), DHL (China, Japan and India) and Cavinkare in India were notable highlights, but pressure will be on Dop to build on that tallyin 2008. By Recma’s reckoning, MEC is growing slower than MindShare and smaller sibling MediaCom, which is now almost the same size in billings (US$1.1 billion).
Of course Dop would argue (as does every boss of a smallish media agency) that billings are irrelevant in a market increasingly driven by brains over brawn. This means trumpeting MEC’s skills at communications planning, which, clients and even rivals concede, are among the best in the business.
He says: “I am where the buck stops, and I need to be able to look clients in the eye and say, ok, we can deliver top notch comms planning for you in every market. And we absolutely can.”
Dop’s confidence comes, in part, from experience as a client himself. He spent six years as a brand manager at Unilever. “I’m fully aware of the internal pressures on clients to deliver. I had sales directors and finance guys breathing down my neck. Which is why I’m very results focused.”
A stint at a brand consultant and a digital agency adds credence to the idea that Dop - like Patrick Stahle, his counterpart at Aegis - is the ‘rounded’ sort of leader that media agencies need to convince clients that they can do more than buy cheap media.
Which is a top priority for Dop. “MEC is certainly growing. But it could achieve greater growth by pushing its diversified services, such as MEC Access (the newly launched sponsorship division),” says Varley.
“Joost has good people around him, and he needs to use his consensual style of leadership to take the agency to the next level.”
The Dutchman would agree. “My role is an addition to the team. I am not a replacement for anyone. I am a conductor. We have 600 people in the region, and I can’t grow us on my own.”
Joost Dop’s CV
2008 CEO, MEC Asia-Pacific
2004 Joint CEO, MEC and GroupM Netherlands
2003 Client managing director, MEC Netherlands
2000 Brand consultant, Digital Peppers Netherlands
1992 Senior brand manager, Unilever Netherlands
