Smart marketer's exit follows accounts shift

The very public and sudden departure of Anastacio Martirez, Smart's head of personal communications and mobile services, has been described as "an earthquake in marketing terms" largely because he was instrumental in turning the challenger brand into a market leader with 20.8 million customers and more than 20 billion pesos (US$370 million) in profit. The fact that the news broke during the Philippine Ad Congress in Cebu also ensured that the departure of Martirez -- legendary for both his brand-building savvy and the demands he makes on his agencies -- created maximum impact. During his tenure, at least two agencies --McCann Erickson and Campaigns & Grey -- resigned the business even as Smart was upping its advertising spend, which now exceeds one billion pesos a year to take the brand battle to key rival Globe. Martirez's exit has since sparked a PR battle in the Philippine press, with speculation raging as to whether he was ousted or had resigned. A statement by parent company PLDT did however state that Martirez would retire by December 2005 and that the company's head of retail, Menardo Jimenez Jr had been designated sales and marketing head. Martirez's departure comes a month after he shifted the Smart Kid, Smart Money and the remainder of the Smart Buddy task from BBDO/Guerrero Ortega to DDB, effective January 2006. DDB also handles a portion of the Smart Buddy brief as well as its Gold, Infinity and corporate accounts. The rest of the Smart brief is split between Saatchi & Saatchi (Smart IDD, international texting and roaming and Zed Filipinas) and FCB (Talk & Text and Addict Mobile). Martirez's move to consolidate the business with DDB follows initial speculation the agency's new secondline shop DM9 would benefit from the realignment. "With a cloud hanging over Martirez's departure, you would have to think that Smart's new head of marketing will want to review supplier arrangements," said an agency source. Others however countered, noting that the ties between DDB and the ex-BBDO executives staffing DM9 extend beyond Martirez to PLDT, ensuring a continuing hold on Smart."This group of people have established their credibility with the client, which should ensure the business survives Martirez's departure," a separate source said.