As part of the new restructuring, the 80-strong Media Portfolio Management (MPM) team will take on the entire video advertising tactical planning business for all SMG’s clients, including Mars and Wrigley, while SMG’s digital team will now fully focus on internet, interactive media, social network and mobile work.
The agency stated that this restructuring is a response to the rapidly evolving media landscape.
“We had previously fulfilled our commitment to clients in media strategy integration and in making improvements,” said Stone He, national MPM Director of SMG. “We believe this restructure and new team will achieve the comprehensive assessment and analysis of clients' advertising tactical planning, to optimize media resources, and finally to provide better advertising results.”
Bertilla Teo, the agency's Greater China CEO added, “The boom of digital has affected the media industry and advertising world in many ways. Video advertisements in different media have a lot in common. Our staff will also benefit from the integration, as the MPM team will have the opportunity to understand a broader media landscape and to hone their skills.”
Online micro-movies with branding content have become a popular and cheaper alternative to TVCs in maintream TV stations, and international brands have jumped on the bandwagon. For example, Shanghai Volkswagen has a 3D online micro-movie for its new Cross Polo.
Similarly, back in April, Tourism Australia launched its first online drama series called ‘再一次心跳 (Yet another heartbeat)’ , using the celebrity powers of Taiwanese stars Show Lo (罗志祥) and Rainie Yang (杨丞琳) to woo Chinese travellers.
Reported in March, Youku and Tudou are merging to become China's largest online video company—and their combined dominance in the sector is set to push up advertising rates. Facing the high cost of content from established television content owners, Tudou has moved into content production itself, even selling content it creates back to television broadcasters.
