The new offshoring drive, named Global Resource Optimization (GRO), will be headed by managing director Madhuri Sen, and will provide three categories of services - account administration, content and secondary research - via a 24-hour ‘virtual teamwork’ model.
The development is believed to be the first such initiative in the PR agency world - although similar models have been employed with increasing frequency in other industry sectors, most notably, business process outsourcing, IT and customer call centres.
Text 100 Asia-Pacific regional director Ava Lawler said the decision to launch GRO responds to the increasing commoditisation of the PR industry, in tandem with the emergence of globalised campaigns. These trends, said Lawler, are not necessarily linked “with a corresponding increase in PR spend”.
“Our industry must innovate to survive and GRO is an example of this as it challenges traditional notions about what a PR budget can buy,” said Lawler.
“Any smart company is leveraging the talent that exists in global markets.”
Sen added that the inital team numbers three persons at present but is expected to grow, and may yet see GRO hubs establised in other countries. “There’s no compulsion that either a client or even a Text 100 office adopts it,” pointed out Sen. “Our focus is not cost arbitrage, but more about getting the right value from the right market in terms of efficiency and speed.”
Text100 declined to reveal which clients had started to use the new service, perhaps because of the sensitivity of the outsourcing debate in markets such as the US.
“Unless agencies respond and offer these mechanisms, clients will find a way to do it themselves,” noted Lawler.
“I can see why they would do it from an arbitrage point of view,” said a PR agency source. “For things that aren’t news-driven, there is an argument it could be done - but I haven’t seen any other models. Clearly, it’s a bold move.”
The drive comes as Text 100 reports its 2007 results, revealing 22 per cent increase in revenues in Asia-Pacific.
Earlier this year, Lenovo decided to centralise global creative production in Bangalore, in a similar move.
