Universal McCann has launched in China aiming to elevate the role
of media in the mainland's increasingly complex media and communication
environment.
However, in contrast with the current trend of unbundling media units,
Universal McCann has opted to maintain its full-service link with its
parent agency.
Universal McCann worldwide operations director and executive VP Murray
Dudgeon told MEDIA the launch aimed at not just establishing another
network, but enhancing the existing network's media discipline.
Media plays a key role in driving the whole branding and creative
process, according to Mr Dudgeon, who said fragmented media consumption
was expanding the strategic importance of media in advertising and
marketing plans.
Media should be at the forefront of all strategic communication plans,
as it is the media planner who needs to sort out solutions on what, how
and where to carry the message tactically in the branding and creative
process.
With global billings of US$15.2 billion, Universal McCann will
complete its worldwide launch by the end of this year, with operations
in about 127 countries.
Despite the current spree of mergers and acquisitions, Mr Dudgeon ruled
out further mergers with Initiative, another media brand under the same
holding parent, Interpublic. Mr Dudgeon said Universal McCann would not
build its network through acquisition or by merging operations of
different cultures.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of combining forces in
terms of sharing research knowhow and techniques within the Interpublic
network.
There are, nonetheless, potential acquisitions to be made in the arena
of specialist disciplines, such as the Internet.
Advertising conglomerates have rolled out their media independents one
after the other over the past couple years, with McCann-Erickson
Worldwide announcing the global launch of Universal McCann just last
year.
Mr Dudgeon said the agency had to make sure that all the criteria - such
as research tools, techniques and staff training- were fully in place
prior to the launch.
Universal McCann has invested on the worldwide launch of its proprietary
study, Media in Mind, which is a single source media usage and product
consumption research. In a bid to expand media's core driver role in the
communication process, further proprietary tools such as the media
neutral Mixology are being developed to enhance the agency's planning
clout.
"It's now the right time and right place to launch," said Universal
McCann Asia-Pacific regional director and senior VP Allan Medforth, who
said cheap media buys should not form the competitive clout of a media
agency.
The crux should be the big creative idea, as clients will not turn to
advertising agencies only for production services, but also branding and
ideas.
The point was to optimise the focal communication point with consumers,
according to Mr Dudgeon.
"It's the time to understand (and explore) the (most effective) contact
point with consumers," said Mr Medforth, who said the traditional method
of creating a 30-second commercial and leaving the media division to
fight for the spot was no longer relevant in today's advertising
process.
Spinning off media divisions was not a profit-driven move, but it was
about long-term development to prepare for the next generation of media
practice, said McCann-Erickson Guangming Greater China CEO Joop
Broeren.
Universal McCann is also eyeing further third party and media-only
businesses and has won US$1.25 billion worth of new business so
far.
With a total of 108 staff in China, general managers Gary Sin, Aaron
Wild and Gilad Coppersmith are respectively heading up the offices in
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Universal McCann's clients in China include: Colgate Palmolive,
Motorola, Johnson & Johnson, Maybelline, Nestle, L'Oreal, Gillette,
Darlie and Ping An.
Asked about expansion plans for China, both Mr Broeren and Mr Medforth
said further penetration inland was not necessary at the moment.
