Joe Uva, who was instrumental in getting Omnicom's three creative shops in line to back OMD and has since transformed the media agency into a global powerhouse, is pioneering a series of pilot schemes to put new digital platforms to the test.
With the world's largest media network raking in major new business -- Recma projects OMD's billings for 2005 to top US$23 billion -- and beating rivals in terms of awards and creativity (OMD took pole position in 2005's Gunn Report for the second year running), its global president and CEO is on a mission to arm his agency with relevant insights and processes to serve advertisers seeking to engage digitally-connected consumers.
To do that, the former AOL Time Warner president of sales and marketing for Turner Entertainment is drawing on his long stints in media enterprises and links with the entertainment business for the creation of new programmes that will see advertisers pool research dollars to investigate up-and-coming digital communications platforms. The plan to give clients a head-start over rivals in understanding how consumers interact with new video platforms, content and advertising communication is seen as a golden opportunity for OMD to outrun competitors in the interactive space.
The most advanced of OMD's research and development pilots is in the US, where advertisers such as McDonald's, Sony Playstation and Apple have not only moved into the digital space but are spending an increasing percentage of marketing dollars on new platforms ranging from mobile phones to gaming.
"What we've done is asked advertisers to consider investing in learning and to fund that from a research and development budget, not from a working media budget. They take a modest amount of money and put it together for an investment in a mutual fund and we have called this new opportunity for advertisers 'Next'," he says.
Next will see up to three advertisers grouped by demographic targets and behaviours of primary consumer groups to test digital video platforms, led by an OMD TV negotiating and programming group executive and the agency's digital experts. But rather than replicate Next in Asia-Pacific, Uva expects variations on the theme. "It's going to depend on the development of (individual) markets and how these platforms are being used by consumers and as advertising platforms.
"The digital platforms that exist today in Korea and Japan are further advanced than anywhere else in Asia. We are going to start in countries where there is consumer adaptation and use (of digital media), particularly looking at marketers who are focused on younger demographics because those are the consumers that are changing their media habits most radically and most frequently."
The scheme's appeal, he notes, is that it will provide learnings to advertisers shy of new media and those that don't want to put their current media plans at risk by moving too quickly into the area.
"The benefit is that whether you are on a (test) platform or not, if you've contributed to this fund then you get the benefit of learning. For every dollar you put in, you're going to get $10 worth of knowledge back at the end of the year," Uva explains. Clearly, the initiative also promises to deliver more revenue for parent Omnicom but it should also help OMD, Uva hopes, gain prominence globally and speed up the adoption of digital expertise across the network.
After all, the role of the media agency is changing, argues Uva. He believes the media agency of the future will need to evolve and diversify into new areas as content is reformatted and repackaged for new digital channels such as iTunes to engage consumers who are demanding ubiquitous access to entertainment on demand on any device. "A big challenge for us as an industry is, at a time when advertisers are expecting more and wanting to pay less, how do we go about demonstrating value because of the investments they are asking us to make in these areas to help them grow their business," he explains. "With these investments to help (clients) grow their business, we can come to a new compensation and pricing structure and models. That's the difference between a 21st century media agency versus a 20th century media shop."
