Zenith China bounces back from P&G loss with 10 new accounts

Zenith Media has bounced back from its shock loss of the China P&G media buying account thanks to a series of new account wins, most of them start-up dotcoms anxious to break into the world's most populous nation in record time. The P&G account, said by industry analysts to be worth between US$120 million and US$160 million, was taken over by Quest Media - the media company set up between Starcom and MediaVest, which are the respective media arms of Leo Burnett and D'Arcy - following a pitch late last year. John Perriss, the London-based chairman and chief executive of Zenith Media, refused to say what the P&G account was worth although he did say that more than 10 new wins in China over the past few months made up for the loss. The new wins consisted of seven dotcoms including financial portal gotrade.com and general portal MIH, plus about six traditional businesses such as Danone Biscuit, Hewlett-Packard's corporate account and Shang Wu Tong, a leading distributor of personal digital assistants. Mr Perriss, therefore, scotched rumours that Zenith China was in trouble and that it was about to start laying off significant numbers of its 165-strong staff. He said that the agency's China billings last year totalled US$380 million, accounting for more than a fifth of the Asia-Pacific billing of US$1.6 billion, and that it was now on track for another year of growth. The 1999 China billings were up 16 per cent year-on-year, while the Asia-Pacific figure rose 17 per cent. On the departure of regional CEO Antony Young, Mr Perriss said the search was on for a replacement, however, he told MEDIA: "I envisage that it will be months rather than weeks before we are ready to make an announcement for a replacement." He described Mr Young's contribution to the agency as invaluable, adding that he was looking for "a person with agency and media skills plus leadership qualities who will motivate people to get into new sectors". The search was being undertaken globally, internally and externally, he said. However, Mr Perriss virtually discounted hiring someone from the client side. "The client side is very demanding and people from there are not used to this, but agency people are," he said.

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