Interview Essay Experts Retail New business

Hands-on Shaking the Out of Putting stores A winning

experience kaleidoscope East Africa on screens experiment
Big challenges don’t Jeremy Bullmore on Scangroup has plans to Red Dot Square’s How Team Chemistry came
faze Fitch’s new CEO, p5 re-thinking marketing, p6 conquer the continent, p10 virtual supermarket, p11 out on top in J&J pitch, p13

LACP Gold Overall and

PUBLISHED FOR 135,000 WPP PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD • ISSUE 33 Platinum for Best Narrative

AWARDSAgency takes Media Grand Prix with campaign Lucky token:

JWT Japan’s
Grand Prix
lauded for business results as well as “wonderful idea” winner. Cannes
Golds in full,

JWT’s Kit Kat Mail

pages 8-9.

triumphs at Cannes
FOR THE first time,
the Media category
at Cannes was to
be judged on results
as well as creativity.
And the winner?
JWT Japan, with
a campaign for
Kit Kat Mail that
created a new product and a new distribution
channel for Nestlé, as well as a new business
opportunity for the Japanese postal system.
The award capped another successful
year for WPP at the world’s pre-eminent
advertising festival in which WPP agencies
across all disciplines won a total of 109
Lions, beating the 104 gained in 2008.
JWT Japan’s campaign for Kit Kat was
inspired by the Japanese translation ‘Kitto
Katsu’, which means “surely win” and was
seized upon by the JWT team to create
‘edible postcards’ that could be posted to
children to wish them success in their exams.
The agency negotiated with Japan Post
to offer the product in 22,000 post offices,
creating an entirely new channel in which
there was no confectionery competition.
WPP tops
website poll
So successful did it prove that Japan Post IR magazine has once again rated
has retained the product as a permanent WPP’s online annual report No.1
offering alongside traditional stamps and in its yearly study, beating major
postcards. Nick Brien, chairman of the corporations such as Procter
Media jury at Cannes described it as & Gamble, Thomson Reuters,
a “wonderful idea” and said the Berkshire Hathaway and China
campaign “demonstrated through Mobile. The study tests which
tremendous innovation and tre- websites allow the quickest
mendous, flawless execution that it access to a company’s story and
could deliver outstanding business key pieces of financial data;
results in a groundbreaking way”. each site has just three minutes
WPP agencies also won Gold to make its mark on the judges.
Lions in the Film, Press, Outdoor, The magazine remarked,
Cyber and Design categories of the “some websites rely on content,
competition, as well as many Silver others on style. WPP excels at both
and Bronze Lions. and combines them exceptionally
And among the highlights of well.” WPP’s site was the only one
contributions by WPP companies to receive two 10-out-of-10 scores
to the events program at Cannes, from the judges, who called the
Young & Rubicam introduced site “a masterful agglomeration of
The Who’s Roger Daltrey technique, style, thoughtfulness and
and music promoter Harvey strategic use of the channel.” The
Goldsmith, Grey presented site has finished first and second in
on music in advertising, and previous studies.
CEO Martin Sorrell chaired the Read the report at www.wpp.
Cannes Debate on the recession com/annualreports/2008.
and the future of the industry.

FORECAST Research from WPP companies highlights the steep decline

in advertising expenditure in this year and prospects for recovery

Media: 2009 grim, 2010 a little better Winners inside!

See page 3.

Schematic’s wonder wall
ONE OF the stars of the show at
Cannes was the giant intelligent
Touchwall installed by WPP digital
interface specialist Schematic. The
12ft by 5ft interactive display, seen
being delivered (top) served as the
festival’s information hub, covering
the full program, 3D maps and
details of bars and restaurants.
See page 9.
Staff Reporter
GLOBAL advertising spend will
drop by 5.5 per cent in 2009, with
a mild recovery expected next year,
according to the latest worldwide
forecast by GroupM, which shows
the full impact of the recession on
the media and advertising industry.
The BRIC countries – Brazil,
Russia, India and China – will lead
the recovery; while ad spending in
the US, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan and the UK is expected
to lag behind.
The predictions come from
GroupM’s latest This Year, Next
Year study, and are drawn from
data supplied by WPP’s worldwide
resources in advertising, PR,
market research and specialist
communications across 70 countries.
The region hardest hit in 2009
will be Europe, with spending down
11.1 per cent in Western Europe
and 16.3 per cent in emerging
Europe; while North America will
suffer most in 2010, with this year’s
4.3 per cent fall followed by a further
drop of 6.5 per cent next year.
But prospects for a global
recovery are improving, said
GroupM, with 33 countries expected
to see a growth in advertising
investment next year, compared to
just 15 in 2009.
Adam Smith, GroupM futures
director, said: “China’s economic
stimulus has already bolstered
confidence, and the demand for
advertising in Russia will recover
quickly if $70-a-barrel oil prices
are here to stay.”
On the US market, GroupM
chief investment officer Rino
Scanzoni commented: “We expect a
bottoming out on local media spend
in 2009 with more stability into
2010. However, we are expecting
further contraction on national
media particularly television as
clients adjust budgets to reflect a
continued pessimistic consumer
spending forecast.”
Separate data from TNS Media
Intelligence showed the full extent of
the actual decline in the US market Brand alchemy
during the first quarter of 2009, with
advertising down 14.2 per cent on JWT’s seven-minute
the same period a year earlier. film for Unilever’s Lux
In sponsorship the picture is shampoo, featuring
brighter. WPP specialist IEG has Hollywood superstar
revised its previous growth forecasts Catherine Zeta-Jones
downwards, but still predicts that (right), is cutting
in North America, sponsorship through the clutter
expenditure will be up by 1.1 per in Asia. Read
cent in 2009, while globally the more about the
estimate is for 3.1 per cent growth. rise and rise of
“The good news is that branded content
sponsorship is one of the few forms on page 12.
of marketing where spending figures
remain in positive territory,” said The Works 4
Jim Andrews, IEG senior vice
president and editorial director. New Offers 4
People 5
To obtain the full This Year, Digital 7
Next Year report, contact
adam.smith@groupm.com. Inside WPP 15
www.groupm.com What’s the buzz in... 16
www.tnsglobal.com
www.sponsorship.com Read WIRE online at insidewpp.com
 THE WIRE
27 Farm Street, London W1J 5RJ THE WIRE • July 2009
Tel: +44 (0)20 7408 2204
Fax: +44 (0)20 7491 1913
E-mail: fmcewan@wpp.com
Editor-in-Chief Feona McEwan
Editor Alexander Garrett
Art & Production Director Malcolm Molyneux
Structural change caused by
EDITORIAL

Managing Editor Sarah Ritchie Calder

Contributions to wire@wpp.com technology has combined with the economic
downturn to create a perfect storm for media
The views expressed are personal to the writer concerned. Published
on behalf of WPP, 27 Farm Street, London W1J 5RJ. Printed in
England on 100% recycled paper by St Ives Westerham Press Ltd.

owners, says WPP CEO Martin Sorrell. It’s

Contents
time for many players – including brands – to
Editorial
Martin Sorrell on the changing media landscape 2 collaborate in creating new types of content

Why media revolution

News
Bates 141 Singapore wins Atticus Grand Prix
Plus: full list of Atticus winners 3
Launch of OgilvyEarth 14
BMRB confidence tracker 15

spells opportunity
Ogilvy’s new Guangzhou office 15
PeclersParis launches latest macrotrend report 15
Team Detroit shapes Ford reputation online 16
Chinese Ugly Betty extended 16

T
JWT launches Microsoft search engine 16
Features HE recession is changing the basis of the the total, and PC, video and mobile all becoming
Fitch’s Lois Jacobs interviewed 5
industry that we operate in – nowhere important platforms for content.
Life in the lens…with Luis Vieira, Luvi Ogilvy 5
more so than when it comes to investing Given the revolution that has already taken
Jeremy Bullmore on what recession means for marketing 6
in media. place in print media, we can expect to see a
The outlook for mobile marketing 7
If I was a media owner in one medium similar revolution for other media as well.
David Spitz on Moneyball marketing 7
WPP’s Cannes Gold winners 8-9
in one country, I would be extremely nervous Agencies will increasingly be media agnostic,
Experts: Scangroup in Kenya 10
right now. Clients are looking for bargains and and so long as they can distribute or invest their
Why face-to-face should replace Facebook 10 there is a lot of inventory washing around in clients’ funds across the board, they will not be
Red Dot Square’s virtual store/Kantar Retail 11 traditional media; that has put pricing under allied to particular media.
Latest on branded content 12 pressure in a number of media such as free-to-air One thing this means is that there’s a big oppor-
Team Chemistry J&J win 13 TV, newspapers and magazines. Media owners are tunity for media owners, content producers, the
What’s the buzz in … Ho Chi Minh City 16 caught between a cyclical recession and structural people who control the talent, and us agencies –
Useful stuff
change. The preoccupation our clients have with creative and media – to work together, to develop
Who’s who in Kantar Retail 11 cost permeates the content industry. Newspapers content that is attractive for the new platforms.
BrandZ Top 100 launch 12 have already come under severe threat, and it is
Healthcare round up 13 likely that in TV, too, the current production and Agencies will
WPP’s Healthcare Navigator 13 distribution models will be seen as too expensive
New CR Report 14 and will have to change as a result of what we are increasingly be media
Carbon reports
New Group-wide videoconferencing facility
14
14
going through at the minute. agnostic, and so long
Production costs have also got out of hand,
Regulars causing the cost of network television to our as they can distribute
Bulletin 3 clients to escalate faster than general price or invest their clients’
The Works 4 inflation. That’s been the case even in recent years
People Watch 4 when inflation was generally under control. If you funds across the board,
New Offers
New in Digital
6
7
are a car manufacturer and the cost of steel goes they will not be allied
up above inflation you either use less of it or you
CR Matters 14 find an alternative – and this thinking has already to particular media
Get Connected! 15
driven clients to explore alternative media.
Today new media is 25 per cent of our
business, and our clients will spend on average The role of branded media is also going to be
WPP companies in this issue critical. There’s a major opportunity for creative
this year about 12 per cent of their budgets online,
B to D Group 5 MediaCom 4, 9, 14, 15 agencies and media agencies to work together
Bates 141 3 Mediaedge:cia 4, 6 compared to 10 per cent last year.
with these other players and build branded
Batey 3 Millward Brown 3, 10, 12, 13, 15 Yet we know, if we look at consumption of
Brandamp 3 Mindshare 4, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16 content, with product placement a smaller subset
media, that as consumers we spend about 20
BMRB 15 MJM 13 of that. The difference between editorial and
BrandAsset Consulting 3 MVI 11, 12 per cent of our time online. So clients are about
advertising is going to be blurred; it already has
Bridge Worldwide 8, 13 Ogilvy & Mather 3, 4, 5, 8 half underweighted in this area, and areas of
Burson-Marsteller 13 14, 15, 16 been in print, and it’s going to be increasingly
Cannondale Associates 11 Ogilvy Healthworld 13
PC, mobile and video content – the third being blurred in the visual media too.
Cohn & Wolfe 4 Ogilvy PR 3, 7, 14 the most significant revolution we’ve seen – are As a Group, we’ve already been involved
CommonHealth 6, 13 OgilvyAction 3, 14 becoming more significant. But the problem is: in productions like October Road in the US
Fitch 5 OgilvyOne 3, 7, 14
FitchLive 5 PBN 3
how do you develop profit models, how do you and Ugly Betty for Unilever in China (see page
G2 3 PeclersParis 15 monetize these companies, these new ideas in an 16). I am frustrated that we haven’t done more
ghg 3, 13 Red Dot Square Solutions 11 effective way? Ugly Bettys or October Road or Sears Home
Glendinning 11 Retail Forward 11
Grey 3, 8, 9, 13, 14 RMG Connect 13 Understanding the way the consumer is Makeovers, though.
GroupM 1, 2, 3, 7, 15 Scangroup 10 consuming media is critically important. Part of the reason is that many clients find
Hill & Knowlton 9, 10, 13 Schematic 1, 9, 13 And addressability – targeting – especially so.
iconmobile 7, 12 Sudler & Hennessey 13
it difficult to evaluate this area, and have been
IEG 1 Syzygy 4 The investments that we made in Invidi and scalded or have made mistakes in the past, and
Johannes Leonardo 4 Team Detroit 4, 16 Visible World, two of the three most prominent that’s put them off. But it’s an area that’s critically
JWT 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 The Brand Union 3
targeted TV platforms, reflect the way we think important and that we have to continue to
12, 13, 14, 16 The Futures Company 3
Kang & Lee Advertising 4 The Partners 6, 8 things are going. build on.
Kantar 4, 7, 11, 13 The Store 12 Just as the quality of content which will We buy $60-70 billion of media through
KnowledgeBase Marketing 13 TNS 1, 3, 7, 16
become increasingly important, so will effective GroupM around the world. In many markets that
Lambie-Nairn 12 Visible Technologies 13
Landor 3 VML 4 distribution, and targeting – addressability – will gives us between 20 and 30 per cent market share.
LiveWorld 13 Wunderman 3, 7, 16 play a crucial role in that. There is a major opportunity to use that leverage
Mattson Jack 13 Y&R 1, 3, 4, 8, 14, 16 – not just us – to work together with the content
MEC Access 3 ZAAZ 3, 7 Network free-to-air TV will not die; if you
were going to launch a packaged goods company providers, with the media owners, to build more
today, network TV still represents the most engaging, attractive, creative content in a world
Upcoming WIRE issues
effective way of reaching the largest number of where cost has become of prime importance, and
The next issue of The WIRE will be published in people in the shortest time at the lowest cost per where fragmentation has made the consumer
January 2010. In the meantime, look out for the latest thousand. But the domination of TV in the old more difficult to engage.
news stories online at www.insidewpp.com. sense will not continue.
Adapted from a keynote address given by Martin Sorrell
The balance of media spending is going to shift, at MIP TV in Cannes on 31 March 2009. See branded
All WIRE issues are online at www.insidewpp.com
with new media accounting for up to one third of content round-up, page 12.
 THE WIRE • July 2009 NEWS 3

AWARDSThe Grand Prix at this year’s Atticus awards has been scooped by a dictionary
designed to capture “irreversible shifts in the marketplace” that businesses can take on board

Change is
the winner Bulletin
Staff Reporter Chamber champion
BATES 141 Singapore’s Guillaume Pagnoux and
PBN, WPP’s strategic communica-
Frederique Covington have taken the Grand Prix
tions firm specializing in Russia and
in this year’s Atticus awards for their inventive
Eastern Europe, has been named
publication Dictionary of Change – described as
“an annual handbook to inspire new ideas on how Small Business of the Year by the
brands can engage with people”. American Chamber of Commerce
The Bates publication, winner of the Market in Russia (AmCham). PBN has
Research and Insights category, was voted been in Russia for 19 years, and has
unanimously as the Grand Prix winner from a been a member of AmCham for 15
record 275 entries, whittled down to a shortlist of Changing language: terms like 23andMe can provide an action point around which brands and people can engage differently years. AmCham’s president Andrew
25. It came out narrowly ahead of the blog written Somers said: “In its nearly two
for Campaign magazine by Rory Sutherland of distribution avenues or simply a new language.” Rohit Bhargava’s Personality Not Included in the decades in Russia, PBN has been a
Ogilvy London, which was the winner of the And Jeffrey Yu, chairman of Bates 141 Branding and Identity category; Allen Adamson’s leader in developing the country’s
Advertising category and was lavishly praised for explained: “Language is one of the richest areas Brand Digital in the Digital Communications PR industry, including establishing
the quality of its writing. where change can be spotted and this is why we category; and John Gerzema’s Brand Bubble in international standards of ethical
Bates’ Dictionary of Change is a collection chose to publish the first Dictionary of Change.” Strategy. Ogilvy dominated the awards, winning business practice and transparency.”
of 137 ‘change words’ that were chosen from The book will be published each year, and four categories in all; while Landor took the
thousands of suggestions, and were each selected Bates 141 is currently compiling terms for the Digital, Corporate and Under-30 Essay prizes.
to capture an irreversible shift in the market place, 2009 edition. Between them, the winners will share $55,000 Search results
which could be harnessed by businesses. At the The Atticus judges this year were Simon Clift, in cash prizes, and edited versions of the winning WPP agencies are linking up with
time it was published, Covington, who is regional global chief marketing officer of Unilever; Rik entries will be published in the Atticus Journal Microsoft Advertising in a new
executive planning director for Bates 141, said: Kirkland, director of publishing at McKinsey & later this year, while highlights of Atticus will also research project that aims to explore
“While trends have become a commodity and are Co; and Judie Lannon, editor of Market Leader be shared with the wider world online at WPP’s the dynamics between search engine
rarely actionable, we distil our tracking of change magazine. All said that the standard of shortlisted Reading Room and through WARC, one of the marketing and brand building,
into ChangePoints – insights to inspire new ideas entries had been highly impressive and had world’s premier providers of information and
following the launch of Microsoft’s
on how brands and people can engage differ- exceeded their expectations. insight to the global marketing, advertising, media
ently, via new products, new experiences, new ‘next generation’ search engine, Bing
Three books were among the other winners: and research industries.
(see p16). Wunderman, BrandAsset
Consulting and ZAAZ are leading
the project, with a report to be
ADVERTISING Merit Lee Ryan and STRATEGY published in late September.
Andrew Welch Bernice Klaassen Winner
Winner
TNS, Singapore
Rory Sutherland
Landor Associates, London
Who is the Brand Daddy? Mapping the Emerging
John Gerzema with
Edward Lebar
Batey on board
Ogilvy, London Digital Frontier
Adding a Chief Brand Officer Y&R, New York; BrandAsset Ad agency Batey is joining Grey
Rory Sutherland’s to Your C-Suite
Campaign Blog Ann Mack Consulting Group, New York Group Singapore, as part of a
Terry Tyrrell JWT, New York The Brand Bubble: strategic alignment with its sister
Highly Commended Enterprise 2.0 The Looming Crisis in Brand
The Brand Union, London WPP company. The integration will
Frederique Covington Value and How to Avoid It
What Doesn’t Kill You… boost Grey Group’s presence in
and Desiree Lim, with MEDIA AND Highly Commended Singapore and extend the group’s
David Meredith, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS total communications offering,
J. Walker Smith
Dheeraj Sinha,
Fareeda Jia, COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING The Futures Company, Chapel Hill strengthening its advertising,
Guillaume Pagnoux, Winner Winner Looking Up (The Yankelovich branding and design, and direct
Economic Edge POV) marketing capabilities; other
Basheera Indorewala, Allen Adamson Tim Jones and
Bernice Neo, Ian Velasco, Merit group members are Grey (brand
Landor Associates, New York Tom Baxter advertising), G2 (activation
Jimmy Lim, BrandDigital: Simple Ways Ogilvy Advertising, London Martin Bishop
Roop Mukhopadhyay Top Brands Succeed in the Landor Associates, San Francisco
marketing) and ghg (healthcare
TV is Dead, Long Live TV:
and Sharon Sarinas Digital World TV Advertising in the UK Join ‘Em, Fight ‘Em, or
communications).
Bates 141, Hong Kong; Bates 141, Move Away From ‘Em:
Highly Commended Highly Commended
Mumbai; Bates 141, Beijing
From Fame Whores to Social Ann Mack Jaydeep Chaudhuri
Three Approaches to Beating
Low-price Competitors at Take your partners
Activists: The Fundamental JWT, New York GroupM, Jakarta Their Own Game
MEC Access, WPP’s partnership
GRAND PRIX Disconnect Between Marketers’
Use of Co-creation and
Privacy in the Digital Age Talking to Slumdog Millionaires Alessandro Panella with marketing agency specialising in
The Dreams and Aspirations Merit Gordon Euchler and sport, entertainment and cause, has
of Asian Youth John Bell
PUBLIC RELATIONS Richard Dolphin published a report advising brand
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS Grey Worldwide, Dusseldorf owners on how to create successful
Merit How to Successfully Manoeuvre
Washington DC Winner and winning partnerships. The
William Charnock Your Brand out of the Recession
Digital Influence Mapping report provides recommendations
JWT, New York Project Tim Broadbent,
Yael Cesarkas and ranging from contract negotiation
We Can Be Rock Stars Kent Wertime,
Christopher Graves, Joseph Rivas and sponsorship activation through
MARKET RESEARCH Jeff Froud, Jerry Smith, Young & Rubicam New York to what this means for global brands
Guillaume Pagnoux
(above left) and BRANDING AND AND INSIGHTS Soames Hines and Are You Irresistible? and global partnerships to make
IDENTITY Understanding the Laws of them both effective and accountable.
Frederique Covington Winner David Young Attraction and Putting Them to
Ogilvy & Mather, Beijing; The report can be downloaded
(from the Market Research Winner Guillaume Pagnoux and Work for Brands
OgilvyOne Worldwide, Bangkok; at www.mecaccess.com/
and Insights category) Rohit Bhargava Frederique Covington
Bates 141, Singapore
Ogilvy Public Relations, Hong
CORPORATE feature/21/.
Bates 141, Singapore Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Kong; OgilvyAction, New York;
Washington DC Bates 141 Dictionary of Change OgilvyOne Worldwide, Hong Kong; Winner
Bates 141
Dictionary of Change
Personality Not Included: Highly Commended Ogilvy & Mather, Hong Kong;
Landor Associates, Eye site
Why Companies Lose Their OgilvyAction, Hong Kong
(cover shown below) Authenticity – And How Great Simon Silvester San Francisco Grey Asia Pacific has launched its
Ogilvy on Recession
Brands Get it Back Y&R EMEA, London Perspectives 2008 2009 Eye on Asia study, with a dedi-
Day of the Clones Highly Commended Highly Commended cated website, www.greyeyeon.
Highly Commended Kunal Sinha with
Fabrice Carrasco with OgilvyOne Worldwide, asia. The proprietary research
Nigel Hollis with Michael Darragh, New York examines three areas of life for
Dominic Twose, Ralf Matthaes
Kim Wang and Viewpoint #11: The Rebirth of Asians: Lifestyle, Present & Future
TNS, Ho Chi Minh City
Joanna Seddon and Sandeep Budhiraja Marketing Aspirations, and Consumerism &
Matthew Angus The TNS Vietnam Marketing
Book - Pink Pages Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai; Communications. This year, Grey
Millward Brown, Fairfield; Millward Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide,
UNDER-30 ESSAY has identified a series of ‘eye-sights’
Brown, UK; Millward Brown Giulio Brunini Shanghai; Millward Brown ACSR,
Optimor, New York; Millward Brandamp, London Shanghai Winner – critical focus points for businesses
Brown, Nairobi Bands and Brands: How Music Josey Duncan and marketers. The agency has also
Chinese Nationalism and its
The Global Brand Communicates With People Impact on Brands Landor Associates, San Francisco carried out an in-depth ethnographic
retail study to show how current
sentiments drive shopping behaviour.
4 NEWS THE WIRE • July 2009

The Works
If you have a great piece of client work that you
Share your creativity! would like to propose for this column, please e-mail
a jpeg and short caption to wire@wpp.com.

Craft work: A collaboration between iconic brands

Mercedes-Benz and Disney demanded precision and imagination
from Syzygy Hamburg. The agency created an online People Watch
communication platform for the Mercedes
Viano and Disney’s The Chronicles of
Narnia: Prince Caspian where the visitor Women on top
experiences fantastic adventures while Rosemarie Ryan (top
travelling with the Viano. The breathtaking right), president of JWT
and highly-detailed work has picked up New York, has won one
18 international accolades for targeting, of the prestigious Chang-
3D animation, design and sound. ing the Game awards
www.syzygy.net presented by Adweek
with Advertising Women
of New York. The
Quantum Leap award
is presented for women who’ve taken
a risk to spur internal change. And in
Romania, Manuela Necula (above),
CEO Ogilvy Group Romania, has
received the ‘CEO of the Year’ award
from prestigious Romanian business
Hidden assets: In a TV ad for Movistar’s press group The Marketer. She was
10 cents-a-minute mobile phone service, described as a source of inspiration for
Y&R Lima shines a light on Peru’s often- all Romania’s businesswomen.
forgotten and unwanted 10 cent coin.
The agency also uncovered valuable new MediaCom’s
talent for the commercial, using a local
shopkeeper for the voiceover and a young
got talent
filmmaker to shoot the reportage-style, MediaCom Worldwide
high-definition footage. Sister company has appointed Helen
Mindshare booked the TV spots. Brown as its first ever
www.yandr.com worldwide chief talent director.
Brown’s remit is to align the business
and people strategies to facilitate
an increase in the potential and
performance of MediaCom talent
around the world. She will be working
alongside CEO Stephen Allan from
Team effort: Colgate’s innovative new MediaCom’s London office.
‘tooth cleaning on the go’ product, Colgate®
WispTM, was launched in the US this spring American duty
with an integrated campaign developed by Scent and the city: The world’s most
Phil Cowdell has been
Group companies Y&R, Cohn & Wolfe, famous fragrance and its best known named as head of Mind-
Mediaedge:cia and VML. The campaign shopping street fused on 5 May this share North America, the
married traditional TV, print and outdoor year for the US launch of CHANEL’s agency’s largest market,
media with digital media channels, including latest short film, starring Audrey to replace Scott Neslund. Cowdell is a
websites (VML’s work pictured left), social Tautou. It was designated No 5 Mindshare veteran who has served as
networks and online communities. Day in New York City and, as part global head of planning, led the media
www.yandrbrands.com of the celebrations, WPP hotshop operation of Team Detroit, and has
www.colgatewisp.com Johannes Leonardo’s creative most recently been one of Mindshare’s
idea was for CHANEL to rename Global Client Leaders, based in
the world’s most famous high end Chicago. He recently spearheaded
shopping street, New York’s fabled Mindshare’s global pitch for Intercon-
Fifth Avenue: ‘Avenue No.5’. tinental Hotels Group, the world’s
www.johannesleonardo.com largest hotel company, which awarded
Mindshare its account in March.
Welcome aboard:
Multicultural marketing Kantar grabs
experts Kang & Lee P&G star
Advertising has created
North America’s first cruise Kim Dedeker has joined
industry microsite specifically Kantar in a new role
targetting Asian immigrant as chair, Americas.
She recently retired from Procter
travellers. The site, for Royal
& Gamble after spending 29 years
Caribbean International, in a variety of senior roles, most
is part of K&L’s larger recently as VP, Consumer and Market
integrated communications Knowledge External Capability. Prior
program using Chinese- to that, she served as VP, Global
language print, radio, online Consumer and Market Knowledge for
and PR to promote its seven years. Dedeker will report to
cruises to Chinese Americans. Kantar CEO Eric Salama, and will be
www.kanglee.com based in Kantar’s Cincinnati office.

New blood at Ogilvy

Ogilvy & Mather has announced a
string of new appointments to the
company’s global board of directors
designed to include a younger
and more diverse group of agency
Brand facelift: Team Looking good: JWT Bangkok’s leadership. New board members
Detroit has given digital arm, JWT Connect, include Gaston Bigio, regional
sports brand Brine has got the blogosphere talking creative director Latina; Eugene
a new creative edge about the website it created for Cheong, regional creative director of
with a TV/print/digital the launch of Oriental Princess’ Asia/Pacific; Paul Heath, CEO Asia/
new range of cosmetics, AVATAR. Pacific; Nasreen Madhany, Global
campaign based on
The site features a product CEO Neo@Ogilvy; Colin Mitchell,
tribal masks made out of chief strategy officer North America;
the company’s lacrosse recommender based on birth date
and personality and drew 125,000 John Shaw, regional planning director
equipment. Players and EAME; and Ken Wright, worldwide
fans can create their own visitors in its launch month.
managing director for Unilever.
masks online. www.jwtbkk.com
Ogilvy has also appointed Beijing-
www.teamdetroit.com www.orientalprincess.com/ based Tim Broadbent, currently
www.brine.com avatar president of planning, Asia-Pacific,
to the newly created role of global
effectiveness director.
THE WIRE • July 2009
INTERVIEWAfter orchestrating G8 summits and Olympic ceremonies, Lois Jacobs
faces a different set of challenges at the helm of Fitch. Alexander Garrett reports
Running the show at Fitch
A
S BRAND experiences go,
you don’t get a bigger
opportunity than the
opening and closing cere-
monies of the Olympic
Games. With the message from
the host city reaching a global
TV audience of more than four
billion, every tiny glitch, any small
imperfection will be amplified and
relayed around the world. Yet Lois
Jacobs, who produced the Athens
2004 ceremony – as well consulting
last year in Beijing – says: “It’s
We’re increasingly wonderful when it goes right. Of
course it is absolutely terrifying,
working for the but there is literally no bigger
communication opportunity and so
same clients in it provides a huge adrenalin boost.”
As the new global CEO of
different geographies Fitch, WPP’s multi-discipline design
and there is an consultancy, Jacobs is preparing to
face a different set of challenges.
opportunity to make After a career spent in experiential
marketing, most latterly as inter-
processes and ways national president of Jack Morton
Worldwide, she will be involved
of working more in a different offer, embracing
branding and design with a strong
consistent throughout specialisation in retail, alongside
a continued interest in live or
the world experiential marketing – through
FitchLive.
It’s a challenge she is ready
and eager to take on. “I left Jack
Morton because I decided I had
done all I could there,” she explains.
“I was looking for a global CEO
job and when this came up I was
immediately
attracted, because Fitch is a brand
name of such resonance. This
agency has produced some stunning
creative work for clients like
Harrods in Heathrow Terminal 5,
Vodafone, Marks & Spencer, Asian
Paints in India, Dell everywhere and
the Asian Games in Doha. The thing
that’s special about Fitch alongside
its strong retail credentials is the
ability to work seamlessly in 2-D as
well as in 3-D: to translate thinking
and strategy to print, on screen or
within a controlled environment.”
Jacobs’ route to the top has not
been the most conventional career
path. Growing up in North London,
she left school at 17 and travelled to
Italy, to become a DJ where she was
known as Lolo di Londra. She came
back to London after two years –
via North Africa – and became PA
to the managing director of Fiat in
the UK, thanks to her new-found
Italian language skills. When they
hired a live marketing company
to launch a new model to several
thousand dealers from all over
the world, it opened her eyes to
the potential of event marketing
– known at the time as ‘industrial
theatre’ – and she left for a job as a
production assistant with one of the
agencies involved in that business,
Purchasepoint, learning the ropes
from scratch.
Within four years Jacobs had
gained sufficient experience to
become a founding partner of
agency HP:ICM, where she
continued to work after it was
sold to Saatchi & Saatchi. She
then switched to another leading
experiential marketing player,
Caribiner, in 1997, before it was
snapped up by Interpublic-
owned Jack Morton World-
wide. “What I liked about
the business was that
whereas advertising seem-
ed to be very delineated,
and you were either
a creative or a suit,
in our less evolved
business you could
be everything,” she
says. Although she
was producing live
communication for
employee, B2B and
consumer audiences
all over the world she
also squeezed in a dip-
loma in marketing at
night school to comp-
lement her hands-on
experience.
At Jack
Morton she
was responsible for
offices in Europe and
Asia Pacific with billings
exceeding $100 million
a year, from opera-
tional and finan-
cial management
to establishing
new offices
in Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore.
At Fitch, there is obvious scope
to expand in that region: “We’re
not in China at the moment, but
we’re doing work there from our
Singapore studio, so we’re looking
at how we can grow our business
in the region,” says Jacobs. Her
pressing strategic priority, though,
is to ensure that Fitch works better
as a global organisation. “We’re
increasingly working for the same
clients in different geographies and
there is an opportunity to make
processes and ways of working
more consistent throughout the
world, and also the expertise that
Fitch offers.”
She adds: “Each of our studios
has particular strengths, for example
London has the longest history in
retail, Paris is superb in fashion and
style (see page 15), while Seattle is
expert in packaging. In Dubai we
have the strongest hospitality and
leisure credentials. We don’t need
to have a full practice for every type
of service everywhere, but we do
need to be able to offer everything
everywhere, so we can deploy our
expertise when it is needed.” Part of
the same picture, she says, is making
the transition from a localized
project-based business to one that
develops longer-term relationships
with global clients. “It’s already
happening without much focus
being applied, so I’m excited by the
possibilities if we concentrate more
closely on this,” says Jacobs.
Another challenge, especially
in recessionary times, is to develop
measurement tools so that Fitch can
demonstrate the value it is delivering
to clients. And while her experience
in live communication will certainly
be a bonus to FitchLive, she plans
to give equal attention to all the
company’s businesses.
Since her arrival, Jacobs has
been busy meeting as many people
as possible around the world, and
says she has been overwhelmed
by the welcome she has received
at Fitch. Her early impression is
that WPP has a more collaborative
culture than in the two other
parent companies of her previous
experience; within WPP, Fitch is
part of WPP’s B to D Group of
branding and design companies and
she has enjoyed meeting with her
peers in that grouping.
Jacobs has a wider interest in
management: she lectures regularly
at the Judge Business School in
Cambridge on working in diverse
international cultures; and she is
also on the Executive Committee
of AIM (the Advanced Institute of
Management Research).
And beyond her working life,
Jacobs cites travel, theatre, soaps
and the Argentinian tango among
her interests, while her escape is
a second home on an island near
Bangkok. Building Fitch’s global
credentials will present no shortage
of opportunities for clocking up
air miles – and her experience
of running major events should
ensure that she puts her feet in the
right place.
www.fitchww.com
PEOPLE 5
Life in the Lens
Luis Vieira
founder of Luvi Ogilvy,
Réunion Island
What was your
childhood
ambition?
When I was in
primary school
I wanted to be
a clown, an
astronaut and
a fighter pilot.
Little did I know
I would land up
being all three when I got into the
advertising business.
How did you get into advertising
as well as consulting?
I was a struggling cartoonist living in
Lisbon. In 1985 during a trip to Paris,
an advertising agency made me an
offer I couldn’t refuse; the opportunity
to struggle a little less for a little more
money. The rest, as they say, is history.
Which achievement are you
most proud of?
My two young daughters come to
mind first. And on a daily basis, being
part of the Ogilvy Africa family is
something I feel very proud of and
happy about.
How is working in Réunion
different from elsewhere?
Working in Réunion is not very
different from elsewhere in the world,
but living here is. Our beautiful, green
island is a big cocktail of 850,000
people from three different continents,
Africa, Europe and Asia, living in
perfect harmony. We have three local
TV channels, three daily newspapers,
about 15 different magazines, 20 or
so local radio stations; more than 12
ad agencies; and various hotshops,
studios, design, production, video and
photo facilities. Réunion is bursting
with business, and yet it’s still a
paradise – for now.
Describe your typical working
day at Luvi Ogilvy?
In a recent day I met with my
creative team to plan urgent work
and brainstorm sessions; met with
the general director of our mobile
client, SFR; enjoyed a business lunch
with our client director Steven Potet
washing down some ‘bouchons’
local snacks (my client brand) with
a cold Dodo beer (my client brand);
called Ato Afful, managing director
of Ogilvy Africa, to update him on
Indian Ocean Region; met with the
client service team to discuss a pro
bono campaign we’re doing for child
protection association Enfance et
Partage with our client, U-stores; and
had various other meetings and calls
with clients and colleagues.
What have you been reading/
watching/listening to recently?
I’m reading a simple book I bought
at an airport duty-free shop called
The Rules of Management by Richard
Templar. My weekends are spent
listening to my golf instructor’s tips on
how to improve my game.
How do you relax?
Relax, what’s that?
www.luvi-ogilvy.com
 6 MARKETING
New Offers
A round-up of the latest
new service offerings and
additions to the Group
The Partners
Design/New York
The Partners, WPP’s strategy and
design consultancy headquartered
in the UK, has opened a New York
studio. The expansion is designed
to allow the company to better
service its international accounts.
Managing director Steven Gilliatt
and creative director Stewart Devlin
head up the New York studio.
The Partners recently won Gold
Awards at the New York Festival
and the New York Art Directors
for its work for The National
Gallery, London.
www.The-Partners.com
Valos
Pharmaceutical strategy/
North America
CommonHealth, WPP’s healthcare-
communications network, has
launched Valos, the organization’s
second full-service managed markets
communications unit.
Organically grown from sister
agency, Solara, Valos was created
to provide strategic and tactical
solutions to the pharmaceutical
industry in the managed markets
arena. Valos will help its clients define
and promote the value of brands
across their life cycle from pre-launch
through patent expiration.
www.commonhealth.com/valos
The Cube
Channel planning/Thailand
JWT Bangkok has launched a
communications channel-planning
unit, called The Cube, to help boost
engagement with consumers and
provide research for the agency
and its clients. The Cube aims to
get a better understanding of the
communications landscape, whether
through new channels in traditional
media or online, while driving
engagement, activation programs
and research for the agency.
www.jwtbkk.com/TheCube/
index.htm
MEC Retail
In-store programming/US
MEC Retail, Mediaedge:cia’s retail
practice, is launching an innovative
in-store video network designed to
enhance the customer experience
through engaging, informative
content and promotional material.
Initially launched on behalf of Pizza
Hut, it claims to be the first in-
store network developed, built and
implemented by a media planning
and buying company.
www.mecretail.com
Keep up to date with new
offers from the Group by
subscribing to e.wire.
See back page for details. And brand fame has a simple
2008 may be remembered as the
year when numbers finally lost their
capacity to shock. At the beginning
of the year, two billion dollars was
a lot of money. By the end of it, two
trillion dollars was rather less: or
so it seemed. Logically, the fact of
a corporation facing losses of 100
billion should be four times more
chilling than one facing losses of
25 billion – but logic doesn’t come
into it. There comes a moment when
numbers so distance themselves
from personal experience that
comprehension snaps. And when
comprehension goes, so, more
worryingly, does any sense of
personal involvement. Unimaginable
vastness is so remote from anything
we’ve ever seen or touched that
it simply doesn’t connect. It’s like
being told that Planet Earth is just
one of several million other planets
out there. I’m sorry: you’ve lost me.
If we were told that we were one of
just five, that would be a different
matter altogether. As it is, we shrug –
and think of something else.
Children may get their heads
round money by relating it to their
pocket money or to the price of a
candy bar. Their parents may try
to keep one foot on the ground by
mentally relating money to salaries
or house prices. But three trillion?
How many houses could you buy
for three trillion? How much R&D
could you finance?
I’m sorry: you’ve lost me.
As governments around the world
finally and grudgingly acknowledged
the existence of recession – and in
most cases many months earlier
– companies everywhere began
ransacking their records, their lofts
and their memories: what were the
secrets of weathering recessions –
even of coming out of them with
greater strength? There are more than
150 published papers on the subject,
spanning more than 70 years.
Most analyses agree. Tough times
make people think more. When
people think more, they re-assess
their behaviour. Those companies
who’ve confused customer habit with
customer loyalty quickly discover
that they’re not the same. Price:value
relationships slither about a bit:
price, which is both objective and
quantifiable, becomes a lot easier to
hang on to than something called
value, which is neither. Unless
underpinned by intrinsic quality,
‘added value’ begins to seem little
more than fancy packaging.
In times of recession, the
kaleidoscope is given a mighty shake.
The point of all this, and
demonstrated over those last 70
years, is that the most successful
recession marketers are those astute
enough and nimble enough to find
new patterns amid the confusion and
seize the new chances. Every brand’s
new chances will be slightly different
and all gains made will be at someone
else’s expense.
But probably the biggest single
risk facing recession marketers is
exactly the same as the biggest single
risk that faces successful companies
at all times – but with a frighteningly
higher level of intensity: and that’s
the risk of losing touch with their
ultimate users. Success brings growth;
greater size demands delegation and
the introduction of departments;
and real people stop being real
people and become demographics.
It needn’t happen but it does. Brands
– and the companies behind those
brands – slowly and imperceptibly
come to seem as remote from reality
as trillions of dollars do. And the
ultimate consumer response is
exactly the same: I’m sorry – you’ve
lost me.
As many of those published
papers demonstrate, it’s easier to lose
users in times of recession than at any
other time. Tough times make people
PERSPECTIVEThe recession offers
marketers an opportunity to
re-assess their strategy and
re-connect with their customers,
argues Jeremy Bullmore
“I’m sorry -
you’ve lost me”
Five words no brand
should ever have to hear
think more. When people think
more, they re-assess their behaviour.
And if their brands have drifted away
from them into some de-personalised
stratosphere, it’s now that they’ll
notice – and do something about it.
Suddenly, they’re lost; and as
everyone has always known, to
retrieve a lost user takes a great deal
of time and a great deal of money.
Tough times make
people think more.
When people think
more, they re-assess
their behaviour
However, there’s some surpri-
singly good news. Despite the
continuing growth of marketing
companies and their brands, it’s
more possible now for them to
keep in sensitive touch with their
ultimate users – and to close any
gaps that may have developed – than
during any previous recession. Not
simpler, certainly, and no cheaper;
just more possible.
Two great interlocking things
have happened to marketing com-
munications since the last reces-
sion of this scale. We seem to have
developed a rather deeper under-
standing of how the most persuasive
marketing communications work.
And there are now many more ways
to engage with any given audience.
To simplify perhaps unfairly:
there was a time when mass
communication was thought to
be something of a monologue.
Transmitters transmitted and
receivers received. The ability to
transmit was limited to those in
the possession of relatively few
transmission facilities: just media
owners – and advertisers who could
afford to rent those facilities. The
receiving public, that overwhelming
majority, had little choice but to
receive – and remain silent.
Unfortunately, their enforced
silence was interpreted by many as
passivity. A style of mass commercial
communication developed that was
often didactic, at times almost hec-
toring. Claims of product superiority
were repeatedly asserted and con-
sumers were instructed to consume.
Defendants of this style point
to its effectiveness. Sales went up,
they rightly say. Of course they
did. Paid-for brand publicity has
always contributed to brand fame.
competitive value.
THE WIRE • July 2009
But what this style of commu-
nication never managed to achieve,
and never will, is that willing
complicity between sender and
receiver that’s the mark of all the
most effective persuasion. In the
words of Arthur Koestler, ‘The artist
rules his subjects by turning them
into accomplices.’
Receivers have never been passive.
No receiving brain accepts claims
and assertions without challenge.
Every receiving brain filters such
messages through its own experience
and its own prejudices – and reaches
its own conclusions.
The myth of the
passive obedient
consumer, however
attractive to a certain
kind of marketing
mind, has been
blown for good
And just as this long overdue
insight (always intuitively understood
by the best natural communicators)
became more generally understood
and legitimised, along came the
internet. And suddenly, hallelujah,
it wasn’t just media owners and
advertisers who had access to
transmission facilities. Anyone with
a computer and internet access was
now a potential publisher. And
publish they did, in their millions –
and so they will for evermore.
The myth of the passive obedient
consumer, however attractive to a
certain kind of marketing mind, has
been blown for good. And in its place
is an infinitely more complicated but
altogether healthier state of affairs.
For companies deeply concerned
not to lose touch with their users –
wherever they may be and however
disparate – things have never looked
better. Through one set of lenses,
the fragmentation of media is an
advertiser’s nightmare; and so is the
ability of lowly consumers to answer
back. Through another set of lenses,
both developments offer an amazing
new potential. After a century during
which corporations got bigger and
bigger, more and more global, and
almost inevitably more and more
remote from their ultimate users, the
trend has begun to turn.
The pattern is far from fixed and
even the vocabulary seems still to be
in development stage. We’ll probably
look back on this time and realise
that ‘old’ media and ‘new’ media had
more in common than we realised and
that ‘digital’ was a curious word to
have emerged as the name for a form
of mass communication that gets
closer to conversation than anything
before it. And we’ll maybe even come
to see that interactive media, with
their ability to involve real people
with real things and real ideas, have
much in common with those most
primitive of communications devices:
demonstrations. Whether in market
squares or jungle clearings, showing,
involving, achieving participation
and responding to feedback remain
as powerful a way of keeping in touch
with those all-important people out
there as they ever have.
It won’t be tidy. But there really
shouldn’t be any excuses, during
recessionary times or not, for brands
to lose their followers through
becoming too remote.
This essay was first published
in WPP’s 2008 Annual Report.
Read the report online at
www.wpp.com/annualreports.
 THE WIRE • July 2009 DIGITAL 7

Mobile marketing needs to make the transition from one-off

WIRELESS

campaigns to a serious channel for brands, says iconmobile’s Thomas Fellger

From cell phone to sell phone

Staff Reporter
IT HAS been a busy few months for iconmobile
Group, the Berlin-based mobile marketing
company that is 40 per cent owned by WPP. The
company has recently opened a new office in
New York City, to add to a network that already
includes Berlin, Beijing, London, Los Angeles,
Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. The new office will
spearhead its move into mobile media buying
and planning as well as providing a presence on
America’s East Coast. In December iconmobile
unveiled a joint venture with OgilvyOne in China;
and in April it announced an international rollout
for Xbox.mobi, the iconmobile mobile portal
designed for Xbox fans which uses iconmobile’s
content management system. Iconmobile has also
designed the new iPhone application for BrandZ,
WPP’s global brand study (see page 10).
But Thomas Fellger, iconmobile’s LA-based
CEO and co-founder, says that mobile has barely
begun to scratch the surface of its true potential
in the marketing sphere. “Most brands are only
just beginning to understand what you can do
with mobile. If the industry had a soundtrack,
it would be Lost in Translation,” says Fellger.
And mobile carriers have failed to create the
user-friendly products that enable brands to
realise the potential of mobile, he says, as they
remain intent on controlling their own proprietary
environment. The consequence is that iconmobile
and other developers must work 10 times as hard
to get a brand working in mobile compared to
other channels.
Much early mobile marketing consisted of
one-off campaigns, but Fellger is concerned to
Road test: iconmobile’s in-car digital cluster developed
with Nvidia
MEASUREMENT WPP launched the Analytics Task Force in January
2008 to foster the growth of data-driven marketing practices
across all Group companies and disciplines. David Spitz explains
how these techniques allow brands to box above their weight
Xbox mobi: the mobile portal for Xbox fans offers a catalogue of games titles using iconmobile’s content management system
build ‘infrastructure’. “To really get the mobile
channel up and running, it needs to be built into
their system, so their CRM and retail databases
are embedded,” he explains. Even the iPhone, with
its leap forward in mobile browsing ability, only
goes so far. “The real key is to focus on mobile’s
special attributes, its ability to make use of your
location, to track your personal behaviour, and
connectivity to peers.”
He cites recent applications that have leveraged
some of mobile’s true power. For BMW in Germany,
iconmobile built a CRM-based application that
enabled dealers to reach out to their customers,
inviting them to make an appointment to fit snow
tyres when the weather changed. Customers were
sent a picture of their car to their phone and of
10,000 targeted, 30 per cent ordered.
For Visa in the UK, iconmobile has built a
‘mobile wallet’ which is currently being tested by
5,000 consumers. “The phone becomes a tool –
you can use it to pay for tickets, or send money to
your kids’ phones,” says Fellger.
And for T-Mobile in the US, iconmobile
developed a ‘Green Perks’ campaign. The company
wanted to save money by encouraging customers
to manage their accounts online rather than
being mailed statements. Those who sign up can
download an application to their handset which
enables them to receive coupons for green brands,
which can be redeemed in-store. The application
can track redemption patterns by coupon, by city
and so on.
Fellger cut his teeth on mobile working with
NTT on its hugely successful i-mode products a
decade ago, and says that although Asia is still
leading in mobile tools, Europe is now at the
forefront of innovation in mobile marketing. He
sees the mobile device as “a remote control to all
the other channels”, for example by scanning a
product in a magazine then looking up where to
buy it on the web.
For iconmobile, its own products including the
icmsp service platform now account for 35 percent
of revenues through licensing, with BMW, Mini,
Heineken and Microsoft among prominent clients.
As well as its joint venture with OgilvyOne, the
company has collaborated closely with Wunder-
man on Microsoft, and Fellger is keen to reach out
to other WPP companies. “We can help them build
mobile into campaigns right from the start, so it
really is an equal channel,” he says.
Contact: Thomas Fellger, CEO, tfellger@iconmobile.com
www.iconmobile-group.com
New in Digital
• Offline, online
Kantar Group is partnering with
analytics software company
Omniture to bring together online
analytics and a number of Kantar’s
strategic research offerings under
a single marketing platform. The
partnership will enable clients to
gain a more holistic view of how
their online and offline initiatives and
branding efforts affect one another.
Omniture will integrate several
Kantar offerings including: online
advertising effectiveness and brand
measurement from Dynamic Logic;
competitive intelligence, audience
demographics and behavioral
profiling from TNS Media Compete;
and attitudinal and lifestyle insights
from Kantar’s consumer panels,
the world’s largest online/offline
panel collective. These new offers
will be delivered to clients through
Omniture’s Genesis platform.
www.kantargroup.com
www.omniture.com
• China talking
OgilvyOne and Ogilvy Public
Relations have jointly developed
OBuzz – an internet Word of Mouth
tracking system designed to monitor
and measure online conversations
across Chinese social media. The
proprietary technology solution,
which has already been deployed for
clients in China including adidas and
GSK, crawls thousands of blogs and
social media sites to give marketers a
view of discussions around their own
brands and those of competitors.
OgilvyOne China has also opened its
first Ogilvy Digital Lab in Beijing.
www.obuzz.com.cn
• Social service
Mindshare has formed a joint
venture with another WPP company,
SocialMedia8, which claims to
be the world’s first social media
agency. The new unit, dubbed
Mindshare SocialMedia8, will
provide Mindshare’s clients with a
suite of social media marketing tools
which can be integrated into the
agency’s existing media services, both
traditional and digital. The new entity
will be headed by Ciaran Norris,
previously head of search and social

Chasing the moneyball

In Moneyball: The Art of Winning
an Unfair Game, the journalist
Michael Lewis followed Billy Beane,
the manager of a professional
baseball franchise with a budget less
than half that of some of its rivals,
as he sought to gain competitive
advantage through the application of
advanced data modeling techniques.
The book is set in 2002, when
most baseball managers governed by
‘gut feel’. And those metrics that were
used during the decision-making
process were relics from an earlier
era (before desktop computers had
made it possible to record, access and
analyze large volumes of information
in ‘real-time’). Beane and others like
him changed all of this.
Of course, in sport, as in
marketing, math is never a substitute
for strategy. Like the golfer who
said, “The harder I work, the luckier
I get”, analytics creates the basis
for good decision-making, it does
not replace it. We will always need
people who can:
• Determine what to measure and
develop proprietary metrics.
• Connect the dots across multiple
data sources.
• Glean insights from the data
and socialize and ‘story-tell’ their
meaning.
• Act upon insights and improve
them over time.
But particularly now – in a
time when we are economically
constrained for resources but with
more data to analyze than ever
before – the intelligent application
of analytics can significantly improve
your chances of winning.
Stephen DiMarco, CMO of
Compete (a division of TNS),
has coined the term ‘Moneyball
marketer’ to refer to the new
breed of marketer who, like Billy
Beane, uses data to create strategic
advantage. “The determining factor
is knowing what to measure,” says
DiMarco. “Depending on your
objectives, conventional metrics
like impressions, clicks or purchase
intent (collected via surveys) may
not be the best predictor. You need
to determine what is and maximize
that before your competitors
do.” As an example, he cites how
WPP companies such as ZAAZ,
Mindshare and Compete have
constructed models for clients in
the auto industry, linking discrete
marketing tactics across paid and
unpaid channels to new vehicle sales.
There are hundreds, if not
thousands, of ‘Moneyball marketers’
at WPP, resident across many
different operating companies.
To foster the growth of data-
driven practices across all disciplines,
and at every stage of the marketing
funnel, WPP established the Analytics
Task Force in January 2008. The
group meets quarterly to share
trends and research practices and
evaluate new technologies and
partnership opportunities. In our
first year, we hosted an Analytics
Day in New York and developed a
strategic partnership with Omniture,
a leading technology platform for
web marketers.
To learn more about ‘Moneyball
marketing’, WPP’s partnership with
Omniture and the Analytics Task Force,
visit http://bitly.com/wppdigital.
marketing at Altogether Digital,
who will report to Norm Johnson,
Mindshare’s global digital chief.
SocialMedia8 has previously worked
with clients such as Nike, Nokia, LG
and Heineken, with offices based out
of Amsterdam, London and Milan.
www.mindshareworld.com
• Raising the game
In-game advertising will reach
$1 billion in worldwide revenues
by 2014, according to new research
by media analyst Screen Digest, in
conjunction with GroupM. The
study, which involved a survey of
digital planners from GroupM’s
global network, predicts that in-game
ads will account for one and a half
percent of all annual advertising
spending in 2014, as video games’
rising share of audience consumption
and reach makes the new medium
impossible for brands to ignore.
Adam Smith, futures director at
GroupM, adds: “Games are proven
recession-beaters with an ad-funded
online model that actually works.”
www.groupm.com
8 CANNES THE WIRE • July 2009 THE WIRE • July 2009 CANNES 9

AWARDS A Gold Lion from Cannes is the

pre-eminent currency in the world of ideas and
John O’Keeffe The results, based on the Cannes judging system
creativity. Here are WPP’s Gold winners from Gold Design
Worldwide creative (10 for Grand Prix, 7 for Gold, 5 for Silver, 3 for
director
Bronze and 1 for all shortlists) are as follows:
this year’s festival, across all categories JWT, Mumbai, India
Maharashtra Janavikas Kendra/Balwadi Night School
WPP
1st. Omnicom - 1,205 points (148 statues)
Despite widespread
2nd. WPP - 911 points (109 statues)
predictions of a

The Gold standard

recession-led creative
downturn, WPP
increased its tally of Lions. We also increased
our lead over the third-placed group and, more
importantly, closed the gap significantly on our
chief rival. A ‘top two’ appears to be emerging.
So we have a clear target in sight and we know
what we have to do.
3rd. Publicis - 843 points (101 statues)
We accumulated a total of 109 Cannes Lions
across all the Cannes categories, including the
Media Grand Prix for JWT Japan for Kit Kat.
We were represented by over 124 offices from all
over the world.
Congratulations to all our winners. Good luck
everyone for 2010.

Grand Prix Media

JWT, Tokyo, Japan
Postcards from Cannes...
Nestlé Confectionery/Kit Kat Mail 2009

Gold Film
Y&R, Auckland, New Zealand MaryLee Sachs
Gold Cyber
Breast Cancer Research Trust
Worldwide director marketing
Bridge Worldwide, Cincinnati, US
communications
Procter & Gamble/Pringles
Hill & Knowlton
After 55 years, PR was finally
included in the Cannes Lions this
year. Did PR finally come of age?
Or has the advertising industry
deemed PR-originated ideas as more
viable in today’s challenged market?
It must be the latter given how
many PR Lions were coveted by ad
agencies in the first-ever awards.
The PR jury wrestled with setting
the bar high. Prelim judging across
431 cases from 48 countries left
320 cases to review in Cannes.
Gold Film The UK with 55 entries and the
JWT, New York, USA US with just 46 entries were both
MTV/Choose or lose voting awareness under-represented given the size of
Gold Outdoor Gold Cyber the PR business in those markets
Ogilvy, Stockholm, Sweden Ogilvy & Mather, Düsseldorf, Germany while China and India were hardly
2 x Gold Film Fundraising to support the war victims of Georgia Düsseldorfer Tafel EV/Free food distribution present. Clearly there’s a job to do
JWT, Mumbai, India in promoting the Cannes PR Lions
The Times of India
around the world.
For the most part though, entries
were rock solid, and winning
attributes across the jury were
originality, engagement, influence,
relevance, and achieving critical
outcomes. It was remarkable how
aligned the 15 judges were, despite
coming from 13 countries.
Overall, the jury was tough,
and our chair, Lord Tim Bell, was
a formidable challenger on some of
the debates. It won’t go unnoticed
that the PR shortlist was unusually
short with just 37 campaigns.
Cannes Lions organizers coaxed
for a longer list of 50 or more,
Gold Media equivalent to 12-14 per cent of
MediaCom, Mumbai, India the total entries submitted. I look
Gold Press Procter & Gamble/Gillette forward to 2010 when hopefully
Grey, Paris, France
Gold Design Gold Press the PR profession takes the Cannes
SASCH/SHS Team Clothes
The Partners, London, UK JWT, Singapore Lions just as seriously as the 2009
Richard House Children’s Hospice/ WWF PR Jury did.
Office Games
Tim Mellors
Chief creative officer
Grey
Weather lovely. Half as many
people here but more famous
faces on the bill. Price of drink
scandalous as ever. Went to see
that nice Spike Lee. He seemed
a bit angry. “The client kills the
best work...they won’t do brave so
they do vanilla.”
Roger Daltrey of the Who
and Little Stevie van Zandt of the
Sopranos and E Street Band both
seemed like people you’d want to
go on holiday with. Amazing how
the music biz seems just
like advertising.
Kofi Annan wasn’t as good
as David Plouffe. Enjoyed the
session on Twitter by co-founder
Biz Stone. All but 10 people in the
audience were on Twitter. Borne
out the same eveningwhen Twitter
created a forest fire in Cannes on
Jacko’s death long before French
TV got the first spark.
Martin Sorrell grilled four
of the biggest marketeers in the
world, none of whom were on
Twitter so that now makes 14.
All seemed a lot gutsier than
Spike Lee would have them.
All in all a lovely week’s
conference. I’ll definitely be
booking next year. Recession
permitting.
Wish you were here,
Tim
PS There were also some
awards, Grey won twice as many
Lions as last year, WPP won a zoo
full. Why didn’t they get Kofi to
give out the film awards rather
than the Mayor of Cannes?
Dale Herigstad
Chief creative officer
Schematic
My first time at Cannes Lions,
I can’t make comparisons.
However, the tone seemed quiet
for obvious reasons. Talk of
changes in the future of media
and advertising was frequent.
So, how do we connect the
great creative talent with
emerging digital trends? That’s
the question.
Y&R’s presentation of a
dialogue between Roger Daltrey
and Harvey Goldsmith was a
lesson in great branding, and
how audacity and perseverance
and great talent lead to
something that lasts.
I’ll add a shameless plug for
Schematic’s very large interactive
wall near the entrance to the
Palais on Level One which was
hard to miss. Touch gestures
allowed connections with other
attendees and information. The
most popular bit seemed to be
the magical appearance of your
name as you approached.
It is clear that connected
media systems (also referred
to as cloud computing) is the
future, as described by Bob
Greenberg. The migrating
audience is no longer attached
to devices. Big technical
challenges, but certainly
rewarding. Social media was a
common theme, and connected
media allows for ongoing virtual
social experiences.
In the background, Big
Technology is moving to find
new and better ways to enable
all of this.
 10 AFRICA THE WIRE • July 2009

EXPERTSScangroup is the leading advertising group in East Africa, and has ambitions to expand across
the continent, with the help of investment and expertise from WPP. By Alexander Garrett

A guide for Africa’s markets

IF AFRICA is the last great untapped
region of the world for marketers,
then few are better placed than
Scangroup to make the connection
with its emerging population
of consumers. The Nairobi-based
company has already established
a strong position in East Africa,
and with WPP backing it nurtures
ambitions to become one of the
leading players across the continent.
With most of the world’s major
markets reeling from the global
recession, it seems only a matter of
time before eyes turn increasingly
to Africa’s potential, which has so
often been overlooked. Already the
leading player in marketing services
in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda,
Scangroup has plans to expand into
other key countries over the next few
years, as well as diversifying from
its traditional focus on advertising
and media.
The company was founded as
Scan Ad Marketing in 1982, by its
CEO and former McCann-Erickson
executive Bharat Thakrar, with
the vision of putting advertising
on a more professional footing.
It opened offices in Tanzania in
1990 and in Uganda in 1992, then
in 1995 Thakrar set up a separate
agency with JWT. Starting out
.biz
www.scangroup
Founded: 1982
in Kenya,
Offices: Agencies
da
Tanzania and Ugan
Adver tising , media,
Service s:
ma rke tin g,
experiential
tions.
research, public rela
is 27.5 per
In WPP: Scangroup
by WP P.
cent owned
Bh ara t Th akr ar, CEO
Conta ct:
akrar @s ca ngroup.biz
bharat.th
as a non-affiliated agency, Scan
subsequently metamorphosed into
a multi-agency group by forming
a series of affiliations with the
likes of JWT, McCanns and Grey,
driven principally by the needs
of multinational clients such as
Unilever, Ford and Coca-Cola.
In 1997/98 it diversified with the
formation of a media independent
agency, Media Interactive, and then
into experiential marketing with the
formation of Roundtrip Limited.
Today it has some 360 people in more
than a dozen separate companies.
Thakrar says: “Africa is unique
in a number of ways. The markets
are generally small in terms of the
value they represent, opportunities
to buy existing agencies are limited,
and so agency groups tend to be
pragmatic and do what they can
do. Multinationals don’t feel they
need to be present in every country
– they may use distributors – and
they cluster countries together for
practical purposes.”
Last year, WPP became the biggest
single investor in Scan, buying more
than 60 million shares to take a
27.5 per cent stake in the company,
in spite of the fact that some of its
agencies are affiliated with those
owned by some of WPP’s biggest
competitors. Yet Thakrar points out:
“WPP’s deal is with the Scan holding
company, and there are no financial
relationships with any other agency
groups. We will become more and
more WPP as time goes on.”
That deal gave Scan access to
capital and to WPP’s know-how,
while for WPP it provided a valuable
presence with a leading player in sub-
Saharan Africa. “It was a meeting of
minds,” says Thakrar.
Scan plans to grow through a
combination of acquisitions, joint
ventures with other WPP countries
– it already has two with Millward
Brown and Hill & Knowlton – as
well as start-ups. Key markets for ex-
pansion are likely to include Ghana,
Nigeria, Angola and Mozambique.
As a region, Africa is enormously
diverse; its four key points are Egypt
in the north; South Africa in the
south; Kenya in the east; and Nigeria
in the West, but as well as spanning
great geographical and cultural
distances, marketers have to contend
with three European languages –
English, French and Portuguese – as
well as a long list of African ones.
Already, Scan buys media in markets
such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi,
Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique,
Angola, Gabon, DR Congo and
of expectation and sophistication
that has to be bridged. “In Nairobi,
there is a very sophisticated internet-
savvy urban population – if you
went to their clubs and restaurants
you wouldn’t think you were in
a developing country at all,” says
Thakrar. “And then there’s the old
woman in the village who hasn’t even
been exposed to television.” The
solution: campaigns that embrace
digital marketing at one end of the
spectrum, and use radio to reach the
rural population at the other.
Scan is keen to learn from WPP,
and to raise the game of marketing
in Africa. “We are talking to WPP
companies in digital, field marketing,
branding and identity,” says Thakrar.
This is an exciting time for the
region, he believes. “Democracy
is making a comeback, there is
a middle class emerging, and the
Mauritius, as well as its three core
cellular revolution is connecting
East Africa markets. “There are
people like never before.” Africa’s
definite cultural variations, for
per capita consumption may be very
example Angolans are more Latino
low, but importantly, the region’s
in their outlook,” says Thakrar.
economies will continue to grow this
Scan agencies typically adapt a
year. “Multinationals are looking at
pan-African campaign for each
Africa as the next big thing,” says
market, using local agencies to
Thakrar, “and that means a step
develop local insights.
change in the way we do marketing.”
Even so, one challenge is the range
The character of Peter Marangi (Peter the Paint Guy in Swahili) has become one of
Kenya’s favourite advertising icons, increasing sales of the Duracoat brand as well as
helping to bridge socio-economic, gender and tribal divides

Thinking
aloud
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of
the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” –
Mark Twain.
Facebook is everywhere. You’d have to be a
cryogenically frozen amoeba trapped under a
rock on Mars not to have heard of it. So, what’s
the big deal? Does Facebook really deserve to
be hailed as the greatest product of Web 2.0 or
is it only a matter of time before all the hoopla
becomes a thing of the past?
Many joined Facebook hoping it would
bring them closer to the people in their lives,
especially those they hadn’t seen since the
good old days of school. But then the reality
set in. For some, getting in touch with said
blasts from the past made them remember
why they weren’t that chummy to begin with.
For others, it’s reached the point where
they’re dealing with an addiction; staying up
into the wee hours of the morning, showing
up late for work, and messaging colleagues in
Social networking sites like Facebook are billed as the new way to connect with others,
yet in reality they have become a poor substitute for interacting in person, argues
Eugene Yiga. In his personal point of view, it’s time we went back to talking face to face
adjacent cubicles (assuming access hasn’t been we exist. The world will have no choice but to other on an organic level. Nowadays, it’s near
entirely blocked). acknowledge that. impossible to have a conversation without the
I have received many requests to join To those of you who are happy with person you’re trying to talk to keeping at least
Facebook, some from people I’d only ever Facebook, what I have to say shouldn’t bother one earphone still plugged in and/or constantly
said “hi” to once or twice. That didn’t make you. If it does, maybe that’s something you reaching for their phone. What ever happened
much sense. Why was I being hassled by people need to think about. In any case, all I can to undivided attention and good old-fashioned
I either saw in class everyday or who weren’t do is offer some advice. Be reasonable about eye contact?
even that fond of me in the first place? Why how much you share online because the last The fact is, you really don’t need a website
could they not take the hint (i.e. my express thing you want is to have your identity stolen to stay in touch with your family and friends.
“no thanks”) and move on? And why couldn’t (or wind up being stalked). And now that Why not write them a letter, give them a phone
anyone come up with a valid reason to sign companies are using Facebook to investigate call, or (insert gasp here) meet them in person?
up that didn’t involve some degree of peer prospective employees, a little common sense We’re not meant to spend our lives sitting in
pressure? This definitely went beyond the (and censorship) will come in handy. front of computer screens, thinking we’re
desire to get a little closer. To those of you who have managed to connecting with others when we’re actually
The social networking craze seems to me to resist the lure of Facebook and other social not. We’re meant to be out there living our lives.
be more about reaffirming ourselves than about networking sites up to now, congratulations And even though the online experience may
connecting with other people. Our entire sense are in order. Your willpower is admirable! seem real, it can never come close to interaction
of self is now based on how many “friends” Technology may profess to be bringing us in the flesh. So, what are you waiting for?
we have on our profiles. Whether or not we closer together, but one of the things it is doing
know (or like) these people doesn’t matter. (other than creating an entire generation who Eugene Yiga is a junior research executive at
As long as we can claim to be popular, that’s can’t spell) is tearing us further apart. We’re Millward Brown South Africa.
all that counts. As long as we’re connected, forgetting what it’s like to interact with each eugene.yiga@za.millwardbrown.com
 THE WIRE • July 2009
It’s the store that watches you. Alexander Garrett takes a peek at Red Dot Square Solutions’ futuristic
VIRTUAL REALITY
environment where retailers and manufacturers are plotting the battle for shoppers on a giant cinematic screen
Red hot: the new Ice Lab in Arkansas is one of three operated by Red Dot Square, while some manufacturers, such as Kimberly-Clark and General Mills, have bought their own
Shopping in Sim City
Y
OU cross the forecourt, go through
the automatic doors, and enter a
large Wal-Mart store that could be
anywhere in North America. The
layout of aisles with packed shelves,
deli counters and fresh produce stalls is
instantly familiar. Except it isn’t a real store
and you’re sitting in a darkened theatre – the
‘ice lab’ – in Milton Keynes, in the middle of
England, watching a picture projected onto a
30 foot-wide screen. The image on the screen
doesn’t come from the lens of a camera: it is
virtual reality, a digital simulation of a store
that is so realistic you have to pinch yourself
to remember that you’re not there in person.
“Turn left,” commands Mark Edwards,
president of the company behind this, Red Dot
Square Solutions, and we’re browsing through
cereals. Alight on a particular pack and it
springs into the foreground. You can turn it
round, flip it upside down, study the on-pack
offers and the nutritional information. Look
up at the screen, he urges, and we’re watching
the promotion on the in-store video at the end
of the next aisle.
An experience so disturbingly real
that you feel the store rail you’re
approaching is about to impale you
Who’s who in Kantar Retail
Kantar Retail is the new organisation formed from the restructuring of Kantar and TNS companies
in February. The group is made up of five companies: Cannondale, Glendinning, Management
Ventures Inc, Retail Forward and Red Dot Square Solutions. Its leadership team comprises:
Alastair Cochrane, chairman; Jack Ryder, chairman, Americas; and Wayne Levings, CEO.
The focus of the business is on deepening and rolling out digitally-delivered intelligence on retailers,
extending shopper insights and consulting capability.
Cannondale Associates
US-based Cannondale Associates offers
marketing and sales management consulting,
and software solutions, with offices in Wilton,
CT and Evanston, IL. The firm’s primary client
base is packaged goods manufacturers, whom
Cannondale helps to deal more effectively with
their retail customers, including grocery chains,
mass merchandisers, drug stores, and convenience
stores. All Cannondale’s managing directors
and consultants have extensive experience in
marketing or sales management positions for
major packaged goods companies, and have
earned MBAs from top business schools such as
Wharton, Tuck, Harvard and Kellogg.
www.cannondaleassoc.com
Reality unchecked: the view inside Red Dot Square’s
virtual store is so lifelike you have to remind
yourself you’re not there
The party tricks are endless: with a few
deft manoeuvres, Andy Mellish, co-inventor
of the system and the man at the controls, can
strip the shelves of products or shuffle them
around, move an aisle, change the look of the
store, show a heat map of where the highest
footfall has taken place.
Glendinning Management
Consultants
Glendinning is an expert “Go To Market”
consultancy specialising in the creation,
development and implementation of
winning sales and marketing solutions.
The company helps clients to develop
pragmatic 360 degree propositions across
their Consumer, Shopper and Customer
teams through its three core practices.
Glendinning was established in the UK
in the 1960s and has offices in Bangkok,
Dubai, Johannesburg, LA, Madrid, New
York, Paris, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo
with its global head office in London.
www.glendinning.com
RETAIL 11
The applications are many: retailers can try
out new store layouts and new store designs,
while manufacturers can test new products and
experiment with the positioning of their pack.
But Red Dot Square’s software can equally
be used as a data visualiser: it can draw upon
transactional data to show instantly which
products are selling well, the ‘hot spots’ where
customers stand in each aisle.
Except that these are much more than And it’s not just the technology that’s
party tricks: Red Dot Square’s VR software, innovative; so is the business model. There
first developed to create golf simulations for are more than 35,000 products programmed
the BBC, has already won favour from some of into Red Dot Square’s library. Kimberly-Clark,
the world’s biggest retailers and manufacturers General Mills and Unilever have commissioned
including Wal-Mart, Tesco, Kimberly-Clark, their own ‘ice labs’ while Red Dot Square
General Mills and Unilever. Their main interest operates its own facilities in Arkansas, Chicago
so far has been to conduct consumer research. and Minneapolis which clients pay to use. In
Arm a research subject with a joystick – essence, it’s a platform that aspires to become
actually the handle of a supermarket trolley the industry standard, and Red Dot Square
– and you can see where they go around the
owns the library as well as the context. “These
store. But that’s just the beginning. “What if
companies are now doing their new product
we powered the store to look at you?” asks
development in virtual reality,” says Keith
Edwards. An eyeball sensor records where the
Dickens, Red Dot Square’s CEO, who worked
shopper’s eye is looking 50 times every second
for 30 years at Procter & Gamble. “It can cut
within a quarter of an inch on the screen. A bio-
the time and cost in half.”
sensor on your forehead, meanwhile, (relying
WPP bought Red Dot Square in February,
on technology developed at MIT) measures
positioning it within Kantar, and providing
your emotion and cognition. So it can feel your
immense new opportunities for collaboration,
disappointment when you reach the beer aisle
say Edwards and Dickens. Perhaps ironically,
and your favourite brand is sold out. Red Dot
the company doesn’t even have a functioning
Square can even present the simulation in 3D
website; they believe the only way anyone
– an experience so disturbingly real that you
can really appreciate what they do is to see it
feel the store rail you’re approaching is about
to impale you; and scent and sound are further in action.
enhancements that can be added. There’s one further intriguing possibility:
It might look like an extremely sophisti- that Red Dot Square’s simulation becomes
cated computer game, but the difference is its the basis for the ultimate online shopping
resilience and ability to handle vast amounts experience.
of data. Most video formats are “pretty but
dumb” says Edwards. “This is based on a mili- Contact: Keith Dickens, CEO,
tary simulator, which has to be mission critical, keithdickens@reddotsquare.com
rather than gaming software,” he explains. www.reddotsquare.com
MVI
Management Ventures, Inc. –
is a global leader in supplying
Red Dot Square
Solutions
Red Dot Square Solutions
Retail Forward
Retail Forward is a US-
based strategic consulting
strategic insight, thought (see above) is a virtual firm focused exclusively on
leadership and education on reality research company retailers, their shoppers and
the world’s top retailers to its which helps retailers and their suppliers. The firm
clients. MVI’s analysts track manufacturers to better offers a one-stop resource
more than 1,000 retailers predict consumer behaviour for retail industry analy-
worldwide, and their analysis in-store through use of sis and shopper insights,
is designed to help clients intelligent, real-time store including Retail Forward
work with retailers and grow simulation technologies. Intelligence System, its
their own profits. MVI has Red Dot Square’s clients syndicated industry research
research teams located in include Safeway, Tesco, ($2.5 million invested
Cambridge, MA in the US, Walgreens and Wal-Mart, annually), comprehensive
and London, with expanding working in collaboration shopper insights (50,000
capabilities in India and Latin with global marketers shoppers surveyed annu-
America. Clients can access such as General Mills, ally) and custom research
data through two online Kimberly-Clark, Kraft, and strategy consulting
gateways: MVI-Insights.com MillerCoors, Sara Lee solutions. Clients include
in North America and and Unilever. Established more than 150 retail chains,
MVI-Insights.eu in Europe. in 2006 by founder and branded suppliers and retail
In addition, MVI runs a wide president Mark Edwards services companies through-
range of events, training and employing 60 people, out the world. The firm has
programs and publications Red Dot Square is based at been established for more
as well as offering consulting Milton Keynes in the UK than 30 years and its head
services. with a US office in Chicago. office is in Columbus, Ohio.
www.mvi-worldwide.com www.reddotsquare.com www.retailforward.com
 12 BRANDING
MEDIA Branded content has become a hot topic. The WIRE reports on some recent initiatives
involving WPP companies and their clients bringing brands and programming together.
Staff Reporter
WITH the established models of TV
content production and distribution
under pressure, media owners and
advertisers are increasingly exploring
new avenues for funding and
generating content, from sponsored
programmes to internet-broadcast
webisodes, or product placement. As
Martin Sorrell, WPP CEO, put it at
the recent MIP TV conference (see
page 2): “There’s a big opportunity
for media owners, content producers,
the people who control the talent,
and us agencies – creative and
media – to work together, to develop
content that is attractive for the new
platforms.”
WPP companies have already
been instrumental in the making of
productions like Unilever-sponsored
Ugly Betty in China (see back
page) and the ABC television series
October Road.
Here are three new initiatives
in which WPP is backing branded
content.
Hong Kong
JWT is behind Alchemist, a seven-
minute film made for Unilever to
promote its Lux shampoo, which
stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and
is being aired on TV in China
and Japan.
The film is based on an original
screenplay by Jeffrey Caine, who
wrote the screenplays for the James
Bond movie Goldeneye and box-
office hit The Constant Gardener.
The story is about a motorcycle chase
to a laboratory where a secret elixir
– Unilever’s Lux shampoo – is being
produced. Zeta-Jones is later seen at
a red-carpet ball with shimmering
hair from the new formula.
Unilever has been airing the film
on TV channels including China
Central Television and Fox this
summer. In addition, more than 6.5
million people watched it online in its
first six weeks, and an edited version
will also be played in cinemas.
The new film is designed by
Unilever to break through the clutter
encountered by conventional 30-
second slots. Unilever says Japanese
women are exposed to about 1,000
ads in an average week.
“The means of interacting
with consumers has dramatically
changed,” Enzo Devoto, Unilever’s
vice president of hair products in
North Asia and Greater China told
The Wall Street Journal. “A film
seemed the perfect solution – by
getting into the world of movies,
rather than just having movie stars
in our ads, which our competitors do
too, we can draw consumers closer
to the brand.”
New York
Mindshare Entertainment has created
a series of webisodes starring 30 Rock
star Jane Krakowski to promote
Breyers’ Smooth and Dreamy ice
cream brand. The webisodes feature
Krakowski in modern takes on two
of Hollywood’s most iconic romance
films – Gone with the Wind and King
Kong – in which technology enables
Krakowski to come face-to-face
with Rhett Butler and King Kong.
In the webisodes, which can be seen
at www.SmoothandDreamy.com,
Krakowski engages in a dreamlike
conversation incorporating both
original and new dialogue.
“We know America loves
Breyers,” said Wendy Franks, senior
brand manager for Breyers. “In these
unique webisodes, Jane explores
whether or not Rhett Butler and
Innovation to watch
Hollywood A-lister Catherine Zeta-Jones stars in JWT’s seven minute film, called
Alchemist, promoting Lux shampoo to TV audiences in China and Japan
King Kong are smooth and dreamy
enough to prove there’s a love greater
than ice cream.”
For the webisodes, Mindshare
Entertainment assembled an A-list
comedy crew, including Tony Award
and Screen Actors Guild Award
winner Krakowski and Gail Mancuso,
one of the most prominent comedy
directors working in series television
today. Mancuso has directed many
of the most recognizable comedy
series including Roseanne, Friends,
Two and a Half Men, Scrubs and 30
Rock, which most recently won the
2008 Emmy award for Outstanding
Comedy Series. Experts from several
Mindshare divisions also played key
roles in the initiative, said Mindshare
Entertainment president David Lang.
“We had a great team on this
project and I believe the end result
illustrates all the hard work that
went into it,” said, Lang, who
is also co-head of the agency’s
Invention unit.
London
A number of WPP companies have
been in discussions with independent
studio Ag8 and Ridley and Tony
Scott’s company Free Scott about
participating in a series of innovative
webisodes loosely based on the cult
sci-fi thriller Blade Runner. Called
Purefold, the series is described as
“an open media franchise designed
for brands, platforms, filmmakers,
product developers and communities
to collaboratively imagine our near
future.”
The franchise contains infinite
interlinked story lines, turned into
short-format episodes by Ridley
Scott Associate Films’ global talent
pool of directors, and informed by
real-time online conversations from
the audience, which are harvested
through FriendFeed, a ‘life streaming’
technology.
Ag8 says that Purefold “enables
participating brands to take an
alternative route to brand integration
than traditional product placement
and embrace invention within a
narrative framework.”
WPP is one of a small number
of companies who are working
on bringing in advertisers to fund
the series.
Participants in a Purefold pilot season
will be announced soon. Anyone
interested in discussing the project can
contact Tom Himpe, tom@ag8.com or
David Bausola, david@ag8.com.
THE WIRE • July 2009
BrandZ gears
up for global
audience
THE launch of the BrandZ Top
100 this year was a groundbreaking
event in a variety of different ways,
bringing the WPP brand research
data to a wider audience than ever
before. Technology played a key role
in the unveiling, showing the way for
future events to be hosted online.
“Our main objective was to ensure
that our people were the first to find
out about it,” said David Roth,
joint CEO of The Store, who was
responsible for launching the report.
“We also wanted to make the main
information and reports available
immediately as downloads.”
The success of the launch, said
Roth, can be measured by the fact
that “we had every country and
every one of our operating countries
participating – that has never
happened before with any event”.
He added that 99.9 per cent of
those surveyed wanted WPP to do
more such cross-country knowledge
sharing, while clients also gave it a
thumbs-up and many commented
that this showed the value of being
part of the WPP network.
Millward Brown’s study of
the top 100 global brands was
publicized with a major supplement
in the Financial Times on 29 April.
Key innovations connected with the
launch were:
• Hosting a series of web seminars
around the globe which brought in
an audience of around 3,500 people.
• Development of an iApp – iPhone
application – for BrandZ by WPP
associate company iconmobile (see
picture above). “This was the first
time in the world that a research
program has been communicated by
an iPhone program,” said Roth. “It
was extremely popular and became
the eleventh most downloaded
iPhone business application in the
world.” The iApp was offered as a
free product available on iTunes,
and generated additional noise in the
Twitter community.
• WPP design company Lambie-
Nairn restyled the report to make it
more user friendly.
• The report was customised for
JWT so that it could present its own
version to clients. A second custom
version was produced for the retail
sector highlighting the top 25 retail
brands with analysis provided by
WPP retail specialists MVI.
Overall, BrandZ and the Top 100
report provide a range of benefits to
WPP and its companies, says Roth.
“It’s something that gets us talked
about, and it’s important that we do
this to be competitive. More than
that, our people build brands 365
days a year, so this is an important
toolkit for us as an organisation.”
The full report and iPhone application
are downloadable from www.brandz.
com. The iApp is also available via
iTunes. David Roth, droth@wpp.com.
 THE WIRE • July 2009
When J&J put its US pharmaceuticals business
CLIENT FOCUS
up for review, WPP’s cross-company team came up with
some brilliant innovations to win the majority of the
business. Here’s how it happened
Chemistry lessons
Staff Reporter
IT WAS billed as one of the most
important wins of 2008, and it
couldn’t have come at a more
significant moment. In late October,
as the world’s financial system was
in crisis and recession loomed, a
WPP cross-company team, known
as Team Chemistry, was appointed
by Johnson & Johnson to handle
the lion’s share of its pharmaceutical
business in the US, which includes
more than 25 brands. The win – in
which Team Chemistry took the
majority of the spoils alongside
Interpublic Group – came at the end
of a pitch among six leading holding
companies, and consolidated work
that was previously shared among
more than 200 agencies.
At the end of the intensely
competitive process, Team Chemistry
was left with around two thirds of
J&J’s pharma business including
most of its important new drugs.
It catapaulted J&J into the top five
of WPP’s global clients and leaves
the Group well positioned if J&J
decides to consolidate more of its
worldwide marketing business.
Team Chemistry’s win also
provides some excellent lessons in
how WPP teams can win pitches
in future.
The review began last summer,
when WPP was invited to pitch
alongside IPG, Omnicom, Publicis,
Havas and Inventiv, each of which
had a slice of the business. Howard
Courtemanche, CEO of JWT’s
specialist unit Health@JWT was
chosen to lead the pitch, as JWT is
also J&J’s biggest consumer agency.
He says: “J&J made it clear there
were no favourites. They wanted
stronger marketing, the best talent,
and to make some cost savings,
at a time when patents on two of
Team Chemistry agencies
CommonHealth
• CommonHealth • Carbon
• MBS/Vox • HLS
• Solara • ProCom
• Altum • Ferguson
• Qi
Sudler & Hennessey
• S&H • Precept
• S&H Digital
Grey
• ghg • WG
• Summit Grey • BrandEdge
• Hurd Studios
• Phase V
• Vogel Farina
• OnCall
• IMSci
• Osprey
• Newton Grey
JWT
• JWT • RMG Connect
Ogilvy Healthworld
Burson-Marsteller
LiveWorld
Visible Technologies
KnowledgeBase Marketing
Hill & Knowlton
Schematic
Bridge Worldwide
Millward Brown
their major drugs were expiring.”
After an initial briefing,
Courtemanche pulled together a
team comprising all of WPP’s
main healthcare communications
companies: CommonHealth, ghg,
Sudler & Hennessey and Ogilvy
Healthworld alongside JWT. Also
involved in the first round team
were non-healthcare specialists:
John Zweig, head of WPP’s Special-
ist Communications; Satish Korde,
WPP’s global client director; Rick
Brooks, WPP Finance; and David
Spitz, WPP business development
director. For CommonHealth, which
handled a raft of J&J;’s antibiotic
and oncology brands, the stakes
were particularly high. As CEO Matt
Giegerich points out: “For us, J&J
was – and remains our single largest
client.” WPP Digital also played
an intrinsic part in the successful
campaign: J&J felt that it had fallen
behind in digital technology and
catching up was a priority.
Courtemanche says that
inclusivity within WPP was at the
heart of the team’s approach. “We
had everyone around the table, we
listened to everyone’s opinions, and
then a small team went away to write
things up.” And Giegerich adds:
“Everyone had to be willing to check
their individual agenda at the door;
this was a Group mission.”
Everyone had to be willing to check
their individual agenda at the door;
this was a Group mission
The concept of Team Chemistry
was designed both to refer to the
pharmaceutical nature of the client,
and also to the chemistry between
team members. Before the first stage
of presentation, the team leadership
identified the key benefit that the
client was seeking from the pitch
as ‘time’. “One of the client team
told me: we’re so busy running
200 agencies we don’t have time
to run our own business,” says
Courtemanche. “He said: if you can
give me one extra day a week to
think about our business and brands
you will have delivered.”
The key line adopted for the
first pitch was “It’s about time”
addressing this need and also the
sense that it was time for change.
Team Chemistry’s pitch to J&J included roundtable discussions, ‘speed dating’ sessions and a Science Fair-style exhibition (above)
Team Chemistry’s first major campaign is for
a newly-approved rheumatoid arthritis drug
In Team Chemistry, J&J was
promised a new organisation that
would offer a portal to the complete
range of US talent in WPP. The
approach was to build agency-
neutral teams for each brand, with
no personal conflicts and co-located
wherever possible.
Team Chemistry also promised
to build an online talent database
for J&J dubbed Chembook and
modelled on Facebook.
The first pitch was successful:
Team Chemistry learned that it was
on the shortlist for the second round
of presentations on October 15.
“In the second round, they wanted
to feel and see what we could deliver
and meet the people who would
make it happen,” says Giegerich.
“They wanted to be thrilled by
what we could do, and to see all our
innovation, talent and creativity.”
Unlike the other agency groups
competing, it was decided to host the
four-hour event in-house at JWT’s
New York head office. WPP’s events
company MJM provided support in
hosting the presentation.
The 28-strong client team
was initially divided in two, with
one room hosting a presentation
and roundtable discussion on the
future of healthcare, including
digital communications and the
Obama presidency; and the other
on future agency models, including
a presentation on Team Detroit,
demonstrating WPP’s experience in
cross-agency team working. “That
was important because it made them
comfortable that WPP had done this
before and knew the pratfalls,” says
Courtemanche.
There followed ‘speed dating’
sessions in which groups of five
clients were seated at a kiosk and
given a rapid five minute walk
through a case study. WPP CEO
Martin Sorrell was among those
taking part.
And the climax was a Science
Fair-style exhibition of some
30 exhibits held in JWT’s Town
Hall space. Exhibits ranged from
individual WPP companies such
as LiveWorld and Schematic
showcasing their abilities, to leading
edge technologies such as Microsoft’s
tabletop screen Surface.
“The room was buzzing,” says
Courtemanche, “and afterwards
Brian Perkins, VP of corporate affairs
at J&J, said it was the best pitch he’d
ever seen.”
Six months in, Team Chemistry
has built 16 teams for J&J Pharma,
incorporating over 30 WPP
companies, including a number
who haven’t worked in healthcare
before, such as Schematic. Each
team is led by a Team Chemist and
reports to the Nucleus – the WPP
central team. Kantar is also talking
to J&J and there is the possibility
of further consolidation that would
leave WPP ideally positioned to win
new business. Giegerich concludes:
“To win a pitch like this you’ve got
to go way above and beyond what is
asked. Meeting the client’s request is
just the table stakes, and by the end
we knew we had done every thing we
could to win that business.”
Key winning lessons from
Team Chemistry
• Be inclusive; involve as many
WPP companies early on as is
practical and get their input.
• Focus on the benefit that is
sought by the client and how WPP
can deliver.
• Be innovative, both in how you
organise the team and how you
present.
• Make it exciting for the client to
be involved.
HEALTHCARE 13
Healthcare Round-up
Chinese remedy
Sudler & Hennessey is taking a
60 per cent stake in MDS, a leading
healthcare agency in China. Founded
in 2007, MDS operates in both
Shanghai and Beijing. The agency
employs 50 people and its clients
include Bayer, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis,
Sanofi-Pasteur and Schering Plough.
Ogilvy honours
Two Ogilvy Healthworld executives
have received industry accolades.
Donna Tuths, president of Ogilvy
Healthworld North America has
been named Advertising Person
of the Year by MedAd News, the
magazine that has been covering
marketing in the pharmaceutical
industry for 25 years. Tuths joined
the agency as managing director
in 2003, and under her leadership
it has more than doubled in size,
winning more than 75 per cent of its
new business pitches in the last year.
Meanwhile, Lori Carrabba, executive
vice president, director of operations,
Ogilvy Healthworld New York,
has been slated to receive the 2009
Power of Communications Award
in the Advertising category from the
US Printing Industries Alliance.
Cancer support
Mattson Jack, Kantar Health’s
specialist in business analytics
and strategic decision support
for the pharmaceutical and
healthcare industries, has
launched CancerMPact Treatment
Architecture China 2009, a clinically
rich report that focuses on specific
cancer tumour types in China.
The report is aimed at providing
pharmaceutical companies with key
information on current standards of
care in China, to support strategic
investment decisions.
Top rank
CommonHealth has been named the
No.1 Healthcare Advertising Agency
in terms of billings by industry
publication Advertising Age for the
third consecutive year.
Need the
lowdown on the
Group’s experts
in healthcare
marketing?
WPP has recently issued the
Healthcare Navigator, a guide
to healthcare communications
services within the Group. The
guide can be downloaded from
the WPP intranet at https://
inside.wpp.com/InsideWPP/
Communities/Healthcare/.
 14 RESPONSIBILITY THE WIRE • July 2009

Leading the field in CR reporting

CR Matters
• This spring saw a raft of events
and pro bono activities by WPP
companies around the world to
promote WWF’s Earth Day 2009.
Among them was a direct action
and education program at JWT
New York, organised by its Junk
Waste Trash grassroots group,
a team of volunteers committed to
making JWT an environmentally-
sustainable working environment.
The group created a dramatic 20ft
high mural (above) demonstrating
the realities of where energy comes
from, introduced a Green Mornings
program where office lights are not
turned on until noon, and held an
GOVERNANCE The Group’s seventh annual Corporate Responsibility Report (right) was
published in June and carries comment, analysis and hard data on the CR policies, aims,
performance and initiatives of WPP and its companies. It reveals encouraging progress
THIS year’s report demonstrates that WPP is well on track Pro bono work by Group companies
to meet our 20 per cent energy reduction target by the end of is also showcased in the report. Despite
2010. The Group has reduced its carbon footprint by 10 per
cent, by making our buildings and IT systems more energy-
tough operating conditions, our companies
contributed £14.6 million in social invest-
efficient, and saved a further 9 per cent by switching to green ment in 2008, equivalent to 2 per cent of
energy at many offices. pre-tax profit.
Marketing has a vital role to play in promoting The social and environmental impact of
the new products and services needed to make the the work we undertake for clients is one of
transition to a low-carbon economy, and the report profiles our most important CR issues. Below we
some of the sustainability expertise that we are building profile two Unilever campaigns that promote
within the Group. the client’s credentials in these areas.
Ogilvy UK Grey Amsterdam and Mindshare way. The ads encouraged women to visit a website
for Becel Pro-active run by Care for Women, an organisation of self-
for Comfort employed nurses focusing on the health of women
Comfort’s concentra- Before they reach the menopause, women in the menopause. The site contains information
ted fabric conditioner generally have lower cholesterol levels than about cholesterol and gives women the chance
is good for customers men. After the menopause around 50 per cent of to book a cholesterol check with a Care for
and the environment. women will have higher cholesterol levels and this Women consultant. During the second phase, ads
Each bottle contains can have an impact on their health. emphasised that Becel Pro-activ can help to tackle
55 per cent less Grey Amsterdam and Mindshare developed a high cholesterol.
plastic than regular communications program to raise awareness of The results were
conditioner – requir- the issue and promote the benefits of Unilever’s very positive. 80 per
ing less energy to Becel Pro-activ dairy products which can help cent of Dutch women
manufacture and lower cholesterol. now know that there
transport. The campaign ran in two phases. In the first is a direct link between
In 2008 Ogilvy UK phase Grey created TV, radio, print ads and direct the menopause and
created a TV and print campaign – Do the Moves mailings using the comedienne Karin Bloemen, to cholesterol levels, up
– to encourage Comfort customers to switch to the discuss the issue in a sympathetic, tongue-in-cheek from 42 per cent at the
concentrated version. The campaign explained the start of the campaign.
environmental benefits and reassured customers Sales of the product
that they would get the same high quality product. grew around 11-12 per
The campaign helped to increase sales, with a cent per month.
quarter of all UK households now using Comfort
Concentrates. It also encouraged people to switch
to the concentrated version, which now makes up See the CR Report online at www.wpp.com/
86 per cent of sales. corporateresponsibilityreports.
LINKS The Group’s GLOBAL PRACTICE New team will place sustainability
videoconferencing as a driver of growth around the world

Ogilvy spans the planet

Earth Day Fair highlighting the
sustainable goods and services its
clients make and the sustainability
initiatives the company support.
• Showing investors and clients
that WPP is a responsible business
has never been more important. Since
we launched the WPP corporate
responsibility (CR) policy in 2002,
concerns about climate change and
business ethics have moved from the
margins to the mainstream.
In April, Vanessa Edwards, WPP
head of Corporate Responsibility,
held meetings at JWT, Y&R and
O&M in New York to discuss what
CR means for marketing companies.
The agencies discussed many
examples of environmental and
social issues in their client work and
how they are taking action to cut
their carbon footprints and increase
employee diversity.
• MediaCom has been ranked as
one of the UK’s top 10 companies
in the recent Sunday Times Best
Green Companies report. Judges
were impressed with the agency’s
environmental policies and energy-
reduction and recycling initiatives.
service is gaining
momentum. Jonas
Hjerpe reports
Connecting
via video
THE WPP Connect videoconferencing
project continues to gather pace.
We now have over 20 locations
operational and capable of
supporting high definition video calls.
This includes top travel destinations
such as New York, London, Paris,
Brussels, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Atlanta and Washington DC. For
major locations such as New York
and London we already have multiple
rooms available for booking. We are
now actively in our testing stage and
are looking to host as many real calls
ENERGY Carbon reports
as possible before our full launch
later in the summer. So if you would
like to book a videoconference using
any of the above cities please email
WPPconnect@wtms.com with at
least 72 hours notice. We can support
up to four locations connected at
once and we can also connect to
audio conference lines for other
participants.
If you have any questions regarding
the project please email Jonas Hjerpe,
jhjerpe@wpp.com.
issued to Group companies to help reduce emissions
Staff Reporter
MANY clients are moving from
‘green’ as a purely environmental
issue to sustainability as a driver of
shared, conscientious growth and are
looking to identify their own role and
opportunities in this space. Ogilvy
has responded with the global launch
of its multi-disciplinary practice that
helps clients use sustainability to
drive brand value, long-term growth
and profits.
OgilvyEarth is a planet-wide team
of planners, consultants and creatives
from Ogilvy & Mather, OgilvyOne,
Ogilvy Public Relations, OgilvyAc-
tion and OgilvyEntertainment, led
by Seth Farbman. It offers strategic
consulting, a ‘Lab’ of sustainabil-
ity experts and a raft of proprietary
tools and processes including Eco
Audit, Landscape Audit, Earth-View
Software, employee engagement
tools and key influencer mapping.
Supporting the global practice
is a board of directors consisting of
established leaders in sustainability
who come from across six continents
and represent the business, scientific
and government/NGO communities.
Among OgilvyEarth’s current
assignments is a project to create
an awareness campaign for the
landmark United Nations Climate
Change Conference in Copenhagen
in December 2009.
www.ogilvyearth.com

Championing a low carbon WPP

They singled out some of the
unconventional ways that MediaCom
gets its people engaged, including
turning the London office balconies
into vegetable gardens, with a
‘best-looking tomato’ contest at
harvest time.
• WPP’s corporate responsibility
programs are best in sector, according region, country and individual office
to investment research agency, Vigeo. that result from office energy use and
In its annual assessment, the agency
recognised the Group’s efforts to
prevent corruption, protect human
rights and to support charities
through pro bono work. WPP also
scored points in the environment
category as a result of our energy
reduction programs and strong
climate change strategy.
Staff Reporter
FOR the first time, WPP is sending
detailed reports to all its companies
outlining their CO2 emissions by
air travel.
More than ever, we now under-
stand the important role that
businesses play in climate change
mitigation. These reports will provide
WPP companies with a powerful tool
to manage expenditure on air travel
and office energy, and consequently
their impact on the environment.
They will also help companies
answer some of the questions about
social and environmental policies
that both existing and prospective
clients are increasingly asking.
The reports were also sent
to WPP’s network of Climate
Champions, who are taking action to
slash energy use in their companies.
In April, 30 Champions met at JWT
in New York to mark a year of
energy saving in the US and to share
success stories. 20 UK champions
met at JWT in London in May.
Climate Champions have helped
to reduce the Group carbon foot-
print by 10.5 per cent since 2006 by
implementing simple measures like
setting power management on print-
ers and turning the lights off at night.
At both meetings, representatives
from the Group Energy Action
Team presented on what more the
Champions can do to help meet the
target of a 20 per cent reduction by
2010. Andy Hammond from WPP
real estate asked the champions
to focus on 100 key sites installed
with automatic energy meters.
Procurement encouraged the
champions to use preferred suppliers
to buy sustainable furniture, carpet,
stationery and recycling, and Jonas
Hjerpe from WPP IT gave an update
on efforts to install high-definition
videoconferencing units around the
world (see story, above).
To find out how you can support
the Climate Champions, visit
www.inside.wpp.com/insidewpp/
about/behave/responsibility/
tacklingclimatechange.
 THE WIRE • July 2009
A bold relocation for one of Ogilvy China’s
OFFICE DESIGN
offices has attracted plaudits and boosted creativity
Guangzhou’s carnival of ideas
Staff Reporter
“DOING things differently” sums up almost every
aspect of the move and design of a new Ogilvy
office after it outgrew its existing building in
Guangzhou, Southern China. First was the radical
decision to relocate away from the central business
district to Liwan district on the city fringes where
an arts and culture hub was developing. Among the
area’s interesting spaces, the project team singled
out a unique warehouse with a five metre-high
TRENDS Fashion and socio-cultural expert PeclersParis launches its latest macrotrend report
Cultural
immersion
For the lowdown on the latest socio-
cultural and lifestyle trends, top
brands turn to Futur(s), a seminal
publication from PeclersParis, a
member of the Fitch global studio.
Futur(s) 9 is the ninth edition of
a tool that not only identifies and
anticipates evolving societal values,
demonstrates how they appear
through semantic and iconographic
references (semiological analysis),
but also interprets them as creative
scenarios, creative insights for the
future. Clients using Peclers’ blend
of cultural observation and creative
intuition include Nike, P&G,
Microsoft, L’Oréal and Samsung.
The latest volume is being launched
in the US in August and Peclers is
running immersion events in SF and
NY. Contact www.peclersparis.
com or Eric Duchamp, president,
educhamp@peclersparis.com.
ceiling on the ground floor and plenty of natural
light throughout the office’s two floors.
Next on the project agenda was a design
concept that would help people break free from
established ways of thinking. Ogilvy’s vision was
“a carnival of ideas” – a fun and interactive
space to ease its people into their most creative
mode. At the heart of the design is a signature
red staircase and a bridge/balcony which link
the two floors diagonally and offer different
viewpoints and perspectives through glass panes
and openings onto quirky visual elements such as
carousel horses and life-size toys.
The new space redefined Ogilvy’s presence in
Guangzhou and has been pivotal in retaining and
attracting top talent. It has also attracted much
press coverage, from trend blogs to interiors
magazines, and picked up a number of accolades,
including China’s Most Successful Designs award
from Fortune magazine (China), Hong Kong’s
Perspective Award for Best Commercial Office
and Interior Design USA’s Best of Year Merit for
Midsize Office.
For more information contact Colin Nelson, WPP
director of real estate Asia Pacific, cnelson@wpp.com.
SURVEY A new downturn-
busting research initiative has
taken off with clients – and
WPP companies – via our online
news bulletin, e.wire. BMRB’s
Bob Salmons explains
Confidence
trick pays off
HAVING BEEN a client-side research manager
during the last recession, I’m more than familiar
with the “we need consumer data, but we don’t
have the budget” scenario. Last year we saw
some clients increasing their Omnibus Research
spend as their budgets for larger projects were cut.
So, with these situations in mind, we made a
strategic decision to run a Consumer Confidence
Tracker on our Online Omnibus survey with the
following possible benefits:
• Giving it to existing clients would keep WPP’s portfolio of over 60 client-
them loyal.
• Offering it to new clients might help win hard evidence of Group companies
new business.
• It could provide good PR material for WPP.
• Providing it to fellow WPP companies would new business teams to demonstrate
help their business efforts and keep us front from www.insidewpp.com.
of mind for intra-Group business referrals.
We decided that our questionnaire should reflect
consumers’ views of their own circumstances.
We structured our questions around topics like;
‘likelihood of spending £3,000 on a single ticket
item’, ‘security of employment’, ‘likelihood of
moving home’ and ‘perception of value of home’.
The survey has now been running monthly to a
sample of 1000 GB adults 16-64 on our Online
Omnibus since October 2008.
The initiative has proved highly successful and
has enabled us to secure tracking studies from
McDonald’s and LG Electronics, thus making it
economically viable. The response from a mention
in WPP’s online news bulletin, e.wire, was excellent
and the data has now been used by several
WPP companies including, Millward Brown,
MediaCom, Mindshare and GroupM, thereby
helping BMRB Omnibus’ profile within the Group.
We’re used to other businesses using sales
and marketing incentives; our success with the
Consumer Confidence Tracker has shown there’s
no reason why market research can’t do the same.
Details of the survey are at www.bmrb.co.uk.
For a full copy of the results or to discuss, contact:
Bob Salmons, senior associate director, BMRB
Omnibus Research. bob.salmons@bmrb.co.uk
INSIDE WPP 15
Get Connected!
If you work for a WPP company,
there are valuable Group tools and
resources on hand that can bring
business advantage your way...
Business development
WPP holds non-confidential information
on Group clients and relationships and
can be a great resource for new business
people. E-mail Richard Hampson,
rhampson@wpp.com, if you need to
make connections within the Group or
want the (non-confidential) lowdown
on a client or prospect.
Cross-Group
client case studies
endorsed case studies provides
collaborating across skills and
geographies to bring tangible client
benefits. These are valuable tools for
effective teamworking. Download
e.wire
WPP’s free monthly public online news
bulletin keeps you up to date with Group
news worldwide. This three-minute
read gives you headline summaries of
company and people news, account
wins, new offers and industry trends.
Subscribe via www.insidewpp.com
or www.wpp.com.
FactFiles
WPP produces regular FactFiles profiling
individual WPP companies, specific client
service offers and specialist skill areas,
available at www.insidewpp.com/
factfiles. Does your company have
something to offer WPP companies and
their clients? Get your message out by
emailing factfiles@wpp.com.
Communicators’ meetings
The WPP communications team holds
regular get-togethers in London,
New York and China to share
information and insights with WPP
company professionals responsible
for managing the reputation of their
companies. Group companies are invited
to nominate one in-house representative
– contact fmcewan@wpp.com for
upcoming dates.
Group events listings
The Group intranet carries listings of
upcoming events of interest to WPP
people across the Group. To get your
event promoted e-mail Heather Martin,
hmartin@wpp.com.
Group intranet
Available exclusively to people in all
WPP companies, the intranet is your
interactive gateway to constantly-
updated online info, resources, tools
and offers. Are you and your company
plugged in and profiled? It’s simple to
get going at www.insidewpp.com.
WPP publications
WPP’s publications include the multi
award-winning Annual Report; the
annual Corporate Responsibility Report;
WPP’s Atticus Journal of original
thinking in communications services;
and WPPED Cream books showcasing
outstanding creative work from WPP
companies around the world. Most are
available in pdf format from www.
insidewpp.com or e-mail Harriet
Miller, hmiller@wpp.com, for copies.
www.wpp.com
WPP’s public website is the front door
into WPP and all its activities and
initiatives, with links to Group company
websites. www.wpp.com.
 16 NEWS THE WIRE • July 2009

ENGAGEMENT Team Detroit’s innovative

What’s the website for Ford has played an important
buzz in... role in shaping public opinion as the US
auto crisis became a hot political issue

Driving the
Ho Chi Minh City
TNS’s Ralf Matthaes
shares some insights on life
public agenda
are the same. At the same time,
in Vietnam’s capital Andrew Sexton
it had a secondary purpose: to
Hot spots? AS the Detroit auto industry engage consumers, investors and
Ho Chi Minh City is a city of 6.5 million continues to grapple with its biggest- stakeholders interested in hearing
officially (and 8 million unofficially). ever crisis, an initiative from Ford how Ford does things differently.
With 60 per cent of the population has demonstrated how swift action, Visitors to the site can experience Over one million visitors have logged on to learn how Ford is addressing public concerns
under 30, the city is fast paced, addressing the issues in a transparent videos featuring Alan Mullaly, Ford
youthful and energetic. Revellers in the manner, can sway public opinion. Motor Company, president and CEO, questions on Ford vehicles. Under to being a company that the public
capital have some of the coolest bars Late last year, as the debate titles that mirror Ford’s brand wants to do business with, and one
and trendy hang-outs in Asia in which and other high profile Ford figures,
swirled around the merits of proposition; Smart Technology, they want to see succeed. Already, the
to quench their thirst, from Apocalypse government candidly discussing Ford’s business
bridge loans to Safety, Quality and Green, video site has received over a million visits
Now to The Cage and Lush. Detroit’s auto makers, Ford saw the model and how it’s progressing.
‘spotlights’ demonstrate how Ford and climbing and has also earned
opportunity to speak directly to the These segments are designed to help
Industry talking points? bridge the gap between Ford and
is fulfilling those brand values. the praise of blog publisher,
With all the gloom and doom reporting American people and Congress, and the public by speaking pointedly to
Stuart O’Neill, Team Detroit’s Wordpress, which showcased the
about the world’s economic downturn, tapped Team Detroit (Wunderman, web guru, says: “We created the site piece thanks to its “seamless
Vietnam is chugging along quite well, Y&R, JWT, Ogilvy and Mindshare) the public’s concerns. Mullaly has to reflect the needs and attitude of integration of static content, videos,
thank you very much. At the end of to create a dedicated website subsequently used TheFordStory. the consumer as they approached photos and dynamic updates.”
Quarter 1 2009, GDP grew by 3.1 per that could put its case. The main com as a springboard to engage Ford. We know who they are – we
cent, advertising grew by 7 per cent and objective of TheFordStory.com was Tweeters for a one-on-one session needed to demonstrate to them www.TheFordStory.com
FMCG grew by 7.8 per cent. to distinguish Ford from General on the social networking site Twitter. that we could speak to them.” www.teamdetroit.com
What’s drawing the audiences? Motors and Chrysler, and to debunk TheFordStory.com also speaks Through TheFordStory.com, Ford Andrew Sexton is VP,
The second most-used media in urban the myth that all US automakers forthrightly to specific consumer is demonstrating its commitment NA media relations, Wunderman.
Vietnam today is the internet, super-
seding print. Driven by the 15-25
‘in-gener@tion’, internet is now here
to stay. Yahoo Web and Yahoo
Chinese version of
BRANDED CONTENT

Messenger have a stranglehold on

Vietnamese youth with over 90 per cent
comedy-drama proves perfect platform
market share.
for Mindshare clients and their brands
Cool stuff?

Betty gets a boost

From 8-tracks to iPods in just a few
years – the iPod revolution has hit
Ho Chi Minh City. The growth of
iPods has coincided with the overall
technology boom and the emergence
of both Western and Vietnamese
pop, driving sales to new heights. Staff Reporter
Vietnamese pop is seeing a resurgence
in the youth market. Gone are the MINDSHARE IS taking branded content to new
days of gaudy war ballads. Today My levels with China’s highly successful Ugly Betty TV
comedy-drama, known locally as Chou Nu Wu
ADVERTISING WPP agency behind major TV launch
Tan, Dan Truong and Cam Ly are

JWT helps Bing take wing

filling the airwaves with a new and
hot progressive sound.
Brands to watch?
2008 saw the beverage market grow in
value by over 20 per cent. Beer, a Viet-
namese staple, led the charge, growing
by over 25 per cent. It’s not that
consumers are drinking till they drop.
Rather, they are switching to branded
beverages such as 333, Hanoi and
Heineken Beer, whereas before
they drank locally home-made
brew, known as Bia Hoi.
Prost, or as we say in Vietnam,
“Chuc su Khoe”.
The must-have?
Mobile phones are now a part
of everyday life, with over 80
per cent of urban Vietnamese
owning the latest and greatest
brands, from Nokia to iPhones.
State of the nation?
Despite the global recession, the
Vietnamese are still pampering
themselves and surrounding
themselves with luxury treatments
and goods. Most luxury items
and activities are of western
creation and include dining at
five-star hotels like the Park Hyatt,
playing golf and shopping for exclu-
sive brands such as Louis Vuitton.
City soundbite?
Anyone who has ever driven the
city streets knows that driving here
resembles playing the Formula 1 video
game, Crash-Boom-Bang.
TNS Vietnam is part of the Kantar Group.
www.tnsglobal.com
Di (Ugly Wudi). Bausch & Lomb and Unilever
are extending their commitment to a
third, fourth and fifth season of the show and an
additional sponsor, Mentos, has been signed up.
The clients’ products – B&L contact lenses,
Dove shower cream, Clear anti-dandruff
shampoo, Lipton milk tea and Mentos mints
– are integrated into the show’s storylines and,
as B&L China’s marketing director,
Winifred Chan, comments,
“allows us to communicate the
product attributes effectively,
in a relatively informal and
influential manner.”
The show, which is
a collaboration between
Mindshare, entertainment
broadcast network Hunan
Satellite TV and the local
program producers, has been
a huge ratings success. It
recently took silver for Best
Use of Branded Content at the
Asian Marketing Effectiveness
awards and gold for Best Use
of Branded Content at the
Valencia Festival of Media.
The Chinese version of
Ugly Betty is set in an ad
agency, where products
such as Dove shower cream,
Mentos mints and Lipton
tea are showcased through
the show’s storylines
Staff Reporter
JWT has masterminded the launch of
Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing,
with an innovative TV campaign
that positions Bing as “the first ever
decision engine”.
The launch of Bing is being seen
as a direct challenge to Google in the
search space, and is backed by one of
the most significant launch budgets
of 2009.
The theme of the commercials is
that search has become confusing
with far too much information
presented. JWT’s first commercial,
‘Manifesto’ launched on June 3,
with a series of quick cuts and
multiple screens designed to
illustrate the confusion created
by search; the message is that
Check out the the latest and
best published thinking from
professionals around the Group at
www.wpp.com/readingroom
“search overload is over”.
Three further commercials have
since been shown, demonstrating
what would happen if people spoke
to their partners the way search
engines talk to them. The campaign
also includes a series of banner ads
and outreach into social media.
Danielle Tiedt, Microsoft’s
general manager, online audience
business group marketing, told
AdWeek: “We know from all the
data we see from our customers that
there is a lot of latent dissatisfaction
in the search market. A big part of
the challenge is to connect with that
latent dissatisfaction.”
JWT’s Bing campaign has
launched initially in the US and is
expected to be extended to other
markets later in the year.
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