Now in its seventh year, Media’s Agency Report Card remains the most comprehensive overview of advertising and media agencies in Asia-Pacific. Compiled according to a variety of criteria, including new business analysis, agency submissions, creative wins, new staffing hires and the Agency Image Survey.
In a year when the global financial crisis has put agency performance and accountability among marketers under a much brighter spotlight than in has traditionally been the case, this report takes on special significance. This has been reflected to some extent by many of the 2009 scores.
Most notably, last year saw smaller media agency networks step forward. PHD in particular made a strong showing, having benefited from the stream of major pitches throughout the year. Having been almost unknown in Asia a year ago, the agency has shown that it is more than able to give the biggest networks a run for their money.
Indeed, though still a strong presence in the region, Mindshare slipped somewhat in 2009, particularly in China. Having started the year on a positive note, its subsequent losses of Unilever and Pepsi to PHD and OMD meant that the WPP agency dropped a point on last year.
The 2009 report also includes a new entry, with Maxus taking up its place alongside the region’s top media agencies. The arrival of Neil Stewart as CEO at the start of 2009, coupled with the agencies efforts to establish itself as an independent member of the GroupM stable, meant it was time for Maxus to join the report card.
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8 |
Carat
2008: 7 |
The past 12 months have been good to Carat, ending on a high note being named Agency of the Year alongside sibling Isobar. ooooo |
2 |
Initiative
2008: 2 |
Initiative has had a difficult time in years past to strengthen its offering in Asia and 2009 was no different with the agency still struggling to define itself. ooooo |
8 |
MEC
2008: 8
|
The agency was able to retain Singapore Airlines' global business along with winning more substantial global accounts. ooooo |
7 |
MediaCom
2008: 7
|
MediaCom decided to walk away from the global pitch for Nokia's US$415 million account. Based on the fees on offer, sources claimed it would make a loss. ooooo |
8 |
Mindshare
2008: 9
|
The year started well when StarHub shifted its media business to the WPP agency. Shortly after it retained its long-held Asia Pacific Breweries account. ooooo |
4 |
Maxus
2008: n/a
|
A new entrant, Maxus appointed Neil Stewart as chief executive in February. According to Stewart, the agency is "one of the best-kept secrets in Group M." ooooo |
2 |
MPG
2008: 2
|
MPG has always been low profile but this year it took in new business across the region amounting to US$212 million. ooooo |
9 |
OMD
2008: 9
|
Following last year's stellar performance, OMD reported a growth rate of almost 30 per cent and client retention rate of over 90 per cent. ooooo |
6 |
PHD
2008: 4
|
Despite the global recession, PHD came out of the shadows in 2009. They registered 56 new pieces of business worth US$268 million. ooooo |
4 |
Starcom
2008: 4
|
StarCom struggled to build on a disappointing 2009, suffering a major setback in China when P&G moved its media negotiation in-house. ooooo |
4 |
Universal McCann
2008: 4
|
Compared to the turmoil of previous years, UM did well to keep hold of big budget accounts. New billings amounted to US$55 million. ooooo |
8 |
Zenith Optimedia
2008: 7
|
Zenith has a positive 2009 following a healthy trade-off between wins and losses with US$266 worth of new billings and more than 100 account wins. ooooo |
The full report for each agency was originally published in the 28 January 2010 issue of Media.
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