Agency Report Card 2011: Asia's year of digital change

Looking back on 2011, the year could be earmarked as one of growth and a year when digital and social media finally gained traction with regional agencies. 

Some of the major events last year included the Japan earthquake which affected a number of businesses, and the looming threat of a worldwide double-dip recession. Yet through it all, agencies in Asia-Pacific continued to grow, offering a bright spot for many of the global agencies that are beginning to see Asia as the new powerhouse. The region has a great deal to be confident about, progressing as it did against a backdrop of global financial uncertainty. Asia Pacific agencies led the way with a slew of awards at Cannes, innovative and ultimately, financial success.

Digital

Across the board, agencies in the region invested heavily in digital — with a lot to show for it. Korean agency Cheil, for example, swept awards at Cannes for its Tesco ‘Homeplus’ campaign, which saw the use of virtual technology to build virtual stores in Korea’s busy subway stations allowing shoppers to buy items using scanning codes in their mobile phones. This sort of innovation and creativity was seen even in some of the more traditional markets such as Japan, where the year saw agencies there churn out highly original works. In fact four of the five gold winners at Spikes this year were from work coming from Japan.

Aside from works, significant moves were also made to ensure that digital becomes an integral part of many of the agencies’ structures. Dentsu and Grey, for example, both opened new digital and social marketing agencies, while JWT, like many others, invested through key hires. Ogilvy & Mather took it a step further to set up a digital council in Asia focusing on specialised training and development. Indeed, many agencies heads agree that the year was powered by all things digital. No longer was digital something to talk about, but 2011 was the year for its full integration. 

Human resources

Talent, the procurement and retention of which, was also a top priority for many agencies. While the year will be remembered for some big people moves – the departure of Tribal DDB President Amanda King, the move of McCann fixture TH Peng over to Grey, and the triple departures of Kevin Ramsey, Mark Ingrouille and Calvin Soh from Publicis — overall, there were great efforts made to strengthen leadership in all the agencies. 

Adding to this, the talent pool continues to grow in Asia-Pacific, as attention from around the globe focuses on the exciting market that continues to grow here. And while some talent is still imported from the west, there is growing consensus that agencies are placing much more emphasis on local markets and honing and developing local talent. Many agencies have focused on training their existing staff in a bid to boost retention in the industry. 

China and India

The fast growing and often complex economies of China and India have been a keen focus for many agencies last year, too. So much so that agencies, such as Starcom actually launched the most extensive research by any agency on China. This points to a growing trend that agencies and their clients are increasingly relying on well researched data to deliver out campaigns and target their consumers. Specialised data is often seen as a crucial area where agencies need to consider investing in. 

Emerging markets

And while much of the attention has been on the big-two nations, the potential of emerging markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam have not gone unnoticed. Mediacom, for one, experienced much of its regional growth beyond its top three markets of India, China and Australia as previously peripheral players Indonesia and Vietnam finally beginning to realise the potential of which they have long been suggesting they were capable.

2012 and beyond

Looking forward, 2012 is set to be a challenging year as the global economy is expected to slow down and clients will look to further reduce costs. Media will continue to fragment, as social and mobile take off. This will require agencies to quickly  understand, gain expertise and invest. 

Ultimately, the industry is one that is based on ideas, and while the landscape is changing rapidly, agencies that come out on top will be those that are able to move beyond campaigns to build platforms, embrace new technologies, and use intelligence and analytics to underscore all their work. Overall, there is great optimism that Asia will soon lead the way. 

Methodology

Creative and media agencies were evaluated on four key criteria for the Agency Report Card:  

• 1 - Business performance: This was assessed according to the value of accounts won and lost in the calendar year 2011, as calculated by the agencies and Campaign Asia-Pacific’s New Business League, which is compiled in association with Pricewaterhouse- Coopers.
• 2 -  Initiatives: A qualitative estimate was made of the initiatives submitted by agencies based on their impact on the agency, their people, their clients and the industry as a whole.
• 3 -  Awards: Regional and global awards shows recognising creativity and effectiveness, along with the Agency of the Year awards, were included in the tally, with the major shows receiving a higher weighting. Best of show, gold, silver and bronze awards were also weighted accordingly. Reference was also made to performance in the Creative Rankings.
• 4 -  People: A qualitative estimate was made of the new hires submitted, combined with the perceived quality of the senior management of each agency network. This ranking recognised not only important new hires, but also proven stability.

This article was originally published in the February issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific.