Day 5 in New York

By Johanna McDowell

The day was dominated by Dentsu and IPG.

Dentsu West is the agency network outside of the Far East. They have a dot in Africa – Mozambique. But otherwise they are everywhere and growing fast.

IPG of course has several networks including McCann, Draft FCB and Lowe as well as their media agencies, PR networks and specialists like RG/A and HUGE.

Michael Roth, IPG CEO, and ( in my view) one of the smoothest and smartest men in advertising, spoke to 40 search consultants with respect and confidence.  He attributes the success of his group’s turnaround to his top team. A man from Brooklyn, he talks and walks diversity. He in fact is probably the only holding company CEO to embrace this. Refreshing and stimulating.

Advertising Age gave us some early results of their 2011 survey on client agency relationships which we will share with our IAS subscribers in November.

A fabulous week. Business is good and if Michael Roth says there will be no double-dip, I believe him. And why not?

R/GA Digital Rebbot

Barry Wacksman, Richard Ting from R/GA and hervé de Clerck, dreamleader@ AdForum after a great training session about digital communication.

Adforum CEO Summit Day 2: Darren Woolley, Trinity P3

Day 2 of the Adforum CEO Summit opened with heavy grey skies over Manhattan for our first day of agency meetings. Up early and on to the bus, the mood and expectations were high as we headed up and across town.

The team at Ogilvy NY did not disappoint by getting us to Rethink Ogilvy and inviting us into our breakfast meeting dressed as a smoky nightclub or cabaret complete with tuxedo waiters and a jazz band. But the message was clear and reinforced here and in the following meetings at Droga5 and Grey Global Group.

The industry has come to grips with integrating and having digital as the foundation and platform for brand communication, so now the focus is on creativity and the ideas that drive change and results. But that this is no longer about global head offices developing campaigns that are pumped out into the various markets.

The new paradigm is a focus on delivering customised messages to consumers based on their geographic and cultural needs.

This was demonstrated with live links to their four main growth markets in India, Brazil, Russia and China, which in five years have quadrupled their contribution to the agency’s total revenue.

Each region provided an update of their region and the work. But it was TB Song and Mickey Chak from Ogilvy Beijing who impressed with examples of virtual reality and geo-mobile campaigns for Tsingtao and The North Face respectively.

The fact that China had 380 million internet users, which they claimed will rise to 700 million in the next 5 years, and already had 730 million mobile phone users, were the huge numbers that impressed the consultants from the US and Europe, reinforcing China’s importance in the global market.

To follow the progress during the week look for this blog or check out on Twitter #adforumceosummit for minute-by-minute updates.

The message is clear: creativity and ideas lead

By: Darren Woolley

Day two of the Adforum CEO Summit, Monday 4 October 2010, opened with heavy grey skies over Manhattan for our first day of agency meetings. Up early and on to the bus, the mood and expectations were high as we headed up and across town to Ogilvy.

They did not disappoint, getting us to Rethink Ogilvy by setting the breakfast meeting as if it were late night in a nightclub or cabaret. But the message was clear and reinforced here and in following meetings at Droga5 and Grey Global Group:

The industry has come to grips with integrating and having digital as the foundation and platform for brand communication, so now the focus is on creativity and the ideas that drive change and results. But this is no longer about global head offices developing campaigns that are pumped out into the various markets. The new paradigm is a focus on delivering customised messages to consumers, based on their geographic and cultural needs.

This was demonstrated with live links to their four main growth markets in India, Brazil, Russia and China, which in five years have quadrupled their contribution to the agency’s total revenue.

Droga5 had a different approach to the same creative-led message, which focused on their approach to deliver bespoke strategic solutions for the clients’ needs. This approach was demonstrated with great case studies for Puma, UNICEF Tap Project and telco company Net10.

The concept of effective creative was echoed at Grey with their positioning and the fact that Fast Company named them as one of the top 50 Most Innovative Companies.

To follow the progress during the week, continue checking back on this blog or check out #adforumceosummit on Twitter for frequent updates

Enjoying the ride with TAXI Europe

The TAXI team came out in force to meet pitch consultants at the 2010 Ad Forum Summit, and in the process displayed a commitment to their new European office, HQ’d in Amsterdam.

Rob Guenette, CEO of the TAXI group, set the scene: “Showbusiness. Paul is the show and I’m all business”. Since Rob’s arrival in 2004, TAXI, has expanded into seven offices, including Toronto, New York – and now Amsterdam.

Steve Mykolyn, Chief Creative Officer, TAXI

Founders Paul Lavoie, Chairman, and Jane Hope, Vice-Chair, have a knack for hiring bright minds, people packed with a passion for more than just advertising.

Jane Hope knows what she’s talking about, as an advocate for the power of strategic design and integrated communications. With a background in fine art and fashion illustration, Jane brings another perspective to the work of TAXI worldwide. An approach which rallies both agency and client around a consistent articulation of a brand at all touchpoints.

Steve Mykolyn, Chief Creative Officer, is known as a renaissance man. His love of architecture, books, film, design, and everything else with a creative heartbeat, has led him to award-winning integrated work, as well as extra-curricular projects such as co-curator of the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for Architecture.

Christopher Andrews, Group Account Director, International, TAXI Europe

And TAXI Europe? Executive Creative Director, Maarten van Huijstee, is a culture junkie – and was a DJ; Eric Verhage, General Manager, started a car racing team when he was still a student; and Christopher Andrews, with his natural talent for leadership and diplomacy, promoted bands – until he was in one.

About the work and the process, Paul Lavoie had the final word: “We take our clients exactly where they want to go. And we drive real fast on the way.”

Enjoy the ride.