Visiting Tokyo, Shelley Lazarus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide’s president/CEO spoke about how the agency is implementing its global strategy across Asia - a region in turmoil, home to a third of the world’s population, and where there are enormous disparities in income, as well as profound differences in life styles, culture, and religions.

Across Asia Ogilvy & Mather earned revenues of US$ 223 million and ranked fifth among agency networks - after Dentsu, Hakuhodo, McCann, and JWT - in 1997.   But when Japan is excluded, are the regions largest network.

Ogilvy & Mather Japan, a successful 1995 start-up, earned revenues of US$ 17 million on capitalized billings of US$ 85 million in 1997 - a 149% increase on 1996. In 1997, the agency ranked sixth ( up from 10^th) among international agencies and 26^th (up from 41^st) among all agencies in Japan. In contrast, three previous forays into Japan, beginning in 1981 all failed miserably.

In Japan, as elsewhere, Ogilvy positions itself as the agency that knows the most about brands and branding. This theme is largely instrumental in the success of their Japanese agency which works wholly for their multinational clients in Japan, including IBM, American Express, Kodak, and Unilever.

 Q: What is your strategy for Asia ?

Asia is no different for us than any place else in terms of using what is not necessarily a distinct point of view, but a distinct approach to branding.

Frankly, I think that this is what makes our agencies in Asia compelling to our global clients. It is not that just they use O&M in a dozen or more other places, it because we have an understanding of the brand that we can take around the world. It is because of our understanding of the brand that they insist we are used wherever the brand is marketed.

Our approach to branding is not only a competitive advantage versus other agencies, it really does add value for our clients. The truth is that when we take over a brand in a new market, we educate the people there in everything we know about the brand from our experience in other places. So I think that whole concept of brand stewardship is what drives our strategy in Asia.

The other thing which is somewhat new in the way we practice it is the notion of "360 degree branding." We try to be responsible not just for, say, TV commercials but say also "Let us help in creating the communication for every point of contact with the consumer." This is very compelling to our clients in Asia.

We have to continue to learn how to work as a network because with all the agencies coming into Asia and building strong alliances. There’s much more to this than simply having offices in many locations. That alone doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to work as a network - when to allow freedom, when to be insistent.

Clients say to me that agency networks have different capabilities, that some are just a collection of offices and have no ability to influence the thought in another country or office. Then there are those who know how to inspire cooperation, learn from collective experience, and create uniquely winning work that truly reaches the consumers in each country.

Q. What have been your priorities in Asia ?

Three-fold. We are very focussed on building in Japan. What has happened here is very gratifying. Our agency is growing very quickly now, with 100, mainly Japanese staff. Its continued growth is very important to us.

Secondly, we wished to get ownership of our agencies in India, which we have achieved. And thirdly to continue to invest in China.

Q. How does China figure in the global picture for O&M

Its going to be huge. We have five offices now, and they are booming. The notion 2 or 3 years ago that the Chinese were not going to be moved by brands, that they were much too rational, seems to be nonsensical. They respond to brands maybe more than other groups of people. We make money in China. Were putting on the juice and just going forward as fast as possible. We have lots of local Chinese business which fuelling the growth, it’s not just the international clients.

Q: How is Asia’s turmoil affecting you ?

We’re in for the long term. It bothers me that the problems are so disruptive for our people in Asia. We’re doing very well in China and Japan, and this offsets the problems we face in SE Asia - Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Q: You are implementing a global strategy, but are there things that are very different in Asia from the West.

Yes, Rural marketing programs in India are an example. These are important because in many Asian countries there are large rural populations, not necessarily exposed to mass media.

This will gives us a real competitive advantage if we can figure out how to make it work with clients like Unilever, who provide so many basic necessities. It is the most challenging problem I’ve ever had as a marketer. I’ve been bowled over by the kinds of ideas that have come forth. One of the ideas is to train sign painters - signs may be the only medium in rural areas. The idea is to train sign painters who will go to the villages and paint signs on the side of huts. The government will support this since it provides employment. Advertising in the villages is as sophisticated as painting a picture of the product and its name on the side of a hut. And we will build a whole cottage industry of sign painters as a way of getting advertising messages to the villages.

I think there’s more we can do, there’s got to be an economic way to put TV in the villages, we’ve not figured it out yet, but it would involve advertiser support and the government. Interestingly population growth is lower in the villages with TV!

The African network we are running out of South Africa, is also very interested in this.

It is wonderful that at the same as we get more involved with the internet and high technology we are also training sign painters. This really is back to the future.

But it is also part of becoming proficient in delivering a commercial message through any kind of medium to reach any kind of consumer,

And, also from a professional standpoint, it makes people who are thinking about this much more attuned to segmentation in the most basic sense. It demands that people recognize not everyone can be reached in the same way and avoid dismissing a huge segment of the population.

Q: MindShare is developing fast in Asia - what is this adding to you ?

Yes, we’re doing MindShare in a lot of places, but only where it makes sense both for our clients and for us. Part of it has to do with whether the coming together of O&M and JWT really makes a difference in the nature of the media offering.

Obviously we have more clout, but that’s the least interesting part.

The real challenge is if we can figure out better, different research techniques, modeling systems, that can optimize media and audience delivery. If we can take the money we might have spent separately and create something significant and new, then we’ll have something interesting to offer our clients, but we’re not there yet.

Q: And Europe ?

Europe - its the same thing, - we really do have a global strategy, driving brand stewardship, a focus on the network - adding new partners through joint venture and acquisition. We’re building MindShare, developing, we’re investing in database, telemarketing, and all those other disciplines. In France we are acquiring a retail agency - a move which gives us a different kind of capability on the ground, in the store.

We’re growing very smartly in Europe. Europe is having a wonderful year. We’re really putting our ideas, our philosophies into practice. We’re bringing the creative people back into power, and the work is much better as a result.

Q: And what are the common issues driving your clients throughout the world ?

It’s driving the revenue line - all the cost cutting has been done - so how do we find the new ideas to keep the business fresh in a world where there are so many competing brands, and everything is much more complex, and people are so short of time. You need to have a new idea every six months just to keep everything fresh. Our clients face the same people issues that we face. And all this is a real challenge

Q: What keeps you awake at night ? What are the burning priorities for you now ? What are the challenges you have to meet in order to grow more ?