Watch out, WPP!

John Harris, President, CEO, Worldwide Partners (WWP), bears no resemblance to Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of WPP, the world’s leading marketing services group. He does not have any army of PR personnel protecting him from an equally fierce army of mediapersons. He does not turn the big lions of Indian advertising into puppies. And he does not own the agencies that are a part of his network. Still, Harris and his network of 65 agencies across the world are unlikely challengers to the large holding companies such as WPP, Omnicom, Publicis and others that dominate the global advertising stage.

This November, Worldwide Partners, a network of independent agencies across 50 countries, held its first partner meet in India. Nearly a dozen agencies across the Asia-Pacific region turned up for the meeting in a Mumbai hotel. “We bring agencies together with events like these to collaborate closely and grow. The basic premise is to help smaller agencies to develop a global footprint,” says Harris.

To be sure, there is a lot that separates WWP from the large advertising networks. WWP is an eighty-year-old network, while WPP entered the advertising business only in the 1980s. Harris points out that WWP is not publicly listed and its member agencies are not owned by the network and hence can operate independently without being driven by shareholder compulsions. Also, there are no operating structures that are forced down upon independent agencies. “The members are business owners who are here to not build their careers but to grow their business,” says Harris.

WWP may be an octogenarian but it’s in no hurry to grow its base. If a new member applies, the existing 65 member-agencies cast a vote to decide if they should rope in the applicant or not. Synergies with existing agencies are closely evaluated, says one agency head. To be sure, there are other, and larger, networks of independent agencies that are bullish on India. TheNetworkOne, which claims to be the largest global network of independent agencies, is one of them.

Independence rocks Some of the agencies that form a part of WWP are stars in their own right. WE Marketing Group, which claims to be the largest independent agency in China, is one of them. The agency, which was founded in 2005 and boasts of being the lead agency for clients such as Lufthansa, Estee Lauder and Mercedes-Benz, among others, has even ventured into areas where most agencies do not tread. Viveca Chan, chairman and CEO, WE Marketing Group, points out the case of WE Commerce, which was started four years ago.

WE Commerce manages the entire online distribution for its clients. “We do not just design the website. We set up the flagship store, manage the warehouse and distribution for the product.” In the case of the online market place, the brands do not own the customer. In our case, they own the customer, says Chan.

How do they keep the large networks at bay and hold on to their key global clients? “It’s very easy. In terms of experience our teams are way more experienced than the teams put together by the large agency networks,” says Chan. “Agencies are agile, adaptable, nimble and believe in the speed to market. Clients appreciate the fact that they get to work with the leaders and not somebody far lower in the hierarchy,” adds Harris.

Simon Jacob, CEO, CampHire Worldwide Partners Inc, the sole Indian agency that is part of WWP, echoes that point of view. He says the client is comfortable with the viewpoint that the people who pitch for the business are going to be the same people who service the account. For Jacob, it’s been the unusual journey of a client who got bored of his regular marketing job, before he set up the agency a few years ago. The agency now boasts of marquee clients such as Asian Paints.

Jacob claims that the WWP tie-up has helped him borrow best practices from other countries. Harris says the highlight of WWP is that the collaboration is voluntary. “These agencies work together because they choose to and not because somebody at the holding company wants them to. That fosters a culture of collaboration,” he says.

There are others who feel that the collaboration can extend beyond clients. For instance, Kiran Khalap, co-founder and managing director, chlorophyll, brand and communications consultancy, sees an opportunity in talent exchange with agencies from other countries. Soon employees from chlorophyll will work in offices of other independent agencies across the globe.

Julian Boulding, president, TheNetworkOne, says, “The old generation of Indian agencies, talented though they were, were often afflicted by selfishness and jealousy. Like the well-known Indian story of the crabs in the pot which needs no lid — because every time one crab climbs near the top, the others pull him back down.” He adds, “But the new generation seem to encourage each other. the era of social media and working together in collaboration just might herald a new dawn for the communications agency sector in India.”