WELLINGTON : Wellington's back; AdMedia ed David Gapes checked out the health of the agency sector in the capital last month. Here's his report

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Currently, Saatchi has three creative teams, but has not had a CD since John Plimmer's departure more than two years back, although Auckland-based national ECD Mike O'Sullivan visits six or seven times a year. That's about to change.

"This year," says GM Jonathan Russell, "we're moving to a different structure, and a Creative Director will be appointed."

The trigger for this was the departure in February of senior creatives Nigel Richardson and Steve Cooper, 15-year veterans at the agency and two of the few remaining links with its brilliant past. "They were guiding lights, and will be hugely missed," Russell says.

Will the new CD be an internal appointment? "I'm keen for a Kiwi," he says, "but there aren't really that many senior Kiwi creatives out there - so it will probably be Australasian."

Revenue has grown by about 70% in two years - 25-30% in the past year, and the agency has retained its #2 position in the capital. Russell acknowledges, however, that Clemenger is still #1, at around twice the size of Saatchi.

And the drift north? "That's stabilised," Russell says. "On the commercial side, NZ Post [a Saatchi client] is still here, as are Mitsubishi and National Bank [both at Clemenger] but we've yet to see national advertisers coming back."

Government business remains buoyant, but Russell doubts there's much new business to be won in this area. "In terms of election promises, the government money has been pretty much allocated already, although overall it will continue to be strong, and there's lots of pitches ahead as the three-year terms roll over.

But while the commercial scene remains static, agency activity is anything but, with an ever-increasing number of Auckland agencies taking interest in the government work. "M&C are beefing up," Russell notes. "So's FCB and Ogilvy."

How does Russell now see the Creative Wellington brand - a brand that Saatchi helped establish in the 1990s? "That's our future," he says. "It's about embracing the concept, and Saatchi Wellington will have a key role in that."

The Wellington brand has, he says, received a boost from the establishment of Peter Jackson's Park Road Post. "We've just spent a lot of time there finishing a major New World campaign, and we've all got to make sure we use it every time. It's an amazing facility that will attract more and more creative talent to the city. There is always, Auckland and Sydney - but we need and want to use Wellington people."

One issue, however, continues to dog Saatchi and the other Wellington agencies - talent.

"This is the biggest issue in town," says Russell. "Be it suits, media, anyone. You know how tight it is in Auckland? Well, magnify that by 10 or 20, and that's the situation in Wellington.

And the work? "When I was a client, I realised early on that you can have the best TVC, but unless the brand delivers at other moments of truth, you're stuffed long term. People see then that the advertising is puffery and can actually turn people off the brand.

"More and more we have to be about the total brand experience - and that's what I love."


Y&R

Now: 21 staff (five of whom are Mediaedge:cia).

Two years ago: 15.

Y&R Wellington is a full-service agency with a creative department of seven and a full complement of media and accounts service people.

"Auckland," says MD Chrissie Lahood, "is drifting - like moths to a flame."

Northern agencies are "jumping on planes and heading south", attracted by the three-yearly government pitch cycle. Many of them, Lahood says, are just one or two people on the ground in Wellington with a backroom in Auckland.

Then there's growth coming in the form of new shops set up by people who've left major agencies. "Two people doing really well are Ken Double and John Fisher, (a former Saatchi creative team who set up Doublefish a year ago). "A lot of agencies here now use them." In fact, she says, many freelancers are now getting work direct from clients, and as clients start feeling confident about this trend, we'll see more of it.

But Wellington agencies need to walk the talk, she says. "As government departments work to become more carbon neutral, they'll want partners doing the same. Sustainability is likely to be built into procurement. They may also want their agency based here for the same reason.

"Wellington media people have their shit together - the media agencies share. They have events where they invite media leaders like Joan Withers and Brent Impey to lunch in Wellington. Creative agencies could learn from them. Not all clients want to be serviced just by a suit.

"We do lots of training around social marketing - we go to overseas social marketing workshops and seminars. This is huge for us - and for many other agencies around town.

"We're upskilling and growing. We're investing in our people; everyone here is learning and growing smarter, in everything from te reo Maori to social marketing. We are also using the mighty resources of our Auckland office.

Lahood, a creative for most of her working life, was promoted from CD to MD only in October last year. Just one month later, she'd hired her replacement as CD - Jeremy Southern, who's ex-Clemenger Sydney and Y&R Adelaide. Lahood retains an ECD role - "so I am still very much involved in the creative side".


DraftFCB

Now: 2 staff.

Two years ago: None.

FCB had an office in the capital until 10 years ago, when it closed amidst the northern drift. Now, FCB's been back for 18 months - drawn, naturally, by the lure of government business.

Wellington manager is Dennis Carroll, who joined from Y&R Wellington (where he'd also been manager) at the end of 2005. He was joined a couple of months later by senior account manager Anna Goodman, who's ex-Designworks.

Growth, says Carroll, is a priority. The agency's new premises have been set up to accom-modate 10-12 people.

"At the moment, in an average week, we'd have up to 12 people commuting from Auckland on different projects - creatives, media [DraftFCB is, he says, the third largest-billing media shop in NZ] and digital guys." And indeed, when AdMedia called, Auckland-based GM Brian van den Hurk was on hand. "So," says Carroll, "the next stage is to build the resource base here - and we'll be taking on fulltime creatives as we grow."

For the moment, though, the agency works with freelancers and mixes up teams between the two cities. "We work as one business, and try not to characterise a project as an Auckland one or a Wellington one." There's a lot of reverse commuting, as well.

"We've got Public Trust, a Wellington client which has staff in both cities. Ditto Vector Gas. The Ministry of Health was in Auckland, then moved to Wellington, and has just moved back to Auckland. Then there's the Ministry of Education, which has key Pacific Island and Maori audiences in Auckland. For a while there, we were effectively the fourth largest Wellington agency not in Wellington."

The agency is dedicated to social marketing and "absolutely believes" in it as a tool for change. In the past two years, he says, social-change communications have caught up to the commercial sector - "the two are now on a par".

Tendering for government contracts is difficult, he says. "Often there's no relationship and you're effectively responding to a paper-driven initiative. But at the end of the day, it's taxpayers' money - and that's accountable. So while it would be great to have a more commercial approach, government departments do need to work within that constraint."

And it's not all about government business, Carroll says. "There's still a lot of good commercial business here, too."

Carroll doesn't buy totally into the Creative Wellington concept - "it's more of a Creative NZ thing, really".

And have they had the visit from Mr Draft yet? "Nope. But we do hope to see him because they are pretty interested in this part of the world."


Frank - The Advertising Agency

Now: 23 staff.

Two years ago: 29.

Frank, says MD Alister Shennan, is emerging from its merger with Redrocks and is now moving into an acquisition phase.

"We've moved the business into that whole environment/sustainability space. We do work for Rio Tinto, a poster-boy for energy. We also do all the work for the Energy Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Environment, and have just been appointed by Environment Canterbury to do all their creative work."

Frank has also landed a "significant" Auckland account (which Shennan declines to name), and is thinking about opening an Auckland branch. The agency already has a designer working out of serviced offices in Auckland. "We're looking at a high-profile project that will be a good launching pad for us into Auckland."

Shennan is not particularly impressed with Auckland agencies looking south. "A lot of those brands couldn't make it work in Wellington, so they left ... and the market has a memory!"

There is a lot more government business around, he says, but it's a lot more competitive. "In an average tender, there can be up to 27 agencies responding to the RFP."

He says Frank does 20-30 RFPs a year, and is one of the leading agencies handling government accounts in the $1m to $2m bracket.

And these people are smart, sophisticated marketers, he says. "Fifteen years ago, they were wearing cardies. Now, the public sector is staffed by a different breed - experienced corporate people who have often spent time at Telecom, Westpac, National Bank and the like, and have chosen to stay in Wellington."

Like most, Shennan is also troubled by the shortage of agency talent. Frank's answer has been to hire young graduates and team them up with experienced people.

And Creative Wellington? "Still seems to be strong - although I haven't heard so much of this since Bigsy left. But the creative product coming out of Wellington is as good as anywhere."


Promotus

Now: 22 staff.

One year ago: 12.

Promotus is one of the few Wellington agencies to thrive without the government sector. "It's a hard nut to crack," says MD Sigrun Peace.

"It's tightly held and the pitching process is so rigorous. It takes so much resource - and to be honest, we don't need to. Arguably, if we picked up one really significant piece of government business we'd probably look for more, but we don't want to get speed wobbles.

"We've had amazing growth and a lot of it we didn't have to pitch for. We won Mitsubishi Electric's Black Diamond Technology, and we didn't pitch for it - it just walked in the door. Same thing with the Marac media business.

"We've also set up a business model that's quite unique. We've always been media-driven, and that's been a big part of our success, but I'm a firm believer in the full-service model."

Promotus also partners other agencies. "On Marac, we do the media, Whybin the creative, and I enjoy that. Whybin doesn't have a Wellington office and we've formed a nice working relationship that could lead to bigger things."

A significant part of the agency's growth came from Foodstuffs, an account it shares with Saatchi (Promotus does the retail, Saatchi the brand work). "Foodstuffs asked us to pitch for their print work, which was mainly outsourced," says Peace. "Our pitch was speculative because we didn't have the in-house capability. So when we won it, we set up a completely new division - the print production unit with five new staff - specifically to service Foodstuffs." Interactive is mainly outsourced.

Is the market growing? "The Redrocks merger sort of took one player out," she says, "but Wellington remains fairly constant. And, of course, the main agency brands seem to be gravitating back down here."


Clemenger BBDO

Now: 82 staff.

Two years ago: 94.

CEO/CD Philip Andrew (far better known as "Duster") has a rep almost as lustrous as the man he was promoted to replace 15 months ago - the legendary Peter Biggs. He retains his old CD role (and still sits on the creative floor), and he shares overall management with MD Lesley Brown (whose office is on the suits floor).

Clemenger, of course, has the lion's share of the really big government contracts, including ACC, LTNZ, the Ministries of Health and Labour, plus Trade & Enterprise, Wellington City, Civil Defence, and the Alcohol Advisory Council.

Andrew acknowledges the national agencies' renewed interest in Wellington but observes that the "two-city thing" is very difficult. "You have to have replicated cultures in both cities - and cultures are what drives an agency," he says.

"Having said that, there's a lot of agencies moving back because there's a lot of business to be done in this town. Also, there's many ad people with big-agency experience who have set up smaller consultancies - that's a big change.

"The northern drift has slowed dramatically," says Brown. "It's pretty stable here now and other agencies now see a reason to return. But that needs to be established by people on the ground. It's high-maintenance, fast turnaround business and you have to be here."

Interactive, she says, has been a huge growth area. "A year ago, 20% of our client base would be using interactive. Now 90% have at least an element of interactive in their campaigns. The interactive guys are adding a whole new dimension to the agency."

"Government pitches can be very difficult," says Andrew. "If you ask a question, that - and the answer - get sent to every agency in the pitch. Agencies are not used to that - they're more used to doing lunch, having a good chat, and lots of schmoozing. And schmoozing is definitely not a good call with government."

Does Clemenger have a relationship with Aim Proximity (owned by the Clemenger Group, and sharing the same Courtenay Place building)? "We do share some clients with Aim," Andrew says. "And we often pitch with them."

But there are challenges, he says, "because we work with Aim on our own business like ACC but they also work with Saatchi on Telecom". And, adds Brown, Aim (which has Toyota) and Clemenger (with Mitsubishi) also have competing business, "so there are some things we can't even consider working on together".

Andrew says a coup for Clemenger has been the hiring of John Plimmer and Chris Bleackley, who'd left Saatchi to form Cake. "These guys could have worked anywhere in the world, but they wanted to work at Clemenger Wellington.

"We're fiercely proud of what we've created here - we're now rated the fourth most creative agency in Australasia."

"Wellington has grown up so much," says Brown. "It's such a divine, easy city to live in."


Aim Proximity

Now: 37 staff.

Two years ago: 27. (Aim Auckland has 80).

"From a purely Direct perspective, Wellington seems to be shrinking - a combination of the Auckland drift and the tendency for Direct to be absorbed into full-service agencies," says MD/CD Brett Hoskin.

"We're now the only large Direct player in the market."

Aim NZ is now ranked by the Won Report as the #7 DM shop in the world. RBR is also in Wellington, of course, and so is Frank, which Hoskin says has a "very online Direct focus" but is becoming more of a full-service shop.

But the creative and full-service side of advertising is definitely undergoing a resurgence, he believes. "Wellington's isolation actually works for us because we have a non-conformist, zanier way of doing things. We tend to be more creative - which is the Wellington way.

"The Creative Wellington brand is good for us to market ourselves off."

Where Aim Wellington has grown, he says, is in the digital space. "We now have a digital designer, developer and Flash developers.

"Our two offices are set up as different agencies so we can work on competing business. So Aim Auckland works on BMW, and we work on Lexus; they work for AA and we work on State."

So, over 50% of Aim Wellington's business is in Auckland. "Where clients reside is kind of irrelevant," Hoskin says. "But for Telecom and Xtra, we have all our Aim Wellington client service working in Auckland - on a separate floor. We also work for Shell Australia, who chose us over an Australian provider."

Like most, Hoskin also identifies talent as a problem in the capital.

"It's hard to secure senior people, and we'd like to see more agency players - to help attract more quality staff."


M&C Saatchi

Now: 3 staff.

Two years ago: 1.

M&C had a very low-profile one-suit office in the capital for seven years. "But we had to step up - and it's lucky we did," says Auckland-based national CEO Nick Baylis who, with Strategy Director Jacqueline Smart, pays weekly visits to Wellington.

"This is part of the commitment we made to clients like Te Mana [Ministry of Education] and Police," says Baylis.

The Aucklanders have desks in the Wellington office and have Wellington business cards.

The three suits now on the ground will soon be augmented by two more.

"We're also looking at bringing in a creative resource," he says. "M&C Wellington needs to become a full office in its own right.

"Why? Because if you're going to be an agency in Wellington, it needs to be a proper agency. It works fine at the moment but it's important to have creatives for the culture."

Ideally, Baylis says, M&C would like to get some brand business as well, "which would really cement our presence in Wellington".

M&C has a global policy of outsourcing media. "M&C has a 'village' structure," Baylis says, "which means we have partners." In media, M&C works with Carat Wellington.

"We do Direct ourselves, and we use M&C Direct in Sydney, which is huge."

Creative Wellington is a fantastic brand, Baylis says. "Wellington is probably the best-branded city in the world ... OK, maybe not the world, but it leaves Auckland for dead.

"The creative resource is here - there's no need to import people.

Part of being a Wellington agency is to have Wellingtonians on board.

"Duster will tell you he's been doing it for years, of course. But I think there's a new wave coming ..."

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