The merging of giants

The merging of giants

Rodney Louis Vincent, Contributor, Jakarta

Draft and Lowe are two companies at large, which over the
years, have expanded into markets such as North and South
America, Europe, the U.K. and Asia Pacific.

The announcement of their global alliance in March 2003 has
brought their Above-The-Line (ATL) and Through-The-Line (TTL)
communications programs together under one roof.

Draft's present global reach started in Chicago in 1978, when
a young account executive named Howard Draft and twelve other
advertising professionals got together to form an independent
agency.

By 1996 they had caught the eye of one of the world's largest
marketing services holding companies, the Interpublic Group
(IPG), which purchased Draft. With 30 offices in 24 countries
Draft is one of the largest direct promotions agencies in the
U.S., while globally they are currently one of the top integrated
marketing services companies, cooperating with the world's
leading marketers.

To find out more about the advantages of this global alliance,
ADOI talked to Eleanor Modesto from Lowe, Fary Farghob, Catherine
Gale and Matt Vacarella from Draft:

"It's essential that ATL (media advertising) and TTL (non-
media advertising) work together, said Eleanor, "because at the
end of the day the brand should have one message. Therefore, our
brand building company should also be connected with the TTL
company. That's why Draft and Lowe are partners. We will keep the
two companies separate, continue to operate separately, but we
will work as partners. Especially in Asia Pacific because we're
just starting the partnership of Lowe and Draft. So we've been
exposed to their tools and they were exposed to our tools. At the
end of the day, it comes down to how we work together as
partners. We recently held a training workshop for all our young
professionals in Ho Chi Minh. When the participants made a
campaign, it was both TTL and ATL. It's really re-branding what
we already have and building on that. I think that's how life is
going to be: integrated."

According to Matt, "It gets important to integrate. It's not
just advertising anymore. Draft can create a truly integrated
campaign within Draft itself. If we need to leverage the
expertise on ATL agency (Lowe) because there's a big need for ATL
advertising, we can do that. Within Draft itself, the advantage
we have is to penetrate within two expertise in multiple channels
and multiple touch points with the consumers. It's really
different from a lot of the agencies. Here you have event
agencies, which do a really great event, but can't touch the
consumer in any other way. Or they can do good direct marketing
but they can't integrate it with advertising or online."

Although new to Indonesian soil, Draft is well known in the
U.S. with clients such as Singapore Airlines, Hewlett Packard,
and TNT Logistics. Draft's focus is on changing consumer
behavior. "I think the common misconception is that Draft is
direct marketing, and direct marketing is stamps on all the
lids'. We've moved way beyond that. Direct marketing is about
identifying who your customers are, understanding their
relationship with the brand, understanding their needs and
motivations, and developing strategies against that
understanding," clarified Catherine. She went on to say that
"CRM" (Consumer Relationship Management) is a natural progression
for clients and it's a natural progression for them because these
companies have data and customers. If you don't know who your
high value customers are, you may be missing opportunities. They
could be defecting and going to other companies, or there could
even be opportunities to improve your profits."

The importance of creating awareness and reaching the target
market cannot be felt more than by advertisers. Matt, newly
arrived from Draft Singapore, helps us identify the problem and
explains, "It's no longer good enough just to say, 'Here is my
brand. Come and buy it. Buy my service. Buy my product.'

Marketers need to look at, how to keep the customers they
have and how to attract the right customer, and that's what CRM
is about. It's finding the right customer, giving the right
message to the right customer, it's anticipating what that person
wants, keeping valuable customers and getting rid of those who
won't make you any money. What I saw in Singapore and throughout
the region (and what you will see here) is truly integrated
campaigns that touch, use all the channels that are needed, and
touch the consumer where it's relevant and meaningful. We might
mention 'Consumer! Consumer! Consumer!' but we don't forget about
the trader's side of CRM application."

Fary articulates the significance of marketers grasping the
opportunities as the market becomes exceedingly sophisticated. He
said that "Currently, in Indonesia, there are 2.1 million
outlets. We believe that the majority of the companies here need
CRM to maintain the loyalty of their trade. The Indonesian
consumers have more entertainment options and it has become more
difficult for the marketers to rely on ATL communication only. It
will be more effective if the brand has a specific target group
with direct marketing and CRM.

Being a direct marketing, CRM, behavior marketing specialist,
we also offer additional tools to help advertisers reach their
consumers through rural communication, events marketing, sponsor
programs, retail communications and interactive marketing. We
have the sciences to offer service to industries like automotive,
banking, insurance, logistics, transportation, and many more. "

The writer is the editor of ADOI Magazine, an English publication
about advertising and marketing.