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Kompas Design finally hosts the annual Commworld network meeting in its home town from October 25th to 26th. Different points of views, concepts and food tastes will be exchanged. New regional surprises and professional challenges are waiting for the attendants. It is known that the autumns in Ljubljana can be very charming. So, see you in the Slovene capital. “Nasvidenje v Ljubljani«.
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 CommWorld gives consumer insights for international marketing!
Both Czechs and Dutchmen love humour in advertising, but to use testimonials does only make sense in one of the countries. In which one?
Have a guess – or just read on
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 16 CommWorld agencies and a journalist from Incentive magazine gathered in the beautiful city of Amsterdam for this year’s autumn CommWorld meeting. Hosted by D.U.I.T.S Reclame, CommWorld’s Dutch agency, the theme of the meeting was Motivation and Inspiration. Two new agencies joined the network, Marselis Marketing from Denmark (from 1 January 2006) and Kobalt from Switzerland, taking the number of participating agencies in the network to 20.
Brian Dan Christensen from Marselis Marketing and Julio Malo from Kobalt presented their credentials to the group and were warmly welcomed into the network. The recruitment of further agencies to the CommWorld network was discussed and it is hoped that two agencies in Nigeria and Romania will join the network at the spring meeting.
The guest speaker at the meeting was Rik Roelfzema, a lecturer in Psychology and Advertising, who led the workshop on the theme of the meeting. Included within this was the observation of the presenting skills of some of the attendees, which produced some divided opinions and interesting results. It illustrated how different cultures can be misunderstood simply through the different presentation techniques that are used. The theory was then related to everyone’s agency and the differences between the creative and account handling teams!
The winners of the second CommWorld Creative Challenge were announced at the meeting. The competition was inundated with examples of innovative creative work from across the network but it was Szwejkowski who scooped the coveted gold place for their campaign for Praktiker and double congratulations for Kompas Design who won both silver and bronze!
The meeting, based in Amsterdam, included a trip to D.U.I.T.S’s office in Dordrecht as well as a visit to the LIPS lock museum where part of the meeting was held amongst the history of Holland’s locks. Another part of Holland’s history was visited with a floating dinner along the famous canals of Amsterdam and a guided walking tour through the infamous red light district.
The next meeting is next spring and will be hosted by Szwejkowski in Warsaw from 11-14th May 2006.
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 The spring CommWorld meeting, hosted by Esplanade Advertising in Riga, Latvia, saw a new agency join the network - Quorum from Russia is the 20th agency to join the European marketing communications network taking the total number of participating countries to 20. The theme of the meeting looked at the differences in Marketing in East and West Europe, with members discussing ideas and sharing experiences in true CommWorld style to take home and benefit their respective businesses.
The first task of the meeting was the election of Vladimir Jorkovstin of the Czech Republic agency Remmark as a new CommWorld Vice President. Vladimir attended his first CommWorld meeting in autumn 2004 and has since been an enthusiastic member of the network and the new business group, MIG.
The meeting saw the official announcement of the CommWorld Creative Challenge. The competition was inundated with examples of innovative creative work from across the network, which were judged by Reklamebüro, the Austrian agency and a selection of the agency’s staff, clients, partners and prospects. Together the panel awarded pro-art, the German agency, as the winner. Gulliver, Italy, came second and The Works, UK, third. The next competition will be hosted by pro-art later in the year to maintain good spirited healthy competition between members!
MIG, the new business group gave an update on their activity since the last CommWorld meeting. They have been focussing on new business acquisitions and how effective teamwork can enhance the chances of winning new accounts. The Tom campaign was presented as an example of this theory. In fact, the Tom campaign has been so successful that the model has won an award in Frankfurt for its innovation in creating new business opportunities.
Quorum, a full-service advertising agency with expertise in TV advertising and video production, presented their credentials to the group and were warmly welcomed into the network. Since the meeting last month Quorum has quickly adopted the CommWorld work ethic and is already busy working on a joint initiative with IOTTA, the Belgium agency!
Host agency, Esplanade, presented the main theme of the meeting - ‘Three Baltic Countries Perceptions and Identities’, which gave an insight into the Baltic market. This was joined by presentations from two guest speakers - J.L Waetermans, General Manager of L’Oreal Professional in the Baltic states and the publisher, Hando Sinisalu. J.L Waetermans gave an overview of the trading conditions and regional comparisons in the Baltic market and how best to overcome them. The three Baltic States contain just seven and a half million people within a land mass size equivalent to France and communicate in four languages, so the presentation looked at the problem of communicating effective messages in a complicated marketplace.
Hando Sinisalu discussed ‘Baltic Advertising and Marketing’ with all members encouraged to exchange their experiences and thoughts. Hando gave an overview of advertising in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, illustrating advertising spend per capita and the average spend for consumables on cinema, internet, TV, radio and magazines. Hando explained how labour rates in the Baltic states are a quarter of the cost of that of Western European agencies and concluded that outsourcing for agencies in these countries may be a way to tackle financial problems, and an example of how the CommWorld network can benefit member agencies. Hando went on to present regional examples of advertising on TV and outdoor, showing advertising on tram buses and the unique way of marketing coffee, enticing consumers by producing coffee aromas inside trams! This and the workshops on the theme provided an interesting comparison for other agencies to consider against their home markets.
Throughout the four-day meeting, the members were shown the sights and introduced to the cuisine of Riga, as well as enjoying a visit to Esplanade’s agency, where they were able to meet and greet fellow Latvian members at work.
The next meeting is in the autumn and will be hosted by DUITS in Amsterdam from 27th to 29th October.
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The global marketing communications industry is becoming more joined up in its thinking. Agencies are winning new clients outside of their native countries and clients are expanding existing agency accounts to include the European market.
So who better to provide valuable knowledge on marketing in Europe and understanding the differences in management and working practices than CommWorld, the independent, European-based marketing communications network.
To successfully implement a campaign in another country is not just a question of language and translating words, but making sure the ideas suit each country and every market. To do this you must understand and be familiar with the national market – the social, cultural, economical and political influences.
There are so many judgements and prejudices that are all too often placed on a particular nationality. For example, if we were to believe one recent report, the perfect European would cook like a Brit, be as sober as the Irish, drive like the French, be as humble as a Spaniard, as generous as the Dutch and have the German sense of humour!
To do well outside your own country it is important to not only know the market, but also how the industry operates in each country. Management style between countries varies enormously and to conduct business well in each individual country involves knowledge of the working practices. The British employ a casual leadership format, the USA work with structured individualism, speed and drive while the German prefer a more hierarchical and consensual approach. The French are autocratic, the Asian agree to a consensus rule and the Latin/Arab worlds show favouritism to those with power. These differences in structure also lead to differences in conducting business meetings. On one end of the spectrum, Germany, Finland and America get down to business as quickly as possible with the introductions and coffee taking less than 5 minutes! At the other end, Spain and Italy have a more relaxed approach and begin only when everyone has arrived usually 20-30 minutes later filling the time with small talk on football and family matters.
America, Australia and the UK all advocate the use of humour in meetings and presentations and have a relatively short attention span of about 30 minutes. Sweden and Finland are similar in that they place importance on modernity, quality and design, whereas Japan and Germany have a long attention span of around an hour and prioritise with a good price and a solid, respected company and product name.
So how do you learn about a foreign market before communicating with them? CommWorld is made up of 18 independent marketing communications agencies each from a different European country. The network aims to provide help, support and information to each other and maximise their client’s potential for international growth. When a fellow agency wins a new account with an opportunity to work across Europe, that client receives all the strengths of the appointed agency as well as the expertise of another 17 agencies across Europe. So remember, if you ever have to develop a marketing campaign for the Netherlands be open and straightforward, tease them to minimise distrust and be as different and as daring as you like, as they are shock resistant. In Belgium you need to know and understand the cultures and the attitudes of the three communities living there; for example, don’t advertise in Flemish in the Walloon area. In the UK, you can be distasteful and do anything to influence votes just as long as you don’t use the Royal family without their permission!
Russell Evans, managing director of The Works, the UK agency representative, comments: “We have recently won our biggest-ever, Europe-wide account. The benefit of being a member of CommWorld while preparing to pitch for this account was huge. We had to present two separate campaigns in three different languages. The assistance from the CommWorld network with research and translation services and their knowledge of what works well in each market was invaluable.”
He concludes: “CommWorld offers all the benefits of local expertise, but with access via a single point of contact, and a global approach which can be modified to match the expectations and awareness of each local market. With more and more clients preferring to keep their marketing communications under one roof in order to ensure company and brand consistency across Europe, being a CommWorld member will be an enormous asset for each agency representative involved for a long time to come.”
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The final Make It Grow (MIG) meeting of 2004 in Gothenburg looked how new business opportunities can be maximised via CommWorld and analysed the success of the activity so far. The 7 agencies involved presented to an invited audience of Artmen - the host agency’s – clients and prospects. Taking the theme of marketing in Europe, the message the presentation made to the delegates such as Stora Enso Fine Papers and Volvo Trucks, discussed how CommWorld can help clients to market successfully in other European countries through using local agencies with local knowledge - act globally, think locally.
The MIG group aims to develop and strengthen existing inter-agency relationships and create an environment where agencies working together make new business opportunities throughout Europe. TOM, the agent that is everywhere and the personification of the CommWorld spirit, is used by each agency as a new business tool to demonstrate the knowledge and reach of the organisation.
At the meeting each agency was asked to give a ten-minute presentation on advertising and marketing in their country - how cultures and communities differ, how conflicts between countries could arise through a lack of knowledge, and audience expectations.
Per Johansson, managing director of Artmen, comments: “This was the third MIG meeting we have had and there was a difference in the quality of the discussion as we begin to see the results of our efforts. The last wave of TOM activity has had a positive outcome – they have created interest and awareness of CommWorld in each country in the network. As the host agency for the meeting we were proud to introduce three key clients to this initiative – it’s a great tool to show how we, as an agency, provide value, knowledge and service for clients to draw upon when they need to. All in all, the MIG group is pleased with the effect of the work we have been carrying out and we are positive and enthusiastic about 2005.”
The conclusions were that there are many differences between how each European country conducts business through leadership, in meetings and by results, but the things that remain constant wherever you are, are creativity, quality and delivery.
Any agency is welcome to join MIG but there must be a strong level of commitment in terms of investment of time, money and skills, and the ability to work with the group. Currently The Works, Pro-art, Artmen, Reklamebüro gmbh, d.u.i.t.s Reclame & Marketing B.V and Remmark are involved in discussing and planning international marketing strategies and new possibilities of co-operation. The results of the initiative are then fed back to the rest of CommWorld at the Spring and Autumn meetings.
If you and your agency would like the challenge of working on a new business venture and the opportunity to help create a successful worldwide business network, then please contact Thomas Hans of pro-art for further information on how to become or appoint a CINBC responsible person.
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 We recently brought you the first of an occasional series providing an insight into the marketing industries of CommWorld member countries, starting with Spain and CommWorld member Tasmanias.
With the help of UK member agency, The Works, we would now like to give you the opportunity to find out about the UK marketing industry.
In general, the UK marketing industry has experienced some ups and downs over the past few years. Many clients decreased their marketing budgets across all of the marketing disciplines. However, things are looking up. According to a recent Marketing Trend Survey, confidence among Britain’s marketers has reached record levels and marketing expenditure is expected to increase at almost unprecedented rate.
The UK advertising industry reported relatively stable growth over the past decade and was worth over £17.2 billion in 2003. Traditional press and television advertising spending showed the sharpest decrease in 2003, due to a shift in the allocation of spending primarily to direct marketing and also cinema advertising - cinema advertising was actually reported to be the most successful medium with a 28 per cent increase in expenditure, thought to be largely due to the medium attracting growing audiences. Online marketing has also substantially risen.
It sounds logical but a major shift in direction is for companies to centre their businesses around their customers rather than through the passing on of a series of brand messages. As a result, the direct marketing sector has expanded by 7 per cent and now stands at £12.2 billion, making it one of the most important elements of UK’s promotional activities.
The UK PR industry enjoys an annual turnover of £1.5 billion. There are currently 2800 UK PR consultancies with approximately 30,000 people working in the industry. Public Relations is one of the top three career choices for UK graduates and on a global scale, the UK PR industry is second only to that of the US. PR spend is expected to increase by 6 per cent over the next year making it an important area for clients for future investment.
Russell Evans, managing director of The Works comments: “The difference between the beginning of 2004 and the end, in a professional capacity, is huge. The year started poorly for the industry but as we finish the market looks promising. For us as an agency, things have never been better. We attribute this to changing with the economic times. 2004 has been a year of change for everyone but by responding individually to the client, product and audience we have been able to tailor make campaigns to suit all clients – big and small; local, national and international; trade and consumer based and with any mix of the marketing disciplines. The UK economic climate in general for 2005 is forecasted to be favourable, which is expected to contribute the success of the marketing industry as a whole – something we, at The Works, are looking forward to!”
So how does the UK industry compare to yours? If you want to share your country’s marketing culture, email your facts, figures and thoughts to commworld@the-works.com to be included in a future ‘Focus on…’
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 The bi-annual Autumn CommWorld meeting, hosted by Gulliver in Venice, celebrated CommWorld’s 15th birthday by asking two new agencies to join the European marketing communications network, as well as sharing and discussing important issues in designing the agency for success, the theme of the meeting.
CommWorld warmly welcomes Kompas Design from Slovenia and Progress Promotion from Slovakia to the network after they presented to the group, bringing the number of CommWorld members to 20 in 19 countries. But the impressive statistics don’t stop there, approximately 400 people now work through CommWorld and there is a combined agency turnover of 125million euros.
The theme of the meeting looked at how targeted new business activity, company positioning and work flow standards can all put an agency on the path to success. Presentations included new business examples and results from Iotta, D.U.I.T.S showed how re-positioning the agency has taken it from an ‘old’ agency to a high-flying modern one, and Reklamebüro provided useful guidelines on QSP (Quality Service Processes) to create an efficient workforce in a creative working environment. The following workshops brought together ideas, experiences and techniques from all the agencies and countries involved, the results from which provided some positive ideas for agencies to implement and feedback on in the next meeting.
A presentation from Alessandro Amadori of Coesis Research looked at the psychology of advertising and how companies can reposition a brand to emotionally engage the consumer. Research shows that the increasingly sophisticated advertising techniques being employed by companies to promote brands are causing consumers a degree of brand blindness. The presentation provided an invaluable insight into the way the language of advertising is moving forward and how CommWorld agencies can provide a point of difference to their advertising campaigns.
The re-launch of the Creative Awards were discussed. The first is being hosted by Reklamebüro who distributed an inspiring guide for all agencies to pass on to their creative teams. The deadline for the first quarterly award is November 30th 2004 and entries from all are expected!
In true Italian style, food was the on-going social theme of the meeting with lots of dishes enjoyed in the local restaurants of Venice and Padua, while the stunning views of St Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge at night will leave lasting memories for everyone. A trip to Venice’s casino on the final night provided an exciting conclusion to the Autumn meeting.
It was announced that the spring meeting will be held in Riga by Esplanade on the 21st –24th April 2005.
(Photo shows founders Ron Pollin and Giuseppe Boratto celebrating 15 years of CommWorld)
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 From the 21st to the 24th October, delegates from CommWorld agencies all over Europe will meet in Venice for the autumn marketing communications meeting.
Hosted by Gulliver Communicazione e Marketing, the theme of the meeting will be designing the agency for success and includes a practical workshop on the theme led by Claus Zerenko from Reklamebüro, the Austrian agency. Delegates will also be discussing new business, creativity and vision of the network and positioning of the group.
Steve Perry from UK agency, The Works, will be leading a workshop on e-marketing and the place of websites in the modern international marketing mix. He will also be presenting Simplicity CMS, a user-friendly content management system developed by The Works which will be available for distribution throughout Europe via the member of the CommWorld network.
Host agency Gulliver will not only be busy hosting the meeting and showing us around the region from Venice to Padova, they will also be introducing their new business partner.
An update on the recent activity for the TOM campaign and new business initiative – Make It Grow - will mean we are all up-to-date on what has been happening since the last meeting in the spring.
Finally, we can all look forward to meeting Kompas Design, a Slovenian agency specialising in print media, print materials, annual reports and promotions across a wide range of trade and consumer clients. They will be introducing themselves to CommWorld with a view to joining the network. They feel that sharing the know-how of the CommWorld agency, using the network for support in pitches and for clients working abroad, as well as for possible employee exchanges will provide great benefits to the agency. We agree!
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 CommWorld’s international breakfast meeting in Linz, Austria, on the 9th September was well attended. As part of the M.I.G (Make It Grow) new business initiative, the meeting discussed international marketing for small and medium sized businesses. In attendance were not only representatives from the participating CommWorld agencies but also a number of local marketing managers and journalists keen to exchange news and experiences and gain a valuable first hand insight into marketing know-how in different areas of Europe.
Linz is Austria's third largest city and the capital of federal Upper Austria. Located on the River Danube at a major crossing point for international traffic, Linz is an important centre of trade. Thanks to its traditional basic industries like iron and steel, Linz has been able to establish an economy based on high-tech production with modern trade and service industries.
The meeting, arranged and hosted by Claus Zerenko, General Director of Reklamebüro and his team at the Austrian CommWorld agency, was held in the Lindgraf hotel in central Linz with views of the River Danube which were appreciated by all from the rooftop terrace.
After the main presentation and workshop, the M.I.G group met to reinforce the contracts already established and co-ordinate next activity on the international new business drive.
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 M.I.G (Make it Grow) CommWorld’s new business group is meeting in Linz on September 9 for two days.
The meeting, arranged and hosted by Claus Zerenko, General Director of Reklameburo and his team at the Austrian CommWorld agency, follows up from the March meeting in Emsdetten, Germany, and will discuss the progress, review the results achieved so far and consolidate current activity.
M.I.G is a joint initiative between nine of the CommWorld agencies to maximise new business opportunities via CommWorld. It aims to develop and strengthen inter-agency relationships and create an environment where agencies work together to make new business opportunities in Europe and on a worldwide level to lead to international market expansion.
This meeting will primarily be used to pool resources and decided on an approach to major European manufacturers and clients who would be ultimately serviced by all the CommWorld agencies, and discuss international marketing strategies and new possibilities of co-operation.
The group is under the direction of Eigil Jacobsen, MIG’s new business director.
In the intensive schedule planned for the trip to Linz, workshops and methods of approach will be discussed along with hot prospects and lessons learned. Richard Courridge, vice-president of CommWorld and financial director of the UK CommWorld agency, The Works comments: “These new business meetings are hugely beneficial to those who attend and all of our colleagues at our respective agencies.
All CommWorld agencies are welcome to join MIG but there must be a strong level of commitment in terms of investment of time, money and skills, and the ability to work with the team and other M.I.G members.
New business is always a compelling topic – whatever country you are in and whatever your speciality - winning new clients and keeping old ones is the key to success for every agency. That coupled with the fact that all of the agencies involved in the initiative are passionate and committed results in some rather lively debates as we draw on our experiences and individual knowledge in order to create new opportunities for the group.”
Photograph shows: Claus Zerenko, General Director, Reklameburo
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 CommWorld members from across the network gathered in the beautiful city of Porto for this year’s spring meeting. Hosted by BBZ, CommWorld’s Portuguese agency at the brand new Dragao stadium, the theme of the meeting was Sport and Sponsorship.
Speakers from Xerox discussed the benefits of sponsoring sporting fixtures in particular the Olympic Games; Sportzone, Portugal’s leading sportswear retailers, discussed their marketing strategy at the 2004 European Championships; and the General Manager of FC Porto discussed how they are marketing the move towards a European level of ‘super-football’.
The setting certainly made everyone feel inspired especially when the CommWorld team had the chance to stand where Zidane, Figo and Ballack will be lining up this summer for Euro 2004 on the pitch!
The following day, Taylors, the famous port producers, held a forum on how they market Port to the European market followed by a tasting session and a guided tour of their port lodge.
Back in the boardroom, recruitment of further agencies to the CommWorld network was discussed. Building on the ambition to have a representative in every EU country, it was agreed the Czech Republic will approach Slovakia, Austria will approach Slovenia and Hungary, and Latvia and Estonia will approach Lithuania with regards to joining the CommWorld network.
CommWorld are re-launching the annual Creative Award online. Submitted artwork will be displayed on the CommWorld website along with voting details. The host agency will present the voted winner with a hamper containing traditional native food and drink. Pro-Art, the German agency will be the first host.
CommWorld working standards were discussed and agreed and included quality of work, speed of response, website presence and financial transactions. Full details of these principal standards will be posted on the website in the next couple of weeks for all to observe.
Finally, it was announced that the Autumn meeting will be held in Warsaw, hosted by Szwejkowski on the 21st–24th October 2004.
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 On Thursday 29th April delegates from the CommWorld agencies all over Europe will arrive in Porto, Portugal for the spring marketing communications network’s meeting.
Hosted by BBZ, CommWorld’s Portuguese agency, the 2004 spring meeting looks set to be one of the best yet. The topic of the meeting is Sport and Sponsorship and to make sure everyone feels suitably inspired to discuss the subject in hand the meeting is being held at the brand new FC Porto stadium – a host stadium at the 2004 European Championships.
Guest speakers at the meeting include representatives from FC Porto, Nike and Masterfoods and delegates will be asked to focus on new business and discuss the meeting topic in carefully structured workshops.
During what looks set to be a very busy three days, relaxation will be provided in the form of a city tour and river boat trip to show off Porto’s stunning architecture with some socialising in some of Portugal’s most popular bars and restaurants to provide a snapshot of the city’s culture.
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Using the new exhibition system it presented to CommWorld members at the Autumn meeting in Prague, German agency Conform recently created its first stand for Bostik Adhesives.
Conform created the stand for Bostik’s attendance at the international carpet and floor covering trade fair – Domotex. Measuring 16metres long, 13metres wide and 6metres tall, it took four days to build. With a communication area including five tables and two conference rooms for business meetings, Bostik’s stand also featured a kitchen, information counter and bar complete with 16 bar stools, to offer visitors respite from the busy exhibition and provide a more informal atmosphere for entertaining important business contacts. Two stages with flat screen televisions were also erected within the stand to show corporate presentations throughout the event.
Conform is currently hiring the system to clients as an affordable, high quality exhibition stand. Based on a room structure which offers a free-standing construction measuring up to 12m by 20m, the stand is ideal for creating an enclosed space for exhibitors and visitors to discuss business away from the hustle and bustle of events.
Claudia Karger of Conform comments: “We bought the system for existing clients to hire so they can achieve a professional presence at key business events. It offers a cost-effective but extremely versatile stand which can be adapted for a vast number of uses including exhibitions, trade shows and even as point of sale displays in stores.”
”Unlike other stands which can often be very hectic, this system provides a spacious setting which is inviting to visitors,” continued Claudia. “Each of our stand designs incorporate only the bare essentials with translucent windows and large bold visuals to provide a clean and contemporary look which is highly visible in a busy exhibition environment.”
Bostik was extremely pleased with its stand at Domotex and is now planning to use it again at the BAU 2005 exhibition in Munich. Subsequently, Conform has also received interest from other clients including Schüco International wishing to use the stand.
The new exhibition system is the latest addition to Conform’s existing range of display materials which also includes mobile and multimedia presentations. For more information and to see examples of Conform’s recent stands, log onto www.conform.cc |
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 UK agency The Works, recently welcomed Linda Vallée, assistant art director from pro-art in Germany, for a weeklong work exchange. The visit gave Linda a taster for the UK prior to joining the agency next month for a six-month work placement – the longest CommWorld inter-agency exchange arranged so far.
The Works were first approached by pro-art regarding the exchange at the Autumn CommWorld meeting in Prague. Having just completed a two and a half year apprenticeship which combined working at pro-art with studying at college, Linda was keen to generate the placement to gain experience of working within a UK creative team, and improve her knowledge and understanding of English – a valuable skill for any creative staff.
During her stay, Linda worked with The Works’ creative team to interpret briefs and develop concepts and visuals for a variety of clients including regional arts event – the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, and insurance company ReSolutions.
“The visit gave me a first-hand insight into the UK way of working,” said Linda. “It was particularly interesting to see the similarities between both countries – in particular, the development process from creative brief to final concepts is exactly the same at The Works and pro-art.”
Russell Evans, managing director of The Works comments: “We were delighted to have Linda join our creative team for the week and were really impressed with her skills. It was interesting for our creative team to hear her thoughts and provide a different design perspective. We’re really looking forward to welcoming Linda back for a six-month placement and hope the visit will be beneficial and informative for her – and our team! In fact, one of the very first projects we’re going to ask Linda to develop is a design for The Works’ own marketing communications literature and website.”
Linda sums up: “I really enjoyed my week’s stay at The Works. Everyone was really welcoming and the visit gave me a fantastic introduction to the UK creative industry – I can’t wait to return for my six-month placement.
“The Works has a completely different portfolio of clients to pro-art so the exchange will give me the opportunity to work on a variety of accounts with computer programs such as Adobe Illustrator, that we don’t use at pro-art. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and hope that the experience will help me to progress my career.”
Keep logging onto www.comm-world.com throughout the next few months for updates regarding Linda’s visit.
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Danish CommWorld member Venture I/S, recently welcomed over 200 guests to an opening reception to celebrate the agency’s official launch and completion of building work to extend its offices.
Venture I/S’ guest list included clients, business contacts and colleagues, and CommWorld members. In addition to drinks and nibbles, entertainment was provided by an ensemble of stand-up comedians and a jazz band. Well-known future studies scientist and author Jesper Bo Jensen, also gave an informative talk at the event titled ‘goodbye to dreams and hot air – hello to…?’ which outlined predictions for consumer behaviour in the future and how spending priorities might change as people grow older.
“Everyone really seemed to enjoy the opening reception,” said Eigil Jacobsen of Venture I/S. “It was the perfect way to present the new company to clients, business contacts and fellow CommWorld members, and also to show everyone our newly extended premises in Dalgas Avenue, which now accommodate the 18-strong Venture I/S team.”
The reception also provided a good opportunity to introduce Venture I/S to several prospect clients. Following these contacts made at the reception, the agency has just made four new business presentations, with another two planned to take place later this month.
Venture I/S was formed earlier this year by a merger between Kreativt Center and another Aarhus-based company, Venture Marketing. Among its new client wins to date are supermarket chain Supergros and local theatre Svalengangen.
Dan Borup Jørgensen, managing director of Venture I/S comments: “Responses to Venture I/S so far have been extremely positive. We’re delighted with our new client wins and have also held positive new business meetings with a large number of prospects including Bang & Olufsen and Atlantic Airways.
“While the overall business climate in Denmark is still rather slow and predictions for the growth of the Danish economy in 2004 are between 2 and 2.5 per cent, we were extremely pleased to meet our forecasts for the first three months since Venture I/S was formed. We’re optimistic about the future and looking forward to winning and servicing new clients.”
To see the Venture I/S team and guests enjoying the opening reception, please log onto http://www.venture.dk/reception/
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Estonian CommWorld agency Kala Ruudus, recently welcomed two representatives from Esplanade, Latvia for a CommWorld inter-agency exchange.
Sintija Germane, Art Director and Liene Blazevica, Account Manager of Esplanade visited Kala Ruudus for a two day visit to get to know its Estonian CommWorld neighbour better and find out more about the agency’s way of working. “While Esplanade had been part of CommWorld for over three years, we only had one person from our agency who was really engaged in communication with the other members from the network,” said Liene. “We wanted the whole agency to become more involved and thought the perfect start to this would be by getting to know our nearest CommWorld agency – Kala Ruudus – better.”
Sintija and Liene investigated all areas of the Estonian business and were particularly interested to compare the internal organisation of work at Kala Ruudus, and the different processes involved when creating and implementing campaigns. Kala Ruudus also explained to Esplanade how Tom cards are used as the agency’s main new business tool, and showed them examples of previous Tom campaigns that have been used to generate interest from prospect clients.
“We were delighted to welcome Esplanade to our agency and hope the visit has given them insight into the Estonian marketing industry,” said Erika Saks of Kala Ruudus. “As our agencies are both a similar size with the same background, it was fascinating to find out what we had in common.
“Estonia and Latvia have only been independent countries for 12 years and so the commercial marketing industry in both countries is still developing and many clients are still frequently changing their advertising agencies – with a large number requesting competitive pitches to work on their accounts. It was interesting to discuss the pitching process and how in both Latvia and Estonia, leading agencies have tried to adapt this by forming a union which has developed principles for pitches.”
“The exchange was a great opportunity to learn more about how agencies in different countries operate,” said Liene. “The main difference I noticed was that Kala Ruudus seemed to have a calmer daily routine than Esplanade!”
Liene sums up: “Thank you to the entire team at Kala Ruudus – they were all very welcoming and really made us feel at home in the agency’s beautiful new offices.”
Esplanade now plans to return the favour by welcoming Kala Ruudus next Autumn.
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CommWorld members from across the network gathered in the beautiful city of Prague for this year’s autumn meeting. Hosted by Czech agency Remmark, 22 delegates attended and the meeting opened with a warm welcome from pro-art’s Thomas Hans.
The theme of the Autumn meeting was network development and a number of workshops took place to develop CommWorld’s reach and enhance the services provided by the network. These workshops covered a range of issues including further recruitment of agencies in the East, improving and setting the standards of service offered by CommWorld members, and assimilating these high standards across the network.
One session of the meeting was devoted to video conferencing. A prototype system was demonstrated with the intention of all CommWorld agencies installing the equipment in their offices. It is hoped video conferencing will make communication across the network easier for everyone, wherever they are.
Other highlights of the meeting included a presentation by Eigil Jacobsen and Dan Borup Jørgensen of Venture I/S, the new agency formed by a merger between Danish CommWorld member Kreativt Center and Venture Marketing – see the full story of the merger reported on the CommWorld website news page, dated 20/8/03. A presentation by Czech marketing agency 2C, also gave an informative insight into the use of data and statistics to capitalise on market opportunities.
Milos Vendral, Remmark’s managing director was absolutely delighted that his agency had the opportunity to stage the meeting in the capital of his home country. “The meeting was a great success. Everyone seemed to have a really good time and the workshops generated some interesting areas for further discussion at the Spring meeting. It was a pleasure showing members the beautiful city of Prague and I hope that it has helped to provide a bit more background information about Remmark and its native country.”
All attendees enjoyed Remmark’s very warm hospitality throughout the meeting and soon felt very at home in the stunning city of Prague. Milos and all of his guests would like to say a special thank you to Alexi, husband of Erika Saks from Kala Ruudus. A professional classical trumpet player, he kept the group extremely well entertained during their boat trip along the River Vltava at the end of the meeting.
Finally, plans were also announced for the Spring meeting by Artmen’s Per Johansson. Taking place in Porto, Portugal at the end of April, the theme of the meeting is ‘sports’ and will look at how sports can be used for brand promotion. Guest speakers already confirmed for the event by Vitor Tito of host agency BBZ, include Nike and Masterfoods.
As we couldn’t all make it to Prague, please keep checking the CommWorld website for more news and reports from the meeting which will be appearing over the next few weeks.
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This Thursday, 9th October, delegates from the CommWorld agencies will be in Prague to attend the marketing communications network’s autumn meeting.
Hosting the meeting is the Czech marketing communications agency, Remmark. Managing director, Milos Vendral, is delighted that his agency has the opportunity to play host to his fellow CommWorld colleagues in the Czech capital and believes the meeting is set to be one of the best yet.
Following on from the successful O² camp held earlier this in Brussels, delegates will again be asked to focus on new business and discuss topics such as, “How to utilise official databases in the new business process”. CommWorld’s directors are also very keen to encourage the art of ‘knowledge sharing’ and will hear about activities its member agencies have successfully developed and implemented over the last year. Attending members have prepared themselves for discussions on topics such as tactics for generating new business and new approaches in staff development.
During what looks set to be three very busy days, Milos will help his colleagues to relax in the evenings with the wide range of entertainment that he has planned, which includes dinner at a typical Czech beer restaurant, a city tour and a river boat trip to help show off Prague’s amazing historical buildings.
We wish everyone a successful meeting and look forward to providing a full
round- up of news very soon.
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July 1st this year saw the merger of Danish CommWorld agency Kreativt Center with another Aarhus-based company, Venture Marketing, to launch a new marketing agency Venture I/S.
Kreativt Center has considered a merger as a route to consolidation and growth for some time, and CommWorld members may recall that the agency was considering its options for growth – including the possibility of a merger – at last Spring’s meeting in Helsinki.
“We did have merger proposals with another agency on the table last summer”, explains KC managing director Eigil Jacobsen, ”although ultimately the time was not right and negotiations broke down.
“Finding the right partner for a venture of this importance depends on so many factors, and in this union with Venture Marketing, we believe we have found an ambitious and highly-motivated partner-company that shares our vision: to drive strong, effective solutions for clients who value creativity and commitment from their ad agency.”
Venture Marketing was well-known to Kreativt Center, as both agencies were formed in the seventies, and have significant experience of the advertising industry in Denmark.
“Personalities are also vitally important,” continues Jacobsen. “Two years ago, Venture Marketing’s senior partner, Torsten Wegener, headhunted 36-year old Dan Borup Jørgensen on the strength of his ambition, dynamism and business acumen, to take up the role of managing director and partner.
“Torsten saw the kind of drive and energy in Jørgensen that would bring a refreshed drive and spirit to the agency, and today the union of these two highly driven, dynamic individuals at the helm has made Venture Marketing’s approach all the more attractive to us at Kreativt Center.”
Now officially launched as Venture I/S, Dan Borup Jørgensen takes up the reins of the new company as managing director, with Torsten Wegner and Eigil Jacobsen, HC Staal and Henrik Rasmussen from Kreatvit Center, all becoming partners.
Venture Marketing brings to the merger its two main clients Grundfoss - worldwide pumping technologies and Dansk Tipstjeneste - an account for the Danish Lotto, plus a number of others, many of which demonstrate a good fit with Kreativt Center’s client profile.
And already the new company has made its first new business presentation since the merger, for a fashion company called First Company, a subsidiary of Møller & Co. that operates in several European countries. Venture I/S reports that the presentation went very well, and at the time of writing, awaits news of its involvement in the second round.
The advertising industry in Denmark is experiencing the same downturn as other parts of Europe, with reports that up to 20% of all marketing employees in the country have lost their jobs in the past two years.
Eigil Jacobsen sums up: “Times have been tough here in Denmark, and we have high hopes for this merger. We hope and trust that we will form a strong and attractive alternative for both existing and prospective clients. Torsten has long standing knowledge of the Danish advertising industry and Dan represents the next generation, bringing new blood, spirit and knowledge into the new agency.
“Our common ambitions and visions are high - and we look forward to presenting our new agency to CommWorld members in the near future.”
Both Eigil and Dan Borup Jørgensen plan to attend the CommWorld meeting in Prague in the Autumn, where they will give all members an update on Venture I/S.
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