Two of the island’s leading advertising agencies, Telia & Pavla/BBDO and Ekkeshi Consultants, are joining forces to create a new “below the line” company to provide professional marketing and promotional services.
The new agency, The Worx BTL & Direct Marketing, will be launched to the media and clients at the Hilton in Nicosia today in an effort to explain the new trends in the advertising sector as a whole.
The new joint venture came out of a need from both companies to provide a comprehensive service to their clients, beyond the basic creative or media work, said Stelios Anastassiades, Chief Executive of Telia & Pavla BBDO. His 23-year-old firm claims to be the No. 1 ad agency with a turnover of CYP 3.5 mln.
“For five years now, the trade media has been talking about the new needs for global advertising that will be sales driven as opposed to image driven,” explained Anastassiades.
“In Cyprus there are not enough specialists in any particular sector of our trade, while companies that have their own below-the-line units are discovering that their services are no longer viable.” He listed the potential clients as Masterfoods (Mars), Renault, BAT, GSK, Wrigley’s, Colgate Palmolive, Eureka, etc.
“These could be long-term clients or we could be hired on a project-by-project basis, such as product launches, market-specific promotions, etc. That is why we believe that The Worx could never have conflicting clients or projects,” Anastassiades said.
“There are many synergies that work better and are more affordable,” said Eleni Ekkeshi, Chief Executive of Ekkeshi Consultants.
“This results in savings both for the client, as well as other advertising agencies that do not have any BTL services and would need to hire our services,” she said. Her agency is taking a 30% stake in the new venture while Telia & Pavla has a 70% interest in the new company.
Ekkeshi is bringing in many years of experience in this field to the new project as about a third of her ad agency’s present turnover is associated with print production and BTL services. This is higher than Telia & Pavla’s 20% share of total business deriving from BTL services.
“We remain two independent competitive agencies, but with complementing services that we are now contributing to the new venture,” Ekkeshi said, adding that the partnership is open if others wish to join.
The blueprint for the new venture came from BBDO’s global BTL firm called Proximity, that is considered the No. 1 agency worldwide in direct marketing and below-the-line.
“This is not a sector that allows for organic growth,” explained Anastassiades, adding that it is a cut throat market with constantly lowering margins.
The only competitors to BTL agencies would probably be the so-called ‘media-shops’ that work on volume turnover and smaller margins. “We work for the benefit of the client,” Anastassiades said.
“You cannot survive if you provide only one part of a comprehensive BTL service, such as only public relations or direct marketing. Some have their own in-house units that are no longer viable, while we also have the phenomenon of carpet-baggers from Greece,” he said.
The Worx is headed by a General Manager, Zenon Zenonos, plus a team of staff and freelance specialists, in addition to the resources provided by the partner agencies.
“We are now free to leave the narrow environs of Telia & Pavla or Ekkeshi Consultants and compete with them or even hire services from third parties,” Zenonos said.
“Our basic aim is a return on investment (ROI) for the client, which is why we will be budgeting ourselves on a fee basis and not necessarily an income basis. We can break even if we reach the CYP 100,000 level in fees,” Zenonos said.
‘THE WORX’ BTL SERVICES
Direct Marketing: door-to-door and leaflet distribution
Digital Marketing: SMS, e-mail, viral games
Promotional Marketing: in-store promotions, exhibition stands
Data Consultancy: database management, CRM programmes
Live Marketing: events, public relations, launches
Alternative Media: Internet, mobile, digital
