News

Southland/Omnicom

by Mark Roberts
Sunday, October 2, 2005. 09:26PM
994 Views 2 Comments

Here is the relevant part of the story:

"7-Eleven, the world's largest convenience retailer, has chosen Omnicom Group to handle its integrated marketing programs, including advertising, promotions and P-O-P.

A new group, FreshWorks, has been formed to handle the business combining Omnicom subsidiaries TracyLocke, TPN, Dieste Harmel & Partners and The Integer Group. The deal begins in September.
"They essentially assembled a cluster of agencies managed by a single account team that presents one face to us and ensures complete integration and quality control," Doug Foster, VP-marketing for 7-Eleven, said in a statement..."
So to boil it down, the pitched 7-11 as Omnicom. Tracy Locke, The Promotion Network and several other agencies all pitched as one shop. Then they created Freshworks, which has one employee, to dole out all the work to all the agencies now they have won the account.
I think this brings up some interesting issues. I know technically the account was awarded to Freshworks, but what about the conflicts of interest this will create? What if another, non-envolved Omnicom shop pitches Stop N Go? Is that a conflict now that Omnicom has an account of its own? And Tracy Locke has Pepsi, does that preclude any Omnicom shops from going after Coke? The blurring of the divisions came out of desperation to keep this client, but the ramifications could be far-reaching and detrimental. I make about 65% of my money from Omnicom shops, so I have somewhat a vested interest in how this plays out. I don't delude myself that I can do anything but comment on the goings on, but it does intrigue me.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005. 08:51AM by Jeffrey Riman
It’s inevitable that the holding companies will go bigger game fishing while diminishing the control,unique character and quality of the shops they own. Of course if these “holdings” wanted to remain unique would they have been sold in the first place? The continued consolidation of brands has in part prompted this strategy. In other words there is consolidation on the agency and client side, so who wins here?
Monday, October 3, 2005. 07:30AM by shaun arora
When I was at Integer, we looked at our brands and where they sold, and those retailers almost became like clients to us. So they were dealing with the Valero, Albertsons, Wal-Mart, and 7-11 before they won the pitch. It is a conflict for any retail or promo agency to have a retail account. All agencies claim that their teams act in a bubble, but we all have received a special report from a friend on another team or at another agency. This conflict, though, is more a win for the P&Gs and Unilevers that sell in 7-11 and use these agencies, as now they have added understanding of the retailer.