Asia-Pac new business revenue doubles in 2012

EXCLUSIVE: New business revenue for agencies across the Asia-Pacific skyrocketed 99% last year, making 2012 the most active new business year in the region in the last decade.

Total new business revenue for media and creative agencies across Australia, China, Korea, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Singapore, The Phillipines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia equalled $655m in 2012, almost twice as much as 2011.

The figures come from pitch consultancy R3 and Campaign magazine which collaborated in 2012 to track more than 5,000 individual wins from more than thirty multinational agencies covering fourteen markets of Asia Pacific.

According to the new report, there were more than 5,000 pitches in APAC last year – up 40% on the year before.

China represented the biggest revenue hike, accounting for 26% of new revenue in the region, while Australia came in second with 17% and India on 16%.

“We’re increasingly seeing more clients and agencies hubbed out of China as each year goes by,” said Greg Paull, principal of R3.

While most of China’s new business is obtained on a project basis, Australia leads the way in terms of clients hiring agencies on long term contracts – “agency of record” or AOR arrangements.

Paull said: “This reflects the maturity of the Australian market to appoint more AOR relationships, while more and more Asian marketers are working with creative agencies on a project basis – as high as 51% of all relationships in China."

Australia dominated in the creative space, with seven of the top ten creative agency wins taking place Down Under. These included Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, Optus, Arnotts, Vodafone, Honda and Telstra all reviewing in the year.

But China dominated media agency changes. Amongst media agency wins, Unilever, P&G and JNJ reviews represented five of the top ten, led by PHD’s retention in Greater China of Unilever.

Other major wins included Mindshare China’s Yili and OMD’s HTC Asia Pacific win.

WPP led both the Asia Pacific and China Holding Company Leagues for new business won and lost, with Ogilvy and Mindshare the star performers.

In Asia Pacific, WPP won 33% of all new business (US$213m), ahead of Omnicom (US$155m) and a much improved Interpublic Group ($113m), driven by strong results from McCann Erickson in select markets.

To read more about the booming Chinese advertising market, check out B&T's feature Eastern Promises.

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