It’s been less than a week since the freshly merged Clemenger BBDO officially re-launched but the move has gained traction among clients and the market.
Although the merger of CHEP, Clemenger and Traffik was announced in February, the new combined agency officially launched on Tuesday, announcing the final shape of its leadership team.
At the helm is Clemenger BBDO CEO Lee Leggett, chief strategy officer Simon Wassef and deputy chief creative officer Glen Dickson, while the hunt for a new national chief creative officer is underway. Senior outgoings include strategy guru Lilian Sor (who has moved to Howatson+Company), and CCOs Gavin McLeod and Adrian Flores.
Leggett told B&T that all of the people changes have now been made across the new enterprise, amounting to a small amount and leaving a 350-strong workforce operating at offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Usually, upwards of 30 per cent of staff are made redundant in the first year of a merger, so Leggett’s “tiny proportion” claim is good going.
“We’re putting these agencies together under the Clemenger BBDO brand for growth, not for any other reason,” she said. “We’ve got some great people coming on the journey and there’s going to be some new, exciting talent joining, too. The next era is about building on the strengths of all three agencies.”
Another eye-catching stat, per Leggett, is that Clemenger has managed to retain all of the clients of all three agencies bar one, who she would not name.
Typically when agencies merge, conflicts between clients in the same category lead to some dropping off and going to market. For example, when Essence merged with Mediacom in the UK, it set up a separate entity, EssenceMediacomX, to manage major client conflicts, such as MediaCom’s Tesco & Sky and Essence’s Sainsbury’s and BT. The brands folded last year when Sainsbury’s and Sky left the WPP agency.
In this context, to combine three into one and only have one client conflict drop out is remarkable, but Leggett said the merger has been carefully planned over a number of months.
“We’ve proactively engaged every client throughout this process and that has been managed carefully. All bar one is coming across,” she said. “Every other client has responded with real excitement about our expanding capabilities, the scale and the creative firepower.
Why merge now?
The launch of the new Clemenger BBDO has already gained traction in market.
“The phone has been running hot this week, there is a lot of interest in this agency,” Leggett said. “We’ll continue to be selective about opportunities, and also make sure that we’re looking after our existing clients.”
Clemenger BBDO’s major clients include Mazda, Bupa, Officeworks, 7-11, Samsung, Simplot, Spirit of Tasmania, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Michael Hill, Carlton & United Breweries and Asahi. K-Mart is a recent addition and was won prior to the merger, but only publicly revealed in March.
Some of the clients, such as Samsung and Carlton United Breweries, had already been working across Clemenger Group agencies prior to the merger, while a “unified approach” has been used for new business opportunities.
“Over the past 12 months, the agencies have been working much more closely together. There has been really good integration across the whole of the Clemenger group on major clients and new business,” said Leggett, the former CEO of CHEP, Wunderman Thompson and Initiative in Australia.
“Merging at this time made sense on many levels, but most importantly because the clients I’ve been speaking to have all been saying they want more capability and less complexity.
“I can’t think of a pitch recently where a client has massively expanded their roster. In fact, it’s often the opposite, they want fewer agencies, more integrated thinking and effective delivery.
“I was with a client this morning who was talking about how their budgets have been curtailed and they’ve got to do more with less. We’ve got a lot of current clients who are interested in the extra capability.”
Leggett’s observation aligns with what B&T has heard anecdotally about stretched marketing teams wanting fewer agencies to do more with less. The new Clemenger BBDO offers strategy, creative, design, media, data, tech and experience under one roof.
Although CHEP and Clemenger have both been through periods of transition and upheaval in recent years, the agencies bring a strong legacy of creative excellence to the party, as does Traffik in the experiential space.
Clemenger, founded in 1946, is the agency behind the TAC’s Cannes Lion award-winning Meet Graham campaign (see first video below) and its work is forever etched in Australian vernacular by creating the Yellow Pages, ‘Not Happy Jan’ campaign.
CHEP, which stemmed from Clemenger Harvie Edge, pioneered work for Samsung in ‘Flipvertising’ (see second video below) lifted gamifying digital advertising and helped NRMA Insurance reconnect Australians with a brand platform that redefined a category.
Meanwhile, Traffik, which launched in 2006, helped long-term client Bundaberg Rum connect with its heartland community, and has and brought brands to cultural moments, including M&Ms to the Australian Open this year.
A cultural reset
Leggett now has the tricky task of combining three established legacy brands and cultures into one that embraces a shiny new global positioning of ‘Do Big Things’.
“We’re not flattening culture, we’re taking the best of each. But are also building something new entirely versus trying to replicate any one culture. CHEP’s digital edge, Traffik’s experiential energy, Clemenger’s creative legacy,” she said.
“It’s about creating something new – this is additive, not subtractive and we’re cherry picking the very best policies, initiatives and rituals from across the three agencies to bring only the best into the future.”
Getting the new culture right will be vital to the success of the new Clemenger. That is the experience of almost all successful merger and acquisitions, and was for EssenceMediacom in Australia, which took a similar approach of resetting culture and building from the ground up.
Leggett, a successful leader of agencies in Australia and her native UK, won’t adopt a dictatorial approach and said she will encourage everyone in the agency to set the new culture.
“The culture of this agency comes from every single person that works here, no matter their job or position in the agency,” she said.
On the global positioning front, she added: “The ‘Do Big Things’ philosophy has brought confidence and energy back not only to this agency, but to the whole sector.”
Combining three agencies is certainly a ‘big thing’ and has created one of the largest full service agencies in Australia.
Leggett is confident the new Clemenger, which has the full support of BBDO Worldwide CEO Nancy Reyes, will provide the new shop with a unique offering and competitive advantage in a challenging economic climate.
As Omnicom’s planned acquisition with IPG draws closer, it could be a masterstroke to ensure one of Australia’s most accomplished and famous creative agency brands lives on well into the future.
Clemenger explains its new offering
Client Desire for Simplification: The unified Clemenger will house strategy, creative, digital, media, data, and activation under one banner, making it easier for clients to get a more unified offering without juggling multiple agency partners. Clemenger provides integrated brand creative, customer experience, media, digital and commerce services in one place.
Bigger Ideas & Better Outcomes: By combining the creative legacy of Clemenger BBDO with CHEP’s precision and Traffik’s experiential savvy, the new agency is positioned to deliver bolder thinking that drives results. Through this integration, Clemenger combines bold thinking with precision execution to turn ambitious growth aspirations into reality for its clients.
Scale: We are a powerhouse agency that delivers modern creativity across every capability and discipline. No one else has the scale we do.
Creative & Media: The old model of disconnected departments is collapsing. Clients want holistic thinking, not turf wars. Our full-service offering is strong and the fact we can deliver on creative + media is still hugely important to clients.
