German agency Serviceplan embraces full-service model
Serviceplan is to launch its media buying and planning arm Mediaplus in the region next month. Tina Junday asks what it will be offering clients that’s different
For those who aren’t familiar with Serviceplan, its name does little to arouse any kind of curiosity or excitement.
And yet the question of whether the group itself is as mediocre as it sounds, or is a brand surpassing the bland, is virtually impossible to answer without knowing exactly what it does. “We’re a German communications group which offers agencies in creative, under Serviceplan; media planning and buying, which is Mediaplus; our digital agency, Plan.Net; and for research, we have Facit,” says Markus Noder, CEO of Serviceplan International, by way of simple explanation.
The group had been running an office in Dubai to serve the region for more than four years under its digital arm Plan.Net before it rebranded to Serviceplan Middle East last November.
And now it plans to launch Mediaplus in a bid to become a more integrated communication agency in the region.
But why didn’t the group rebrand with a more catchy name? Noder says: “It’s the most unsexy name for an agency because all the other ones have the short and snappy names. But there are two things we would never do, one is change the name, and two, sell the company.
“It’s good that I don’t have to think about these two topics because it would give me a headache and I’m quite happy that we have our strategy already firmly in place.
“In the 70s, one of the founders, Dr Peter Haller, would actually roll out pieces of paper and would then start scribbling and sketching plans. He was going to his clients and saying, if you want to build your brand or if you want to sell this product, this is the plan on how to do it, and would show them his sketches. We didn’t push the story behind Serviceplan because we didn’t want it to look conventional and typically German of always having a plan, but it allowed us to focus on innovation and making it a lively brand with a lot of talent.”
Plans to launch Mediaplus are advanced, with the media wing go live next month.
“We want to be quite visible and powerful rather than offering just a side service,” says Rami Hmadeh, managing partner at Serviceplan Middle East, of Mediaplus. “By offering Mediaplus, it will finish the triangle of our house of communication.
“We’re already hiring people and bringing some talent from Germany over here. Based on our plans – and if everything goes well – we will have 20 people by the end of July 2015. That number will depend on the client base.”
In theory, Serviceplan has a clean and straightforward offering in one complete package, but what will the group be doing differently in the Middle East to make it stand out from the crowd?
“With media in this area changing so fast, you have to be on track and you should always have the balls to tell the client something else is better, which not all agencies do,” says Noder.
“If, for example, the leading role of a campaign should be shifted from print to digital because our research looking into the target group strongly gears towards that, then we will say so.”
Hmadeh adds: “We were recently given a project from the government in Saudi Arabia. They wanted a magazine and when we looked at the brief, we thought we should go for an e-magazine, with social media and that’s what we proposed.
“They directly changed the brief and said that was why they needed a consultancy because the other players simply gave a plan on how to run a magazine. We challenged our clients.”
In effect Serviceplan is an old school full-service agency, with creative, media and digital accounts all falling under the one roof.
“We have a clear strategy that is focused on three to five years, which is not driven by stock markets, profit margins or firing people,” says Noder.
“Our strategy is to become really sustainable in this region, to deliver the best solutions from our perspective based on our insights and developments. We are known for having long-term relationships with our brands. To do that you really have to understand the business and know what’s going on in the leadership.”
Hmadeh adds: “One of the problems we have with the agencies over here is that when there is a pitch, they will bring the best of the best, then they will give it to the juniors to run the show.
“Then after one or two years the client will realise they are getting the same results on a daily basis and not always fresh ideas, so then they will change the agency.
“We know how clients and consumers think and we definitely take into consideration local knowledge. By bringing tools from German colleagues, we are trying to bring together the best of two worlds in order to differentiate ourselves. We’re not simply another network.”