Dubai agency wants independence back
BPG CUTS RELIANCE ON WPP AND FULLY REVAMPS ORGANISATION
Avi Bhojani is out to reclaim independence for BPG, the 38year old advertising and marketing services network.
Even if this means putting in some distance between BPG (Bates Pan Gulf) and WPP — the world’s largest advertising group that has held 40 per cent in BPG since 2003, when it inherited the stake upon acquiring Cordiant, the then holding company of Bates Worldwide.
“We want destiny back in our hands and that means pretty much taking back control,” said Bhojani. “Sure, we will still continue to collaborate with WPP entities like GroupM Mena, but that needs to be done on more of a quid pro quo arrangement. It won’t work if no value is being added to the business, or if we do not contribute our bit.
“We now want the agility not to have conflicting shareholders. If our integrated marcom business has a client who wants us to collaborate with entities other than WPP-owned, it should not be prevented because of us being a company with a minority WPP stake. Now, since we are turning into an independent [network], we can plug-and-play with anybody.”
The original ad agency — PanGulf — and which later turned into BPG was set up by the late Majid Ahmad Al Ghurair. Its current chairman is Abdullah Majid Al Ghurair and Bhojani has been CEO since 1991.
The current makeover at BPG is not confined to the ties with WPP and the many entities within its fold. BPG has cut the number of its internal divisions to two from four earlier. Its core advertising (BPG Bates), PR (BPG Cohn&Wolfe) and digital asset creation (Possible) operations are now merged under the ‘BPG Orange’ banner, while the media arm has been rebranded as ‘BPG Max’ from BPG Maxus. The Kuwait operation continues to run independently.
The rise and rise of Facebook and Google as advertising platforms — and where they get to set the rules — has forced traditional ad agencies to rethink their outlook.
“The fate of traditional agencies will be pretty similar to that of media entities if they don’t reinvent,” said Bhojani.
“We started the process [of change] last June; we got the entire leadership team together. It was realised that the divisional structure was not going to work any more. So the new structure — BPG Max and BPG Orange — are based on the two distinct business lines we had.”
We will still continue to collaborate with WPP entities like GroupM Mena, but that needs to be done on more of a quid pro quo arrangement.”
Avi Bhojani | CEO of BPG Group