Mainardo de Nardis, chief executive of OMD Worldwide, yesterday revealed his ambition of making the marketing agency No 1 in terms of innovation and creativity.
On his first visit to OMD Thailand, Nardis met with 85 local staff, plus major clients.
He took over as chief executive of parent OMD Worldwide nine months ago. Bangkok is the fourth stop on his Asian visit, after Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Nardis left Bangkok last night for London, from where he will return to OMD headquarters in New York.
OMD Worldwide is the world's largest media agency, with offices in 97 countries. The Thai unit celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
As part of the Omnicom Group, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, OMD Worldwide has 7,000 staff around the world, with combined billings last year of US$32 billion (Bt1 trillion).
Nardis said OMD wanted to be known for its innovation.
"We have created new ideas and helped our clients make the best of their marketing budgets. We are also a network company and need to behave like a network," he said.
Nardis said OMD shared its clients among its network.
"We share our clients, ranging from high-end luxury products to day-to-day necessary goods, fast-food restaurants, candy and pet food," he said.
International clients include Tesco, Nissan, Visa, McDonald's, Henkel, Pepsi and General Electric.
"Half of our clients are network clients and the other half local clients," said Nardis.
He said by sharing clients, the network could also share - and benefit from - best practices, knowledge and experience, adapting them to fit the needs of Thai clients.
"We can train our people to ensure they understand a client's business the same way in all markets, using the same media throughout the region," said Nardis.
Nardis said the company's goal was to be at the forefront in this region and grow more quickly than its competitors.
"We would like to be the largest agency in every market. We would like to grow in terms of both quality and size," he said.
Nardis said a key ingredient in the success of the business was talent.
"We want to have the best people in the business. We're in the people business, and people are fundamental," he said.
Nardis said OMD had offices in 15 markets across the Asia-Pacific. The company views the region as a promising market, one with the fastest rate of double-digit growth.
"The Asia-Pacific now contributes about 14 per cent of our worldwide billings. We expect that to increase to more than 20 per cent in the next three to five years," he said.
OMD last year restarted its unit in Vietnam, which will coordinate with its staff in Laos and Cambodia. Most recently, offices were opened in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
OMD has seen tremendous growth of more than 100 per cent in India over the past 12 months. The company has four offices in India, working with both international and local clients.
OMD Thailand managing director Paul Spencer said the company was now the third-largest media agency in Thailand in terms of billings.
"We achieved $100 million in billings last year," he said.
Spencer said the local unit intended to be No 1 in the market, with double-digit growth each year.
"We want to be the best media agency, with a focus on quality, people and profit," he said.
Thailand is now the fifth-largest market for OMD in the Asia-Pacific, after Australia/New Zealand, China, India and Hong Kong.
