It says on his business card, “President & CEO, Asia Pacific, Japan and India, but make no mistake, he’s a creative thinker. More specifically, Ziegler is a renaissance marketing man who has through-the line-experience in many disciplines. While he prides himself in creating brands and helping companies build brands, his power lies in his ability to work with creative people and growing the business with creative people.
When Ziegler came to Manila, to judge at the Tambuli Awards and to grace DDB’s 60th anniversary celebrations, he sat down with adobo and shared his insights into the tricky business of integration.
adobo: They said you created the first fully integrated agency. For real? You don’t look that old.
Ziegler: Well, I’m only 35! But yes, in 1986, we got sick of agencies selling us pieces of advertising. So we said “let’s sell this to our client fully integrated.” That’s when we created the world’s first integrated agency. Fully through-the-line ideas, predominantly promotion, packaging and a little bit on advertising—we created full solutions.
As Kzzynski & Ziegler, we were couple of young honchos, who acted like we knew everything. We built this business and sold it to DDB, six years later. Then I fell in love with DDB’s culture and stayed there.
adobo: So with today’s emphasis on through-the-line, has everything come full circle?
Ziegler: Well, for me, no. For 24 years, I’ve been talking about integration, through-the-line. Finally, it’s coming into the form that it will be in the future.
But everybody is starting to create models of integration that we were doing 10-15 years ago. A lot of agencies will tell you, “Yes, we’re integrated. We have this agency here, that agency there, and they’ll come together….” That never works. We were doing that 15 years ago.
adobo: But whatever you’re doing in Asia in recent years, it seems to be working. Except in the awards department. DDB Asia only brought home three awards, and that’s counting Rapp Collins’ wins. Aren’t you under pressure to do as well as your Western offices?
Ziegler: Absolutely. I’ve got a stick so big, you wouldn’t believe.
But we’re an organization that believes in empowering our management to manage their businesses well. We don’t dictate. We encourage and support. So sometimes it takes us a long way to change direction, and today, our direction is very much on effectiveness. The best work that works for our clients.
Playing the awards game today is a very different mix. Many of the entries are on the edge of advertising. In Cannes, a lot of winners aren’t even advertising campaigns. You know, The Yellow Tree, the Queensland entry….
To be honest with you, we’re doing great work in our category, but it hasn’t been on high enough on our agenda to package it for Cannes.
adobo: Why not?
Ziegler: I think it’s our maturity, because I think the shift is going from advertising-driven to idea-focused, and of course, online and digital.
I think given the fact that we have so much work to do—and we’ve done it very well—we haven’t given it as much attention as we should.
But the stick says you must one of the top three; that’s where we want to be. If you’re not top three, that is unacceptable, so our ambition is very clear, and everyone is committed to doing that.
adobo: Hence, the culture-change program that DDB Philippines began last year. Is it just Manila, or everywhere else in Asia?
Ziegler: Yes, every office in Asia.
But in Manila, we certainly put up a real thrust behind Tribal DDB. I think Tribal’s really relevant to this market, and we got clients that we can do great work with. There’s an enthusiasm and embracement in that.
Rapp Colllins…we’re simultaneously putting an integrated thrust into that from around the region.
There’s no other agency network [like us] that’s best in class in Asia, and worldwide. Tribal—worldwide, top three digital agency. Rapp Collins—worldwide leading CRM agency. Interbrand—worldwide brand company. And DDB, worldwide advertising company.
Now, we are wrestling with how we can integrate all those pieces together. Some offices are doing exceptionally well, while some offices are still in the process.
But Manila as a market? We’re really excited about the opportunities.
adobo: Changing an agency culture takes a long time. Isn’t that daunting?
Ziegler: Well, four years ago, most of the agencies in the region didn’t talk to each other. But now, they not only talk to each other; they embrace, work together; they pitch. And I think we’ve brought them to a business level that’s credible; the brand is delivering better results.
adobo: So as chief integrator, what’s your prognosis?
Ziegler: We are not where we need to be, but we are very, very happy with the progress. We are more excited about how quickly, in the next three years, we are going to be even more of a success story.
