New Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari recently admitted he was surprised "that people say Chelsea are unpopular". By contrast, WPP group trading outfit GroupM, which combines the billings might of MediaCom, MindShare, Mediaedge:cia and BJK&E, is fully aware that it is not loved by everyone.
Like Chelsea, GroupM calls on significant financial muscle to turn the screws on its established rivals. As ITV Customer Relations managing director Gary Digby once famously said, GroupM's strategy "is all about saying I've got the biggest bollocks and I want the cheapest deal".
Life-long Chelsea fan Nick Theakstone, the ebullient newly installed UK chief executive of GroupM, isn't about to go on a Peter Kenyon-style effort to make his organisation loved. But he is keen to take GroupM into "phase two", referring to the operation's initial period under his predecessor, Stephen Allan, who is taking up the role of MediaCom Worldwide chief executive.
"Media trading is not all about price at GroupM," says Theakstone. "Price is important, but there are many other parts of media deliverables that are key. We're not as aggressive as some media owners, although we can be if the need arises. Our focus is to help our agencies deliver to clients."
Like Scolari, Theakstone is looking to capitalise on the work of an illustrious predecessor while, at the same time, marking out his own legacy.
"We are in a new phase," he says. "Steve was critical to getting us set up and moving in a positive direction and I've learnt an awful lot from him, which will hopefully prove to be a great benefit. I'm certain an organogram of the business going forward will be different to today's. It has to be as we adapt to the new challenges ahead."
Theakstone likes challenges and relishes the opportunity to run the UK's biggest media-buying operation, a powerhouse handling purchases of £2.46bn. His first act will be a review of GroupM and there are no immediate plans to appoint a replacement to his former role of chief operating officer.
Streamlined structure
"We will not need the exact same structure," explains Theakstone. "We can afford to be a bit more streamlined (compared with the current management structure)," he adds, referring to the cabal of heavyweight executives, mainly from MediaCom, who were appointed several years ago as GroupM established itself, such as MediaCom group press director Steve Goodman, who became managing director of print trading, and David Kyffin, managing director of MediaCom Direct, who became managing director of direct and digital.
Other key members of the GroupM boot room are Mark Collins, managing director of broadcast and Robin O'Neill, managing director of online trading.
Joint ventures, acquisitions and increased focus on digital are prominent on Theakstone's to-do list. "We are looking at acquisitions - some with WPP and some on our own," he says, adding that he also wants GroupM to develop more proprietary and media evaluation tools. "We have to have more tools that more clearly evaluate what media delivers for our clients," he explains.
Theakstone is also eager for GroupM to expand into content - as many media agencies are now doing - through ad-funded programmes and product placement. Under the direction of former Fox TV executive Richard Foster, GroupM plans to fund, create and distribute content. In a possible taste of things to come in the UK, last year GroupM China hooked up with FremantleMedia to produce a reality-TV series called Soccer Prince. "We can play a role in helping broadcasters overcome financing shortfalls in the investment of content," he adds.
Meanwhile, Theakstone is focused on repeating "all the successes of the past", noting that, in terms of trading, "GroupM is in an incredibly enviable and powerful position, helped by having the best operators in town (his trading directors), supported by fabulous agency personnel."
According to Theakstone, while size does matter, it's not everything. "We are huge in the UK, more than £1bn ahead of the next-biggest group buying operation," he points out. "But we also look to be smart. Agencies are always uppermost in our thoughts and we want GroupM to provide whatever support the agencies need."
Making a mark
GroupM has certainly made its mark in TV. At the start of 2006, it famously clashed with ITV and threatened to pull the plug on WPP's entire £25m-plus spend on the broadcaster's family of digital channels unless it got a better price. However, in areas such as press and online, there has been more resistance to the pooled-buying approach.
Undeterred, Theakstone believes changes afoot in press trading should deliver success for GroupM. "Will press sales change? Absolutely," he predicts. "Will TV? No, not much. There will be more changes in press than any other medium."
The GroupM blueprint isn't unique. Omnicom's OPera and Interpublic's Magna are well-established, but have very different models to GroupM. And rumours abound that Publicis will eventually pool the clout of Starcom and ZenithOptimedia into a combined trading machine. But WPP has taken the concept of pooled buying far beyond what similar operations have achieved.
And, as Theakstone concludes: "We are astounded no one has put pressure on our market position. No one else has come up with a model that even gets close to challenging us."
CV
2008: Chief executive, GroupM
2006: Chief operating officer, GroupM
2002: Head of investment, MindShare, rising to managing director, GroupM trading
1996: TV buying director, MediaVest, rising to deputy managing director
1985: TV buying director, rising to board director, BMP
1983: Sales assistant, HTV (former ITV franchise for ITV Wales and West regions)
Family: Married to Jodie with three children - Holly, 9, Georgie, 8, and Amy, 6
Lives: Ealing
Car: Mercedes convertible
Desert Island Media: Sky TV, BBC Radio Five Live, The Times
THEAKSTONE ON ...
Sir Martin Sorrell You would always want him on your side. He is a big motivation. He is involved in the minutiae of the business. For someone in charge of such a diverse international group, it is unbelievable how much attention we get. I would hate to work against him. The ad downturn The danger is that we talk ourselves into a much worse recession. Yes, we are in one, but I don't think it is nearly as bad as some would have us believe. There are opportunities for clients and agencies in these hard times and that will be our focus.
CRR It was put in place because of the power of ITV sales. And whilst the overall media market has matured and changed with more competition, something still needs to be in place. Perhaps we need to find a different mechanism without, if possible, unfairly hindering ITV.
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