BBH’s Bogle: Australia’s agency scene is too crowded and there are too many good agencies for us to launch
Nigel Bogle, the global boss and co-founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, has said that the agency landscape is too crowded and too competitive to set up shop on Australian shores.
The advertising legend behind one of the world’s top creative shops told Mumbrella that while he had considered a move to Australia – even without having a client locally – “there are already too many good agencies” to make a move work.
BBH is run as a micro-network, with offices in key territories such as London, São Paulo, New York and Singapore covering the regions for clients such as Unilever, Johnnie Walker, Dulux, Sprite and British Airways.
“We take a hub approach, and Australia can be served from outside the market,” he said. BBH has produced global campaigns for the likes of British Airways, which run in Australia but are created in London.
BBH landed its first grand prix of the week at Cannes, winning in the Creative Effectiveness category for Unilever deodorant brand Axe, known locally as Lynx.
“It feels like we’re in Australia already – so many of our people are now at Austrailan agencies,” Bogle said. Among BBH alumni are Warren Brown and Matthew Melhuish, the B and M in BMF.
Bit of a misquote in the title there Mumbrella. He didn’t say ‘too good’ he said ‘too many good’….changes the meaning quite a bit.
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Hi shamesless,
Fair point – I’ve amended the headline accordingly.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Or, perhaps being polite, he might have been trying to say that the Australian market is too small?
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They’d give anyone a run for their money what ever market they set up shop in – great agency.
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I’d love to see BBH set up here. And with a whole alumni of ex-BBH planners, CEOs and MD’s (not just Warren and Matt), they’d be able to swing a loyal bunch together quite quickly.
Only problem is, with very few international clients of theirs that need servicing and the amount of effort required to make little profit, I don’t think they’d see the point.
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