A Constant Change

As global CEO of Mindshare Worldwide, a position that he has held for five years now, Nick Emery was first credited with launching Mindshare nearly 20 years ago, beginning operations in Taiwan. In his position, Emery has a firsthand view on all factors that are changing the global advertising and marketing landscape. In this interview with BW Businessworld’s Noor Fathima Warsia, Emery speaks on some of these factors and what’s next for him.

Excerpts:

Recent global pitches such as Census & McDonald’s, once again drew attention to shrinking margins while winning. Do you see anything changing in this ongoing industry issue?
There is schizophrenia about it. I say this with a caveat that everyone who loses says that it is because of pricing, and that is not always true. There is no denying that blunt procurement, which treats marketing as a commodity, exists. It could be my optimistic side again, but I see change coming. Increasingly, there are enlightened clients, who are questioning this way of working. There are clients who see the impact of marketing on revenues and outcomes. Though at present, there is a whole weight of tradition that is stopping clients from breaking some of these shackles, but I see the change.

Another area of continued discussions has been around transparency, intensified by ANA report and the FB & Dentsu Inc instances. How did this impact client-agency relationship in the year?
It leaves a bad taste. Agencies have been tarnished with the brush of not looking after their clients’ best interests and I know that they have. A large part of the problem is that many people do not fully understand how programmatic or trading works, or how agencies create value for their clients.

And digital platforms have not really helped in the case of transparency either, right?
There is constant conversation around the Googles and Amazons of the world. Those companies are opaque; they don’t share data. There is no one way of tracking them and they want to suck you in, in their world. This has never occurred in legacy media. Agencies such as Mindshare were once created to combat the might of the media owners and act as a neutral force on behalf of clients. That is coming full circle now, and not from TV stations, but from digital companies. Though, this too is changing. Clients now understand that conversations with all media should be driven by outcomes, and the hope is that we move towards an outcome-based business model sooner than later.

What are some of the steps Mind share has undertaken for more women in leadership positions?
We are more diverse and gender balanced than any other agency. We are Taiwan born, and we turn 20 next year. On gender diversity, nine out of 16 offices in Asia have women leaders. The heads of our two biggest accounts, our head in China, our global CFO, our chief for UK and chair of Western Europe, our head of Australia — are all women and they are in these positions because they are the best at what they do.

You have been in this role for five years now — what is next for you?
We are constantly changing, doing newer things, creating partnerships, and most of all I enjoy working with the people I work with. We built Mindshare with the promise of real value, and of being brave and courageous. We believe in that, and it makes me very happy to do what I do.