By continuously improving existing services that UM offers daily to its clients, and by developing new ones, primarily in the area of digital services and content, econometrics, media planning and media buying, UM was able to maintain its leading position among media agencies.
UM’s success was contributed to by the successful pitches for Coca-Cola, BMW and Johnson & Johnson, which the agency network won last year, especially for J&J which the agency won separately for each of the regions in which it operates. Thus, in addition to global cooperation with J&J, UM once again won the pitch for Coca-Cola in North and Central America, Hong Kong and Australia, and in the fierce competition took away BMW in Japan. New tools, a refreshed approach of UM agencies in conjunction with the existing tool kit, knowledge and experience, as well as development of new services, contributed to the UM agency network last year winning eight major pitches in North America, 40 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 64 in the Asia-Pacific region and 14 in Central and South America. All this contributed to 15 percent increase in UM’s revenue last year.
“We’re all excited when we win a pitch as an agency. You can simply feel the ‘chemistry’ between us,” said Darryl Lee, UM’s global CEO, and adds: “A unique characteristic of UM is that we really like working together, and this is felt in each of our UM agencies anywhere in the world. We’re always there to help each other. Because victory in any pitch, in any market in which we operate, is a victory for all of us, the entire UM’s global network.”
Global success was also contributed to by the UM agencies operating in South-East Europe in the framework of I&F McCann Group.
“Access to the latest tools developed by our network, their rapid implementation in the markets where we operate, with continuous investment in education of employees, and the possibility to provide our partners the best integrated team of talented professionals, this is something that distinguishes UM agencies within the I&F McCann Group,” says Biljana Kolaković, regional director of Universal Media, adding: “all this had a role in the fact that for years now we are among the most successful agencies in the markets where we operate.”
A clear strategy of the UM certainly had an influence in this: “Better Science, Better Art, Better Outcomes.” This UM’s “better” was launched in an effort to target the consumers in the right time and in the right place and that this be done with content that is relevant to them. To that end, they have designed the Business Analytics Engine (BAE). This tool combines and analyzes the different measurements and the obtained data.
“When you combine the science and art, something really powerful happens,” said Kasha Cacy, UM’s US president, and added: “This solution is unique in two ways. First, it allows us to make our plans where it really matters to advertisers, such as sales and brand perception. Second, it allows us to look much further, not only to make the evaluation of what happened, but also to predict events in the future.”
Global agency network UM has over 4,800 employees in 151 agencies operating in 127 countries. In Southeast Europe, UM agencies in Belgrade, Zagreb, Skopje, Sarajevo, Ljubljana and Sofia operate within the I&F McCann Group.
