So, two become one. Grey Direct and Grey Integrated are finally one
and the same - a brave new entity called Joshua. There have, of course,
been no end of brave new entities in the marketing world. Inevitably,
they have been cheapened by repetition, hype and false dawns. But if
nothing else, Joshua has to be applauded simply for its name, which
scores maximum points on the chuckleometer after so many years of
Greyness.
While senior Joshua management herald their new baby as a launch rather
than a relaunch, jaded observers may wonder what makes this enthusiastic
newcomer any different from all the others. Will it be more than the sum
of its parts? Will the radical new image be accompanied by a radical new
proposition and personality?
The Grey Communications Group’s chairman and chief executive, Roger
Edwards, says Joshua is just part of a much bigger corporate
restructuring, following on the heels of the merger of Mellors Reay with
Grey Advertising. ’We’re about two-thirds of the way through
rationalising the group offering to make it much more user-friendly,’ he
declares. ’We could just as easily have left Grey Direct and Grey
Integrated as they were but we have chosen voluntarily to put them
together to produce a more dynamic offering. We see this as a
no-brainer.’
Nick Spindler, the managing director of Joshua, is more dramatic. ’I see
this as a real turning point for the industry. I want people working
here to be able to look back in six years and say ’I was there at the
launch’.’ For him, Joshua is all about breaking down major barriers -
taboos, even - between traditional approaches to above and below the
line.
He notes: ’A lot of people who’ve come into this industry in the last
five or so years don’t understand why there is such rigid thinking about
who does what.’ He sees Joshua competing on equal terms with the biggest
and the best agencies, be they above, below or through that ’outmoded’
line.
He claims the agency world has been ’staggeringly stagnant’ in terms of
innovation over the past five years and that it is now lagging behind
client needs. He blames this on a lack of fresh perspective and endemic
complacency.
As for the ubiquitous ’integration’ issue, Joshua’s approach will differ
from the others because ’we have elevated it to a skill set, brought to
bear when clients’ needs demand it and not forced on them as part of a
central philosophy’.
But is Joshua really so discipline-neutral? Observers might get the
impression from the management line-up that its inception has been
driven more by Grey Integrated than Grey Direct.
Nick Velody, group managing director for advertising, is quick to
counter such suspicions, noting that all disciplines will be represented
at board level and ’there will be no poor relations’. Spindler also
stresses this point: ’Think of Joshua as a brand with a large product
portfolio and total equality of discipline. We may be lead agency for
Royal Mail but does that mean we don’t worry about doing on-pack
promotions for Pringles?
Of course not. It’s brilliant to be working in all these different
areas.’
But wasn’t there supposed to be a good deal of cultural antagonism
between the two agencies? Didn’t Grey Integrated start describing itself
as the agency that doesn’t need to take its clothes off after Grey
Direct achieved notoriety with its nude staff shot? Velody makes light
of past differences.
’Of course there’s been some rivalry because we’ve been in competitive
marketplaces, but most of the stories are apocryphal.’
John Shaw, the vice-chairman of Brann, knows all about merging
below-the-line agencies, as he was at Wunderman when it merged with Cato
Johnson in 1993. ’Merging two different cultures can be very difficult.
Grey Direct has been very creative-led, while Grey Integrated is a more
strategic and thoughtful agency. It is important to keep the clients
involved - rather than presenting them with a brand new agency, they
need to know that the agency is building on the past and improving it,
and that their agency people have clearly defined roles.’
Velody notes that the merger will not involve any redundancies from the
combined staff of 205: ’This is not a cost-cutting exercise,’ he
says.
Indeed, the new venture begins life with a massive advantage over most
agency start-ups - namely, a claimed #150 million in billings and a
projected income of #16 million.
Joshua’s impressive roster of clients has been consulted about the
’launch’.
’We’re not going to be asking clients to buy more than one discipline at
a time. In fact, we’d be uncomfortable if clients started approaching us
as a one-stop shop because we’d assume they were driven by price,’
Velody says.
Janet Sommerville, consumer marketing director at CWC, believes the time
is ripe for a new agency approach. ’Clients are saying: what do I want
to achieve and what is the best way to achieve it? But you often still
get answers from agencies that define the problem in terms of the means
rather than the end. Having worked with Grey Integrated I have seen how
they really get under the skin of a brand, so I would imagine Joshua has
a good chance of achieving its ambitions.’
Then with a bemused chuckle, she adds: ’But I don’t think the name
itself will make much difference.’
