Goodbye ThompsonConnect. Hello rmg:connect

J. Walter Thompson's direct marketing arm ThompsonConnect will be rechristened as rmg:connect in the first week of March. In a related development, discussions are now on to drop the 'rmg' prefix from rmg david, which is Ogilvy & Mather India's sister agency. rmg david too, in all probability, will be rechristened now.

The move to merge ThompsonConnect's operations and resources with rmg:connect is a part of JWT and its parent WPP group's global strategy to roll out rmg:connect. Last December, JWT's CEO Bob Jeffrey had announced the global rollout of rmg:connect as the agency's strategic customer relationship marketing (CRM) operation. As of date, the agency exists as a fully integrated JWT company, offering direct marketing, interactive and promotional services for clients around the world.

Before the WPP management decided to turn rmg:connect into a global name, the direct marketing operations of JWT across the world were spearheaded by rmg:connect in certain countries and ThompsonConnect in others. Since December last, all JWT direct marketing operations across the globe are being re-christened rmg:connect.

The India roll-out is a part of JWT's plan to launch rmg:connect in the Asia Pacific. In any case, network clients across the world are well-versed with functions of rmg:connect. Some of the important clients in the rmg:connect roster include: Shell, Vodafone, HSBC, Pfizer, Unilever, DTC (the Diamond Trading Company), and Nestle.

In India, ThompsonConnect services large clients such as Hindustan Petroleum, Ford India, Spice Communication, Wills Sport, Standard Chartered Bank, Xerox, Hindustan Lever, Wipro Ltd, Avaya, Indian Airlines, Glaxosmithkline India, Timex Watches, Infosys, Philips India, Godrej & Boyce, and Air India.

rmg:connect was first launched by JWT in February 2002 in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region under the leadership of Nelly Andersen. In less than three years, the network has established offices in eight key markets and works for an exhaustive list of clients. The worldwide rollout capitalizes on this successful model.

With ThompsonConnect being re-branded, the 'ownership' of brand 'rmg' (Resource Management Group) would now rest with JWT and not O&M India, as was the case earlier. That's precisely why rmg david, being a 100 per cent O&M subsidiary, will have to renamed too.

Globally, rmg:connect will have offices in 18 markets: The US and Canada, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, South Africa, the Middle East, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and India.

Through rmg:connect, it is expected that there will be a greater synergy among WPP agencies now, and clients will get a even better bang for their buck. Rakhshin Patel, senior VP & general manager, ThompsonConnect says, “What excites me most about being part of rmg:connect is our access to several proven high-end strategic planning and analytical tools as well as a pool of best practices across the world. This, I feel, will certainly add to our skills, benefit client programmes and enhance our market leadership.”

“Thanks to this integration, ThompsonConnect will now have access to a huge number of

client, project and programme experiences. India will soon be part of 'The Pool', which is rmg:connect's web based knowledge management tool.”

The erstwhile ThompsonConnect has 60 employees managing 42 brands across India.

Philip Greenfield is the new CEO of the rmg:connect global network. Till December 31, 2004, he used to be the CEO of OgilvyOne Europe.

J. Walter Thompson, the world's first full service advertising agency, celebrates its 140th anniversary this year. JWT currently ranks as the fourth largest full-service network in the world, and is the largest advertising agency brand in the US.

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