Newsroom
Daniel Morel Talks Agency Challenges and Opportunities During Australian Visit
by Wunderman
SYDNEY, February 4, 2011 – Wunderman’s chairman and CEO, Daniel Morel, traveled to Sydney and Melbourne talking with clients, visiting offices and colleagues about hot issues in the marketplace. Among the highlights:
Morel identified one of the biggest challenges to agencies in the future: the short lifespan of digital content will lead to the revamping of the production process. In speaking with Simon Canning from The Australian, Morel said, “We have a production challenge that mirrors the creative challenge.” With revenues of 70% stemming from digital, the need to “rejuvenate” production led Wunderman to open production facilities in the Philippines.
Speaking publicly about the issue of privacy, Morel, pointed to self-regulation as the best way to prevent interference from government and calling for vigilance. “We are one Exxon Valdez away from direct legislation,” Morel told Tim Addington from B&T. “If the industry doesn’t regulate smartly and very quickly we are going to have the heavy hand of the legislature responding to pressure.”
Speaking to DIRECT, Morel pointed out that knowing a consumer’s preferences or purchasing history is not a threat to their security. “We don’t know their name, nor social security number and we shouldn’t be given them. Security details have no value for us and we don’t want to keep them.”
As part of his visit to Australia, Morel met with prospective acquisitions, signaling the commencement of an “aggressive” period of acquisition with the desire to double Wunderman’s size in the land of Oz. “I’m ready to commit further to Australia through a combination of aggressive pitching and aggressive acquisition. I think we can double the size of our business in the next 24 months,” Morel said.
