The Group and Omnicom’s media buying operations will amount to about EUR75 million a year, double as much as rivals Centrade Saatchi&Saatchi, McCann Erickson, Lowe&Partners and Ogilvy.
Collin Gottlieb, CEO of Omnicom Media Group EMEA, said that the group chose to further develop its media investment operations together with Zoltan Szigeti relying on his reputation and professional achievements.
In turn, Zoltan Szigeti, chairman of The Group, said: “We have always sought to identify opportunities for growth and see our partnership as an eloquent translation of the concept of ‘blending international expertise with local experience.'”
The two parties would not provide further details, merely saying that The Group would become a shareholder in OMD and PHD, the media buying agencies of Omnicom in Romania.
Zoltan Szigeti and Mihaela Nicola, both aged 44, created The Group, the largest independent communication group in Romania, seven years ago. The Group, which comprises 18 media, communication and marketing agencies, owns, according to 2010 data, the largest media agency on the local market, Media Investment, whose revenue stood at EUR45 million. There are no data available about the 2011 results yet.
Before creating The Group, Szigeti and Nicola had run a tight ship at Ogilvy’s Romanian business for ten years.
The Omnicom – The Group alliance had been in talks for a while now, especially after Omnicom lost the Vodafone account in mid last year, which was one of the most important on the local market, estimated at EUR10 million.
On the other hand, Szigeti has Romtelecom and Cosmote, two major telecom operators, as customers. The Group’s client list includes more than 80 names, both Romanian and foreign companies.
In a time when the advertising market shrank to almost half of what it once was because of the crisis, Szigeti managed to keep the good customers and even gain more. The two Romanian entrepreneurs are extremely competitive on the market where their rivals are the largest international groups in this business, which have local operations.
(English version by Loredana Frățilă-Cristescu)