“As a new CEO, taking over from the founding partner, the Scopen bench-marking study was one of the most important initiatives undertaken by BBDO South Africa in 2016,” says Pezisa. “Because of our lengthy succession planning process, the Scopen Survey became my new pair of glasses that assisted me in evaluating our business critically.
“In creating new business strategies, it gave us valuable insights on how to evolve our business and restructure it for the next two to three years. This means we were able to retain the essential aspects of what makes us tick and ditch what was no longer relevant to our particular strategies. Key to this was enabling us to adopt and develop both long- and short-term tactics.”
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the IAS, adds, “Both the IAS and Scopen Africa have been working with marketers and agencies globally for 20-plus years, with the first study launched in Spain 35 years ago. The study has been conducted over the past decade in UK, Brazil, China, India, Singapore, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Spain.
For Pezisa, Scopen’s Global Competitive Index enabled BBDO South Africa to benchmark itself against the local players, using global filters for future perspectives. “It provided us with the information we needed to redefine the competitive set. It reframed the competitive landscape, while highlighting new and different opportunities that we could engage.”
In reviewing the trends that emanated from the South African study, Pezisa says the improvement in its area of focus that the study provided will change the way the agency negotiates with clients. “A specific area that we were excited about was the improvement for BBDO South Africa on how we leverage our global network and its assets.”
McDowell says that the 2,500 chief marketing officers (CMOs) interviewed globally and 206 interviews with marketers, agency professionals and procurement directors locally gives agencies a robust understanding of market trends and enables them to gather data on how they are perceived by clients.
“Importantly, because of global connectivity in our industry, this is a brilliant tool to access global industry trends, placing the business in a position to implement strategies that influence growth and performance. It was an exceptional gift for me and the new team to help us refocus ourselves,” Pezisa concludes.
