McCann Relationship Marketing last month bought a majority stake in TMKT, Brazil’s second largest teleservices and database management company.
The move comes weeks after McCann Relationship took a minority position with Oak Lawn Marketing, a major Japanese telemarketer. Both acquisitions are designed to expand the firm’s global teleservice capabilities.
McCann Relationship, the rebranded McCann Direct, bought its first agency in Brazil last year, acquiring Sun, now renamed Sun/MRM, a shop that focuses on creative development and strategic consultancy.
“The ability to communicate relevantly and personally with the customer, whenever he or she desire it, is turning out to be a vital marketing element in the new economy,” said McCann Relationship chairman Stan Rapp.
“We’re extending our ability to deliver this in every major market of the world. It is the bridge between the classic direct marketing relationship of the old economy and the real-time interactive relationship of the new economy.”
TMKT was launched in 1991 when imports of hardware and software were first brought into the Brazilian market and thus allowed further development of telemarketing in that country. It has 361 employees and a client list weighted towards financial services.
“We’re fleshing out our teleservice and telemarketing capabilities in Latin America and across the world,” McCann Relationship spokesman Ray Roel said.
“Just as agency capabilities in the direct relationship marketing field are important, so are specific functions like teleservices, database management, custom publishing and, of course, the online services we develop.
“Brazil is an important core market for us, and it is growing fast. Sun and TMKT have worked together in the past for a number of clients and know each other well, so it’s a good fit. Teleservices in Brazil are growing at a 30 percent clip.”
McCann Relationship is spread across Latin America through its McCann Erickson connection but has been building its own network and is now in 32 countries with 48 offices. It is represented in Central America, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela.
The agency has a “capability” in Mexico but is negotiating another acquisition there. Roel declined to specify but said “we will be making another announcement very shortly.”
