OgilvyInteractive's North America division has partnered with three new-media companies to form an interactive marketing consortium.
Charter members of this syndicate include MindTree Consulting for consulting expertise; JumpCut, a producer of online streaming videos and Webcasts; and EgoMedia, which designs Web sites.
“It's basically a tactic that allows us to scale,” said Jeannette McClennan, the New York-based president of OgilvyInteractive in North America. “We've taken upon ourselves the task of putting a syndicate together that does allow us to expand and adapt quickly to our clients' needs.”
But at the same time, this partnership doesn't imply that OgilvyInteractive is now in the outsourcing business, McClennan said.
OgilvyInteractive is part of OgilvyOne Worldwide, one of the leading direct marketing agencies worldwide and a $1.6 billion arm of WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather agency brand.
North American clients of OgilvyInteractive include IBM Corp., Ford Motor Co., Arthur Andersen, Johnson & Johnson, and American Express Co. One of the top 10 agencies in the continent, OgilvyInteractive last year posted billings of $60 million.
Forming this consortium is central to OgilvyInteractive's plans to offer clients a swathe of interactive branding services, including streaming video and audio, Webcasting, Web site and e-commerce development, interactive design, content application and interactive platform branding.
Although the agency had the option of allying with bigger partners in this digital syndicate, it preferred smaller shops such as MindTree, JumpCut and EgoMedia for a simple reason, McClennan said.
“Basically [because they are] small, nimble,” she said, “accepting the fact that we need to lead with our clients. It's a real value-add concept as opposed to, 'We're all competing for the same thing.'”
