BPG Group, one of the leading integrated marketing communications companies in the Middle East, announced a strategic shift in the way it engages its clients during its 15th annual workshop recently. The thrust of the new strategy, developed to better address client needs in the changing economic climate, is to deliver integrated marketing communications solutions. The workshop, which was held at Kempinski Ajman on Aug. 12-14, featured an impressive lineup of speakers, including Toby Hoare, board member of BPG, CEO JWT Europe and CEO Team HSBC; John O'Keefe, WPP Worldwide creative director; Ken Mandel, vice president and managing director, Yahoo South East Asia; Paul Bell, chief executive, Bell Pottinger Sans Frontiers Group and Ozgur Aksugur, Global COO, Blue Interactive, Singapore. Over 215 employees and associates from 15 different countries attended the three-day offsite workshop. Hoare said “the world is in turmoil. We are in a period of huge economic change. We have a financial hangover from the boom years of the early 2000...the way out for clients and our industry is through innovation, creativity, courage and sheer hard work.” He also emphasized the importance of investing in disciplines like digital, branding and public relations, which are growing much faster than the overall communications industry. O'Keefe said “great creativity is no longer optional. We have to keep on repeating that message; average is not an option. Great creativity is simply good business, while boring creativity is the road to ruins.” Avi Bhojani, group CEO of BPG, said in view of the challenging times, it was crucial to re-invent. “While we re-calibrate our business to cope with the short term, the current crisis is an opportunity for us. We have to go beyond providing services to our clients and instead deliver complete and integrated solutions to the challenges our clients face.” he said.
