Marketing and advertising used to be all about the creative side, but in this fast-evolving digital world, weaving the latest technologies into an effective formula is increasingly important, according to David Holtham, chief executive of Aegis Media North Asia.

“Creative is important, but it’s not everything anymore. The advertising industry is now more about how you interact with your clients,” Holtham said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

“For example, when a consumer sees a television commercial of a product that grabs his attention, he can simultaneously look it up on a search engine on the Internet. You must make sure your product is in the top five of your search results, otherwise your TV commercial would end up advertising for your competitors.”

Aegis Group is a London-based multinational media and digital marketing communications company that offers communications strategy through digital creative execution, media planning and buying, brand tracking and marketing analytics. Japan’s Dentsu Inc. agreed to buy Aegis Group for about $5 billion last year.

Aegis has three subsidiaries in Korea ― media independent agency Carat, digital marketing agency Isobar and performance marketing agency iProspect.

Holtham travels mostly between Tokyo and Seoul to watch over Aegis operations in North Asia.

“Aegis has never had a creative agency within our group. We started in the ‘60s in France as the first media independent agency in the world. We just dealt with media as a media specialist,” the British CEO explained.

“In the ’90s, all of the major global advertising agencies took the media planning business out and put it under separate brands as they found all their profit in media.”

Aegis draws insights into how consumers behave, and works with local and multinational creative agencies to provide clients such as General Motors and LVMH with successful communications strategies. Many clients choose Aegis for its vast global network across 118 countries.

“More multinational companies are interested in doing business in Korea, and more Korean businesses ― not just Samsung and Hyundai but also smaller ones ― are going abroad, so we see great potential for growth,” Holtham said.

“Korea has the fastest technologies on the globe. Mobile is opening up a whole new world and brands are increasingly connecting with customers through social networking services.”

Isobar does Web marketing, runs campaigns on the Internet, works with search engines like Naver to produce results for users through embedding, builds websites, and manages customer relationships and e-commerce for its clients.

Carat Korea ranked eighth in billing size among network media agencies in 2011, according to the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation.

Standard Chartered, Adidas, Samsung’s semiconductor department, LG and SK are among Aegis Media’s clients here.

“In Asia, media tends to be very local, and in China, they are closely controlled. I think Asian media will become more global due to the digital revolution,” Holtham said.

“Since media is going global, companies will have to be more global. The biggest things driving our company are globalization and media convergence.”

Last month, Aegis Media North Asia swept up awards in major categories at Campaign Asia-Pacific’s Agency of the Year Awards 2012, the region’s most prestigious advertising and communications industry awards, in Singapore.

Carat Korea won gold for “Korea Media Agency of the Year” and “Media Agency of the Year for Japan/Korea.” From its start 10 years ago as the first media independent agency in Korea, Carat now has a team of 50 people and has grown over 100 percent in the last 12 months.

Isobar Korea won silver for “Korea Digital Agency of the Year,” marking its third straight year as a finalist, having won gold in 2010 and 2011. Isobar as a network also won “Japan/Korea Digital Agency of the Year.”

Before joining Aegis in 2005 in Singapore, Holtham had worked as the chief finance officer for a marketing agency in Australia and in various industries including music, merchandising and newspapers.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)