As the chief executive of the largest Australian-based marcomms group, Mike Connaghan represents some of the country’s key advertising networks including Ogilvy, JWT and The Brand Agency, and media buying outfits Ikon, Maxus, Bohemia and Mindshare.
Having key government relations firms Hawker Britton, Barton Deakin and Parker & Partners under his wing also keeps Connaghan tapped into the political landscape, and no doubt helps with influence.
While many have shied away from the challenge, STW is one of the few companies breaking new ground by expanding into South-East Asia. It finds itself in a good position, with many Asian companies preferring the ‘local’ STW over global players like WPP – which has a 20% stake in STW – Havas or IPG.
The mooted Publicis Omnicom merger also bodes well for STW for a few reasons – not only will there be a lot of opportunities around the edges for smaller players to pick up business, but with Sir Martin Sorrell likely to be agitating to regain his crown, even a WPP takeover is not out of the ballpark... if the price is right.
