Highly regarded London creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty has entered into a joint venture with Brazilian counterpart Neogama in that nation’s commercial second city Sao Paulo.
It is no coincidence that Bcom3 is a minority shareholder in both shops with a 49% stake in the former and 40% of the latter. The combined startup, branded NeogamaBBH, will be majority-owned by Neogama’s president/ceo Alexandre Gama, a former president of Young & Rubicam Brazil.
Neogama currently employs seventy-one staff with annual billing of $29.5 million (€30.04m; £18.98m). Among its key clients are Umbro, Bradesco and Gradiente electronics. BBH is ranked Britain's thirteenth largest agency by billings, posting £28.46m ($44.22m; €45.03m) last year. It also has offices in New York, Tokyo and Singapore.
Says BBH ceo Nigel Bogle: “There has been a philosophical understanding between the two agencies. More and more of our clients are seeking multi-market solutions from us, and so it is imperative that we invest in Latin America.”
Gama is equally effusive about the partnership: “A good thing about doing business with the British is that they work step by step. At the moment, we are working on knowledge and expertise exchange – they are not just the most creative group around, but also have a lot of strength in strategic planning.”
Brazil is the world’s eighth largest economy - and growing fast.
Data sourced from: AdAgeGlobal.com; additional content by WARC staff
