Cawley Nea sells majority stake to TBWA

Global network TBWA has bought a majority stakeholding in Cawley Nea Advertising. The Dublin-based agency was one of the last independent Irish-owned agencies in an industry that is dominated by global networks. Mr Chris Cawley and Mr Dave Nea, the company's founders, remain as shareholders and the name of the agency will stay the same for the time being.

"Over the years we have had approaches from several global agencies, but the TBWA offer attracted us because we see them as being a highly creative network," said Mr Cawley.

Details of the deal have not been revealed but it is likely that it will make multimillionaires of its two founders, who have grown the agency from a small start-up 10 years ago to an award-winning company with gross revenue of €4 million (on billings of around €30 million) and a staff of 32.

Its client list includes Dairygold, AIB, An Post and the Defence Forces.

TBWA is part of the Omnicom group and the work of its London office would be familiar to Irish audiences. That office is headed up by high-profile advertising guru Mr Trevor Beattie and it is best known for its controversial and successful campaigns for Pretty Polly, Wonderbra and Fcuk French Connection.

Mr Cawley has been known for his pro-independent stance.

"I have certainly been fiercely independent and at times vocal in my opposition to the loss of independence in Irish advertising," he says, "but you can only bring a business like this to a certain level without being part of a larger network," he says.

His agency reached a hiatus two years ago, he says. "We won Agency of the Year and, in the domestic context where you have to continually reinvent and revitalise yourself, we started to wonder where we could go next."

The move to join a global network was, says Mr Cawley, prompted by the necessity to "be highly competitive in the marketplace".

In new business pitches, an independent agency could be perceived as bringing less to the table than a globally aligned agency. Being part of a global network brings access to information banks, planning and creative models and sometimes additional manpower.

"Particularly in the past year or so, when talking to clients or prospective clients, we've felt that large Irish companies increasingly see themselves in more global terms," he says, adding that such companies are likely to be more inclined to do business with an internationally aligned agency.

Agency alignment in a relatively small advertising market such as the Republic usually means a shifting of accounts. Globally, TBWA counts Apple, Sony Playstation and Cadbury among its clients but Mr Cawley says it cannot be automatically assumed that these accounts will now migrate from their Irish agencies to his agency.

He does, however, hope that Cawley Nea will be a strong contender for another TBWA account, Hutchison Whampoa, which has new 3G mobile phone licences for several markets, including Ireland. It will launch its mobile phone service under the brand name "3" in 2004.

Bank of Ireland's sponsorship of the Football Championship is the most recognised associated sponsorship in Ireland, followed by the Guinness Hurling Championship, Murphy's Irish Open and the Budweiser Irish Derby, according to a survey.

The research was conducted by Irish Marketing Surveys. The bank, which is spending €1 million advertising and marketing its sponsorship, was name-checked by 47 per cent of respondents.

The results, which show three of the top four sponsors are alcohol companies linking themselves to sporting events, should be of interest to the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol, whose interim findings published last month suggest that it is looking closely at the role various marketing strategies play in the rise in alcohol abuse, particularly among young people.

Wilkinson Sword will be introducing its new range of Manchester United-branded products to the Irish market in September, following the razor company's deal with the football club to become its "official grooming partner".

The range includes a Manchester United Protector 3D Diamond razor and a variety of men's toiletries. Packaging and advertising will feature groups of the club's players. As the four-year global deal is with the club, the marketing of the product range will not feature individual stars.