Unspun

Singapore-based marketing, advertising and PR trade newspaper Marketing is reporting that Golin Harris is planning to open an office in Indonesia. The market talk is that Burson-Marsteller is also planning to set up shop.

Burson used to be in Indonesia but pulled out around 1996 when the company imploded in Asia. The story then was that it tried to set up a system of “centers of excellence” in Asia as it did in the US, forgetting, however that there is a world of difference between, say, Singapore and Jakarta as opposed to Chicago and Miami. After they imploded some of the senior staff went off to form Cognito. Word has it that, regardless of marketing’s intelligence, Burson has already set up a  small office at the Jamsostek building.

There is also some talk that Golin has already a small office here, so the Marketing story makes things sound confusing. Perhaps Golin is seeking only to increase its presence here.

This is interesting stuff. it was only a matter of time before the big boys revived their interest in Indonesia. This is still the market with the exciting work and the profitability that you cannot get in markets like Singapore and Malaysia.

It is not so easy settign  up here though. the chief resource is people and you virtually have to grow them from scratch because there is very, very few senior PR people worth hiring for a consultancy. The big network will also have a big challenge as many companies now prefer to engage smaller, boutique PR shops instead of huge networkis. They have found that huge networks cost a lot and their service levels and capabilities are inconsistent from country to country.

So if Marketing is correct, welcome Golin and BM. Bring it on.