Business
Sir Martin's adventure in Africa
Sir Martin Sorrell, the Chief Executive Officer of WPP. A marketing communications company. File Photo
Posted Monday, September 6 2010 at 11:44
It was on the back of the Coca Cola account that spans 27 countries that Scangroup transformed itself into a major regional player.
Koome made his name as the head of PR for Kenya Airways, getting into the business through the non-traditional route of public relations, running Ogilvy’s communication shop. He made Ogilvy PR such a success that he was appointed to head the East African operations in 2005.
Bharat and Koome were known in the industry as bitter rivals. Scangroup struggled to build its PR division, while Ogilvy PR flourished.
Ogilvy struggled to win big advertising pitches, until three years ago — particularly after it snagged Essar and recently the Zain account, to which it beat Scangroup down to the wire. Then the two men started talking seriously.
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