Batey not about to throw in the towel

In light of the news that Batey / Red Cell -- the agency which lost three of its five core accounts in a year -- recently won the $2.5 million Metro creative business, Marketing has reason to believe that the once-illustrious creative shop is working hard to win new business to replace its lost accounts and not about to give up the ghost. The Metro win marks the first for Batey in the five years since Group CEO Robert Kay came aboard.

"The agency has good experience with retail accounts, having had Batey Retail which managed Courts for many years, so the decision of Metro to go with them is reasonable and brave," said Jorg Dietzel, Group Chief Development Officer at Batey from June 2001 to September 2002 and currently head of his own brand consultancy.

"A major issue with Batey in the past decade was its high percentage of expats -- it was difficult for local talent to get ahead," he added. "The business world in Singapore subsequently changed, but Batey for a long time did not reflect that. Being run by expats gives you less insight into the Asian psyche."

Batey still retains Singapore Airlines as well as DaimlerChrysler as clients. Said Petrina Seah, Senior Marketing Manager, Mercedes Car Group at DaimlerChrysler SE Asia, "Batey will continue to be our advertising partner -- what matters most is the work, and we've received positive comments about our award-winning Mercedes-Benz and Me campaign" -- which the agency conceptualised.

The agency was as usual unavailable for comment -- opined Chris Foo, COO at Batey in 2004 and current CEO at The Alchemy Partnership, "Batey wants to get there before communicating its progress -- whatever they say now will appear as a smokescreen -- but for now, there's only one way to go, and that's up."