Mixed bag for interactive

The top 10 list of the interactive agencies is arguably one of the most diverse among the Agency of the Year survey, with local integrated companies, media buying groups, listed e-commerce companies and search marketing portals making up the top 10 list.

Leading the field once again is OgilvyOne, which took a strong 9.8% share of all client recommendations. This was a convincing lead against its nearest rival, MRM Worldwide which took a 5.33% share of all client recommendations and media buying group MindShare which slotted in at third place with 4.5% share.

In what could say more about clients' use of the online and interactive mediums in Hong Kong, rather than the standard of interactive services, client marketers recommendations from the property, construction and utilities sectors were non-existent, with not a single interactive agency receiving a recommendation. Same too for the financial services sector, where again, not one single interactive agency received a client recommendation.

It was a very different story from the agency side however, with recognition from senior creative agencies managers consistently high. On this front OgilvyOne led the field, with 18.95% of creative agency executives nominating OgilvyOne as the preferred interactive agency. Media agency executives however overwhelmingly selected MindShare as the preferred interactive agency.

When it comes to regional responsibilities, it seems those with wider regional duties are far more knowledgeable about the interactive agencies. Agencies including Tribal DDB scored high from regional management, with recommendation from senior Hong Kong management well below that of regional decision makers.

Interactive agencies with far stronger appeal included OgilvyOne, with 21% of local recommendations as opposed to regional. XM Asia also received strong local recommendations as opposed to regional, with a 5.26% of local recommendations as opposed to 1.98% of local recommendations. G2, the interactive arm of Grey Worldwide, scored a strong 7.89% of local recommendations as opposed to just 0.66% for regional decision makers.