Facing up to the fact that sometimes size can work against you — particularly when you’re so large across the region that you’re blocked from pitching for major clients in nearly ever category, including the likes of Sony and Procter & Gamble — Mindshare’s strategy in 2011 was to growth organically. The GroupM media agency did this by building its services and delivering best-in-class service on its core product of media planning and buying and then building additional services that rival the best of specialist agencies. That led to overall growth of 35 per cent across the region, according to the agency.

Just 15 months ago, the odds were stacked against the agency in one of the largest markets in the region. It had lost the Unilever business, then Pepsi shortly after. There was management change at the top and a new CEO was brought in. The big test for Mindshare was L’Oreal, one of the largest pieces of business ever pitched in China. This year, its fight continued as it battled to hold on to major clients like Yum and the US$150 million Yili business. Both clients had a history of reviewing and changing agencies every two years. Mindshare retained the pair, even convincing Yum — in a market where clients are notorious for reviewing agency partnerships each year — to lock in a five-year contract.

Today, Mindshare sees itself as the ‘original media thinker’. It believes that in a digitized world, data has never been more ubiquitous and accessible and the opportunity is there to inform and direct the creativity in thinking and prove effectiveness.

Moreover, original media thinking is forcing the agency to articulate how each relevant channel and discipline should work across the paid, owned and earned spectrum.

On the back of that thinking and its ability to fuse data and creativity, Mindshare picked up more 140 awards in Asia-Pacific last year. At Cannes, the agency won a Titanium Lion for its work on Nike’s ‘Write the future’ campaign that was developed in partnership with Wieden + Kennedy. It also brought home 21 major industry awards for PepsiCo.

Other key initiatives this year included a continued investment in talent, the launch of regional planning process Jazz, and expansion into the Korea market.