SHANGHAI: J. Walter Thompson (JWT), the fourth-largest advertising agency in the world, is banking on its integrated services to expand in the fast-growing Chinese market.

Its multidisciplinary integrated offering will enable different media to work together to create unified ideas, according to Tom Doctoroff, director of JWT Northeast Asia and CEO for Greater China.

Michael Maedel, president of JWT, said the company was striving to build a "solar system" to create seamless connections between JWT-led advertising, design, sampling, marketing, public relations, new media and customer relations management firms.

This has been a priority for Maedel since he was relocated from London to Singapore six months ago to capitalize on opportunities in the Asian market.

"The 'solar system' we are developing will be a growth model for other markets," Maedel told China Daily during his visit to Shanghai this week to attend Auto Shanghai 2007, where JWT's client Ford Motor will show its new products.

As part of its expansion strategy, JWT acquired Shanghai Always Marketing Services Co Ltd a year ago and plans to merge the firm with JWT-integrated communication agency Ignite Advertising.

According to Maedel, several more acquisitions are under way in China. JWT is negotiating with a public relations firm and an event marketing company. "Hopefully we can seal the deal this year," he said, adding that other agencies are also looking for ways to combine different communication channels.

Doctoroff said China holds key advantages for JWT's integrated approach.

"It's a huge market a market where scale matters. The (advertising) industry is still undeveloped and our ability to shape the landscape is probably greater than in a developed market," he said.

Maedel said Asia was the most exciting market for JWT. While the region now accounts for 25 percent of its global business, the figure will grow to 33 percent in the next couple of years.

Maedel expects China's advertising market to take over Japan's in the coming years. With total advertising revenue of 157.3 billion yuan in 2006, China now ranks third or fourth in the world in total advertising market, trailing the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.

(China Daily 04/26/2007 page14)