A meeting of minds, hearts and Seoul – Iris global CEO Ian Millner on Cheil deal
Earlier today it was announced that South Korean ad company Cheil has taken a stake in the independent agency Iris. Here Iris' global chief executive Ian Millner tells us what his agency will gain from its new partnership.
The iris founders
16 years ago iris was founded in the UK as a breakaway from one of the traditional networks in collaboration with Sony Ericsson.
We broke away because we didn’t want be put in a box, and we wanted to be able to do the right things for clients.
Over the years, our collaboration with Sony Ericsson led to international expansion and discipline diversification.
We now run at 17 offices strong, nearly 1,000 people and have just had our strongest year to date, commercially and creatively. We might just be the most interesting ‘fit for a future’ global creative company you’ve ‘sort of heard of’.
Cheil is 41 years old, and was founded by Samsung as a way of making sure it had an intimate understanding of its route to market as it sought to become one of the most competitive companies in the world.
The creative industry is a strange one. Continuously fragmenting and consolidating. It is often driven by vanity, by short termism, and is run mainly by veteran advertising executives.
Every year there is a fresh batch of start-ups, all vying for media attention. All hoping that they will strike it lucky. Quite often these talented and motivated businesses have one primary objective: to be acquired one day and to pocket some money.
Normally they are acquired by the local branch of one of the big advertising holding companies. This is a WIN/WIN. The networks get an entrepreneurial shot in the arm, the entrepreneurs get a few quid. They earn out, many move on. The cycle starts again.
I have also wondered what clients think about all of this. It must look funny. A sort of mad-men-money-go-round. I wonder how many of them stop and think ‘what’s the benefit to me’? And ‘where does the money come from’?
In my experience, no one really thinks about the client and no one thinks about the people.
We have always believed in the value and potential of partnership. Partnerships with our people… and partnerships with our clients. We simply wouldn’t exist without the early relationship we enjoyed with Sony Ericsson all those years ago.
Also, right from the beginning, instead of hording the company equity, iris’ founders chose to spread the shares out, seeking to reward and recognise the fair and meritocratic contribution of good and honest people at the agency. We have around 70 shareholders all over our network… all of whom will now have slightly better lives than they would have.
Over the years we have had several external shareholder partners. We’ve always been open to investors and collaborators if we thought it would help us achieve our ambitions for our clients and people.
We brought ourselves up to be different. That’s why we broke away in the first place. No normal deals with advertising holding companies… no quick turn deals with private equity companies… no pursuit of plc status!
Instead we have always sought people that we can work with, learn from, and people that really value what we do and see us as an exciting part of their future.
In Cheil, they share a drive and determination to positively disrupt the market. For our clients this means that they will enjoy the same iris creative innovation output as they have done over the last 16 years – and benefit from a greater global reach in the places they need us to be, and an extension of expertise, skills and services around the world.
No mad-men telling us what to do… but instead a brilliant growth platform, a genuine ‘East meets West’ network that allows iris to access 56 new markets around the world. A brilliant and intimate relationship with one of the most impressive and competitive electronics companies in the world. A friendly helping hand in the confusing but rewarding high growth markets across Asia.
Lots of people think that partnering with an Asian company will create cultural challenges. I find this ignorant and incredibly narrow-minded. Yes, there will be ‘language’ and time zone differences We have those differences within our own existing network – and any global business dealing with global clients will have to deal with the same.
What is more interesting about this partnership is the similarities.
The most important being ‘ambition’. We both want to be leading the evolution of the global creative network, and a real alternative to the traditional choices and a real threat to the convention.
It’s not always going to be smooth-sailing – but who would want that in an industry as diverse and dynamic as ours?