The Publicis Omnicom merger heralds the next rise of the independents, according to Harold Mitchell. He's right and CumminsRoss chief executive Sean Cummins reckons a confederation of independents will spring up in Australia.
The big beasts will have to be "very careful not to abuse their market dominance" said Mitchell. Because while those with total power are useful, "if you abuse it you are no longer useful".
Just as he and the likes of Dennis Merchant reacted to the might of George Patterson in the '70s, he said, so will the independent thinkers react to market consolidation.
In fact, they already have. Cummins has hinted that the time is ripe for a network of independents to take on the might of the increasingly bigger players. He told AdNews the Publicis Omnicom merger created a massive opportunity, because clients will be "rightfully concerned" about conflicts.
"Advertising is an IP business. The chance that your IP could be shared, compromised, could be chilling for clients."
Analysts have suggested that the holding company model can get around conflict, but Cummins said that it might fuel a move to another model: the anti-holding company paradigm where independents form an alliance to service global clients.
He's just returned from France, where he's been talking with Richard Pinder, the former head of Publicis Worldwide who has some experience of both worlds (read this). They were discussing how to make The International House model work with CumminsRoss in Australia.
Neither he nor Pinder saw the merger coming, but it underlines the need for that new model, Cummins suggested. But isn't acting as a co-operative obvious?
"It's only obvious when it is stated. A lot of advertising people are very conservative when preserving high salaries and the status quo. It's a tussle between swashbuckling and feeding your family."
CumminsRoss, he said, was all about challenging the model. The Publicis Omnicom merger and the likelihood of further consolidation will only whet the appetite of others to do things differently.
"The opportunity it creates is sensational. The competition isn't that meaningful any more, [the merger] takes the sting out of it. That is not healthy for creative people. The opportunity that creates for people who want to go at it and create an alternative is there to be taken. But we have to create it."
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