Two weeks ago the “M” in BMF, Matthew Melhuish, put his boots under the desk at Photon for the first time as the boss of the limping group’s Australian agency line-up (there’s about 14 of them in all, including PR shops).
Melhuish is widely respected and his keenest rivals agree that if anyone can make Photon’s domestic agency portfolio sing a little louder, Melhuish is the man.
But it’s not really what he wants is it? There were whispers back when Photon’s former front men, Tim Hughes and Matthew Bailey, were in overdrive trying to convince BMF partners to sell that it was Melhuish who was holding out; that he was the most cautious about the Photon deal.
If true, it would be the cruelest of ironies. Melhuish must be shaking his head just before it hits the pillow every night about the position he’s now in.
Instead of ending his earnout phase with BMF hitting Photon’s top performance band and therefore extracting a maximum cash out – which BMF did - Melhuish has been dragged into a much deeper hole: he’s got to help fix the company that promised him bags of gold. Perhaps Clemenger’s more financially conservative overtures should have been swallowed?
The truth is if Melhuish and Warren Brown are to get the earnout windfall they are owed from Photon, Melhuish is better off inside the company doing his utmost to ensure Photon bounces back. It’s a powerful incentive, just not the ideal one.
It will be a most intriguing time watching what Melhuish does in his new role. For one, he’s going to be the boss of one of his key homegrown rivals, BWM. Will BWM’s partners co-operate with whatever Melhuish’s new mandate becomes? Chances are they will, given they too are in a similar predicament with their earnout liabilities. But BWM is also thick with strong heads so a power tussle is not without precedent.
And there must be just a hint of concern for Melhuish with BWM’s flagship client Telstra. The telco is a huge revenue and profit machine for BWM – some estimates put it at upwards of 40% BWM’s business. Under Telstra’s new regime that could all change, and at worst, vanish. It’s an entirely speculative argument right now but possible.
Melhuish is a genuinely collaborative operator so expect him to strive first to unite his troops in finding operational and strategic improvements, before he has to plays hardball.
Just how Photon’s Australian agency group develops in the coming 12 months will be fascinating. Structurally, will Melhuish try to replicate BMF’s successful integrated model which shuns internal profit fiefdoms across the Photon agency group? He has hinted he might. Will he consolidate? Will he innovate? Will he be forced to become a more short-term, stockmarket-massaging divisional boss who makes decisions with one eye on the shareprice instead of the two he has historically put on long-term strategic benefits to his company?
Melhuish, who currently features in an AdNews TV series with Clemenger’s chairman, Robert Morgan, is philosophical. He says he wanted to move on to something new and he now has a challenge.
The “challenge” argument is true, even if it’s not about taking BMF beyond Australian shores. It’s also true that if he excels in the new gig, which many believe he will, then Melhuish becomes a management man for all seasons and there ain’t too many of those types around.
If Melhuish delivers on his part of the Photon comeback he’ll either scuttle to the sidelines in relief or get back to simpler plans like BMF taking on the world.
Email Paul at mcintyrerant@gmail.com.