http://adage.com/article?article_id=126845
Fast Feeder Notches Sales Gain of 5.4%, Trouncing Even Ascendant McD's
'Freakout': BK says prank drove sales.
By Emily Bryson York Published: May 05, 2008
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Burger King is giving rivals a solid thrashing -- and marketing is getting the credit.
While other fast feeders fault the recession and housing crisis for tepid sales, Burger King posted a healthy same-store-sales gain of 5.4% in its fiscal third quarter, well ahead of even McDonald's, which reported a comparatively anemic 2.9%. No. 3 burger chain Wendy's, now in the throes of an ownership change, saw same-store sales fall 1.6% at company-run stores in the same period.
Analysts are crediting Burger King's marketing with some of the gains.
"They're doing a super job on the advertising front," said UBS analyst David Palmer. "They're clearly connecting with the super fan that is the young, hungry male."
Burger King CEO John Chidsey said, "The current macroeconomic environment did not impact our top-line performance as consumers continued to seek our quality, convenience and affordability."
'Barbell menu strategy'
He credited the wildly popular "Whopper Freakout" campaign from Crispin Porter & Bogusky with driving sales through January and kid-friendly promotions involving SpongeBob SquarePants and Snoopy, from Campbell Mithun, with bringing families into the restaurants during the quarter. He added that the chain's "barbell menu strategy," with value-menu offerings such as the Whopper Jr. and the crispy-chicken sandwich at one end and premium fare such as the new BBQ Bacon Tendercrisp on the other, is also faring well.
It hasn't been an overnight turnaround for the King; this is its fourth consecutive year of positive same-store-sales growth. But until recently, it was McDonald's that was the industry's biggest engine of growth. The chain began a storied turnaround in 2003, and while its same-store sales are still on the upswing, the trajectory is slowing. McDonald's recently put the blame on the economy.
But even as gas prices climb and the economy gets more wobbly, UBS's Mr. Palmer expects Burger King to grow even stronger through the summer. It's got more new products in the pipeline, some blockbuster summer movie promotions lined up and is just starting a "reimaging campaign" to update the look and feel of its stores, some of which are 30 years old.
Mr. Palmer said the chain is benefiting from tactics that have boosted McDonald's bottom line in recent years, including longer hours and a wider breakfast value menu. Burger King has average sales of $1.5 million per store, compared with $2.2 million at McDonald's, so he said there's room for even more growth in the future. With lower sales at similarly sized stores, Mr. Palmer said, it's easier for Burger King to boost same-store sales by an extra $100,000 per store. McDonald's, on the other hand, may have to wait until its beverage initiative has launched nationwide to see sales bumps of a similar magnitude.
Movie tie-ins
Also on Burger King's side are alliances with some of the more hotly anticipated summer films: "Iron Man," "Incredible Hulk" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." For the last, Burger King is planning an Indiana Jones-themed sandwich: an Indy Double Whopper (two patties, pepper jack, bacon and Cajun mayo).
Upcoming are new-product plans aimed at kids. Burger King signed on to the Better Business Bureau's Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative late last year and will roll out "apple fries" in its locations nationwide this summer. The fresh-fruit offering is simply apples cut to look like fries, employing a proprietary technology that prevents them from turning brown. Burger King will also be adding a child-pleasing Kraft Macaroni & Cheese dish to the menu.
"Actually the majority of [the apple fries side] is going out à la carte and being consumed by adults as well," Burger King Chief Marketing Officer Russ Klein said on a conference call.
Early Web Traffic Is Still Better Than That of Earlier Viral Stunt but Chain Gets Some Bad Buzz too
By Emily Bryson York Published: December 10, 2008 Burger King declined to release specific traffic
information, but said that first-week site visits to Whoppervirgins.com exceeded
the number of first-week site visits to Whopperfreakout.com.
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Burger King's "Whopper Virgins" are going viral, just as the fast feeder intended. But while the cheeky campaign has yet to take off, early numbers and engagement with the videos is promising, according to an online tracking group.
It's still early, but the chain's new campaign appears to have good traction online. According to Visible Measures, a group that rates engagement for viral videos, the Burger King documentary released Monday has been uploaded more than 30 times on five different video sites. At least 80% of these placements are user-generated, meaning that the video has been copied, re-posted or remixed. In aggregate, these placements have received over 130,000 views and more than 450 comments.
Early traffic tops 'Freakout' The data does not include Burger King's traffic at WhopperVirgins.com. Burger King declined to release specific traffic information, but said that first-week site visits to Whoppervirgins.com exceeded the number of first-week site visits to Whopperfreakout.com. Whopper Freakout eventually managed to boost sales of the chain's marquee menu item.
Burger King spokeswoman Lauren Kuzniar said WhopperVirgins.com traffic was up 130% on Saturday and Sunday. She credited the teasers for the documentary's release that had run online all last week. Ms. Kuzniar added that 3% of views have been on mobile devices; this is the first time that mobile has registered in the company's data.
So while the virgins have yet to break out, the signs are good, said Visible Measures. "While the viewer numbers are still relatively small, the amount of placement activity is relatively high, particularly for 30-second repurposed TV spots," said Matt Cutler, VP-marketing and analytics. "[It's] tough to tell at this stage if the campaign will take off, but viral placement activity is an encouraging first step in the process."
Mr. Cutler pointed out that the campaign is already generating conversation, with more than 100 Technorati results and more than 500 Google results.
But to really get going, he said, it's going to take time. "You don't usually see a video with millions of views in the snap of a finger," he said. "It gets out there, it gets viewed, copies spread, word spreads behind it, and it gets copied, and accumulates views, so you see more of an S curve." Right now, he said, "we're at the base of the S."
Brand rep takes a hit?Not surprisingly, the campaign has offended some people. According to BrandIndex, Burger King has been building positive buzz since mid-October from a ranking in the mid-teens to the low-20s more recently, "but [this] campaign seems to be interrupting that positive momentum," said Ted Marzilli senior VP-brand group at BrandIndex parent YouGovPolimetrix. He added that Burger King does not appear to be reaching that many new people with the campaign, though the ones it does have been talking about the campaign -- and not necessarily in a good way.
Positive chatter has fallen from 24 on Dec. 1 to 20 yesterday and Mr. Marzilli said that women are reacting negatively to the campaign. Good buzz among the ladies has fallen from 25 to 17 over the same nine-day period. Positive buzz is up with men (which generally comprise the company's core target of "Super Fans"), but only slightly, from 21 to 23. Perhaps most surprisingly, good buzz is down significantly among young people aged 18 to 34, the company's core demographic.
"Really, you paid people for this marketing campaign?" video blogger Phil Defranco asked in a posting with more than 500,000 views. "People who their palette has been accustomed to ... rocks?"
But comments like that must still be music to the fast feeder's ears. To a provocateur like Burger King and its agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the only bad buzz is no buzz.
COMMENTS:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!! This has got to be the worst ad campaign of the century. What in the world does it matter if people that have never seen or tasted a burger in their lives - choose a whopper over a big mac? And aside from that, isn't bad enough that fast food is causing a health and obesity crisis in the US? Now we have to sicken the rest of the world with it? Give me a break. –BOCA RATON, FL
It's a condescending, money wasting effort - another example of Crispin hubris. - New York, NY –NEW YORK, NY
Hi all: Matt Cutler from Visible Measures here. I just took a look at the latest #'s for this campaign and the view count has surged by almost 20,000 views (over 15%) in less than 24 hours. It will be interesting to watch how this trends over the next several weeks. If you're into this kind of thing, we publish viral video performance research findings on our blog (http://blog.visiblemeasures.com) about once a week. Thanks! –Boston, MA
I think it misses it's mark...but what can we expect from the same people who ran ads about "Man Laws"?? –Bend, OR
Great article. To add to the buzz metrics, Trendrr tracking shows that since Dec 5th, there are 17,000 new blog posts, 200 news articles, and nearly 70,000 new search results for "Whopper Virgin". http://www.trendrr.com/tag/whopper ...So they are doing something right.... –DENVER, CO
If your goal is to never offend anyone, you're in the wrong business. –St. Petersburg, FL
Whoppervirgins has absolutely no relevance to the target. It is nothing short of a very expensive gimmick. Shock and Sensationalism is what creative seems to be all about these days. What they don't tell you is how many of these whoppervirgins suffered from the ingestion of the king of transfats afterwards...in other words, I hope they gave them lots of western toilet paper as part of their residuals. –Toronto, ON
I thought this was brilliantly done. The production value is great, it's innovative, and it depicts its subjects in a very tasteful manner. While it's all a little tongue-in-cheek, it looks like everyone involved (taste-testers included) had a lot of fun. You should also note that a bunch of the people said that they had no preference, and the last guy even says that he still prefers seal meat. They aren't depicted as simple third world inhabitants - they come across as regular people, like us, enjoying a whopper. –Boulder, CO
《遠見》雜誌2008年10月號 撰文＝吳錦勳 2008/10/13
世界熱平擠，因為能源使壞
「我們現在的情況，已不是努力避免撞到冰山的鐵達尼號，而是我們已經撞上冰山了，海水已經衝進下面的船艙。可是有些人還不想離開舞池，有些人則不想離開自助餐廳。」
這座「冰山」當然是個比喻。在《紐約時報》國際事務專欄作家湯馬斯．佛里曼（Thomas L. Friedman）眼中，這冰山更精確的說法是由「熱、平、擠」所形成的超完美風暴。
繼2005年《世界是平的》著作，譯成32種語言、暢銷全球400多萬冊，三年多後佛里曼於今年9月8日於美國出版新書《世界又熱又平又擠》（The world is Hot， Flat and Crowded）。一般預測，這將是繼美國前副總統高爾《不願面對的真相》後，影響全世界最重要的另一本探討綠色革命的著作。
人類歷史進入E.C.E
佛里曼指出，「平」已經不足以形容此刻的真實情況，此刻的世界還面對全球暖化（hot）、能源耗竭（flat）、人口爆炸（crowded）三箭齊發的衝擊。熱、平、擠同步衝擊後，又衍生世界的五大病症：
一、能源及天然資源供需問題。世界變平了後，全球將新增20億～30億新興中產階級，想要過美式生活，導致能源和資源將嚴重不足。
二、石油獨裁主義，如沙烏地阿拉伯、伊朗……，因為享有高油價，這些產油國保守政權，可以用大筆資金繼續統治合法性，而不需傾聽人民，更不需理會外國批評。
三、氣候變遷，全球氣候詭譎難測，更長的乾旱、雨季、更強的颶風等。
四、生物多樣性喪失，物種消失速度比正常快了1000倍，將是人類文明有史以來第一個必須學諾亞造方舟，挑選生物最後配對的時代。
五、能源匱乏，全球仍有16億人口，過著連電器開關都沒有，從沒用過電的生活，顯示能源分配極度不均。
佛里曼分析，三大面向、五大問題，讓人類自千禧年後進入一個截然不同的新時代──「能源氣候年代」（Energy Climate Era）。公元2000年，人類歷史正式進入這個E.C.E。
他也一語點破，要解決熱、平、擠最大的癥結，就在「能源」。
能源驅動科技，已岌岌可危
由於石油價位居高不下、存量也不足，而石化原料又釋放溫室氣體，影響氣候變遷，加上世界人口愈來愈多。造成傳統能源所驅動的人類科技文明，已經岌岌可危了。
佛里曼指出，今天美國所有的伺服器，如果要24小時運作，所花費的電力大約是六到七個1000兆瓦的核電廠，這個數字每年都在上升。這是可怕的數字。如果世界沒有電，佛里曼以前所主張的「世界是平的」中的十座「堆土機」（flatter）將有九座停擺。
因此，如果佛里曼像1963年金恩博士的演講「我有一個夢」，他的夢，絕對是綠色能源。
能源問題到底有多迫切？佛里曼引述加州理工學院（California Institute of Technology）化學及能源專家奈特．路易斯（Nate Lewis）的計算，在2007年，全世界能源用量的平均比率大約為13兆瓦（13 terawatts），預期到2050年時，仍然會增加一倍成26兆瓦。以一般核發電廠隨時可生產的10億瓦（1 gigawatt）電力，從現在到2050年之間，若只靠核電供應，那麼必須興建1萬3000座核子反應爐，或在未來的30年內，每天興建一座新的核子反應爐，而且從今天開始。興建一座核反應爐，一般需要花七、八年時間，現在能源等於每天要增加一座，光想像都相當駭人。
替代能源方案，已迫在眉睫
早在《世界是平的》一書裡，佛里曼就曾經奉勸美國小布希總統，如果真要為後世留下些什麼偉大功業，「那就是找到節用或替代石油的方案，十年內讓美國能源自主。這個大型科學計畫就是我們這一代的登陸月球計畫。」但小布希沒有這樣做。佛里曼批評，美國太陽能或風能扣抵稅額案已經在國會擱置快一年了，還沒有通過。他氣憤地對美國人高喊：「要換你們國家的領導人，不要只換家裡的（省電）燈泡。」
9月初《遠見》赴華盛頓專訪佛里曼時，也特別拜訪了一位在美國能源部工作的台灣博士。下班時間他開著豐田20年老車，在獨立大道上疾駛，一眼望去是車陣裡最謙遜的小車，他看了前方轎車的大屁股說：「你看啊，美國最小的車，都比歐洲的大，油價高，車這麼大，加油很傷啊。」談到油價，他在換檔時說了個笑話：「美、日兩國一旦新節能法規通過，日本就找工程研究，怎麼把問題解決，而美國呢，就趕快召集一堆律師，想盡辦法讓法案癱瘓、不能施行。」這個笑話有幾分真實。佛里曼就數度批評美國油商、遊說團體。這也解釋了日本豐田有了動力混合車Prius，而美國通用汽車卻危機重重。
熱平擠卻有新商機：綠能產業
佛里曼將人類能源一分為二。煤、石油和天然氣，是屬於來自地獄的燃料（fuels from hell），在氣候上造成全球暖化，在政治上也造成區域政經的不安和恐怖。一句話，燃燒是萬惡之源。而另一種燃料是風力、水力、潮汐、生質能及太陽能等來自天堂的燃料（fuels from heaven），它們都來自大自然，都可以無止境再生，都不會排放有害物質。
佛里曼因而主張，清潔動力技術，將是下個十年的全球標準，將是下一波全球產業的主力。那些可以發展、製造和販售更多這類型技術的國家，將更具競爭優勢。
《財星》（Fortune）雜誌就指出，2007年美國創投界已投入高達22億美元，尋找有如網際網路般的下一波產業──綠色能源。佛里曼在接受《遠見》獨家專訪時也說：「那些有綠色乾淨能源科技的國家，將享有永續的成長，永續議題不再是面對威脅的危機處理，而是迎戰下一個世紀的大好機會。」
正面想像力，創新能源革命
面對能源危機，此刻需要的是具有革命意義的「轉型性創新」，革命的真正意涵是「大破大立」（disruptive breakthrough），佛里曼引用毛澤東的名言：「革命不是請客吃飯」，亦即要求貫徹的是創造性破壞。有趣的是，佛里曼在書中還闢專章批評，近幾年來綠色已經變成一種大型派對，吸引很多人突出類似「205種方法輕鬆救地球」「十種方法綠化你的性生活」、素食保險套、太陽電動能按摩器等，好像很輕鬆就能解決地球問題的方法。
佛里曼批評，這些脫西裝、不打領帶等零星點綴花俏點子，都只淪為熱鬧的派對而已。缺乏創新所達到的市場規模，更無法系統性解決問題，根本不能徹底解決問題。那麼該如何找到能源問題的解決方案？佛里曼主張，抹平的世界中，唯一不可取代的是人類獨具的想像力。但想像力分正面及負面，蓋達組織開飛機撞世貿大樓，具有行動藝術的暴力美學，但它是邪惡的。但是新能源革命卻代表意著創新、競爭、永續，及開放合作，動員的是解決人類問題的正面想像力。
去年底，佛里曼在麻省理工學院裡，對正面想像力有了全新的感動。在那裡他偶遇了麻省「車輛設計高峰集團」（Vehicle Design Summit Group），小伙子硬是把他拉去，他們像當初開放Linux作業系統開放原始碼那樣，集合25個，包括印度和中國等世界各地大學院校的小組，設計並建造一輛插電式油電混合動力車，每個小組負責不同套件。佛里曼驚呼，「我以前還覺得自己幫大學報紙寫寫文章就算很酷，而這些孩子是在建造超高效能的車子耶！」他們想辦法建造的車子，降低其從生產到報廢過程中95％的具體能源、材料及毒性，同時每公升能跑100多公里。
綠領誕生，全新跨界人才
面對能源新時代，佛里曼採取的也不是道德的勸說，而是銅臭般的引誘。做為資本主義的信徒，全球化的擁護者，佛里曼巧用資本主義的趨利性格，利用資本主義達到最高效益，目的是要創造「瘋狂、渴望又破錶」的需求——「比大地之母更有力量的是利益之父。」
面對新時代 也將開啟新的工作機會：「綠領工作者。」
綠能革命需要不一樣的工程師，他們要能打造綠色建築、綠色交通工具和綠色電源。
佛里曼說：「綠領不只不會被外包，隨著化石燃料的能源供應枯竭，全球人口增長，它必定成為明日之星的產業。」在藍領、勞力密集製造業工作都已外包給中國或東南亞國家，這些擁有綠能科技的「綠領」人才，是未來已開發國家最保值的工作，不會被外包的腦力。
誰能更綠一籌，誰就是贏家
當人類把創新思惟與能源集中到綠色能源科技中，未來「更綠一籌」（outgreening），就是新的競爭武器了。
一般企業界都認為環保法規會增加成本，有礙發展，但哈佛大學商學院教授麥可．波特（Michael Porter），於1991年首度提出波特假說（Porter Hypothesis）指出「規劃良好的環保法規，將會刺激技術創新，使得成本降低，並且提升品質。」誰比誰更綠一籌是創新的DNA，也是競爭的最新武器，已經有愈來愈多的例證。
IBM Google 省碳又節能
電腦巨擘IBM為瑞典首都斯德哥爾摩，設立動態節能交通系統，讓每輛開車進入市區的車子都被追蹤，包括開什麼車？何時進入某區域？排放多少廢氣？這些均影響駕駛的過路費。去年這個系統經過七個月試用，成功減少都會區20％的交通流量，今年8月全面實施。
8月19日宣布，網路搜尋引擎巨擘Google旗下研究部門Google.org，將投資1000萬美元設立地熱探勘公司，同時資助地熱研究及測量機構，協助能源公司深入地殼，以「提升式地熱系統」。生產潔淨的電力能源。
紐約大蘋果現在也變成了綠蘋果。三年前，在紐約市長彭博（Michael Bloomberg）的推動下，紐約市議會以50：0的票數通過新法規，今天，紐約市1萬3000輛計程車裡，有超過1萬輛的混合動力車，大部分是福特Escape，也有豐田Highlander、Prius及其他廠牌的車子。
奇異風力發電，沃爾瑪省電
而奇異更因丹麥、西班牙、德國等歐盟國家政府長期將全國電力配比列入風能，且提供長期補助。也使得奇異的風力事業部門靠歐洲養大，現已進入第三代風力發電機的創新。
全球百貨業龍頭沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）2007年宣布一項雄心勃勃的目標，希望在一年內銷售一億個小型螢光節能燈泡，去年10月，沃爾瑪宣布已經達成這個目標，節能燈泡的效用相當於減少路上七萬輛汽車，其所節約的能源可提供45萬單親家庭的電力所需。
今年底，沃爾瑪還打算將公司所有的7萬2000輛曳引式拖車貨車燃料效能提升25％，幾乎相當於減少路上6萬8000輛汽車。
除了這些最新的企業投入外，在1970年代第一次石油危機後就真心投入開發替代能源的國家，今天都已經有了新的國力。
各國應塑造節能市場
例如日本大力提高汽油稅，推展提升能源效率運動，也間接助長汽電混合動力車；丹麥也積極發展風力發電，且用課稅方式使能源變得相當昂貴。巴西展開從甘蔗提煉乙醇的國家計畫，以減低對進口石油的倚賴，如今巴西靠自產的石油和乙醇工業，不需要進口原油了。
政府是法規政策的制定者，往往大筆一揮就影響整個產業的發展。例如日本經濟產業省剛在今年8月提出237億5000萬日圓（約合新台幣69億3000萬元）的太陽能補助金計畫，預計在2020年日本太陽能發電量為目前的十倍、2030年達到40倍。台灣太陽能產業99％出口，也是靠日本政策對產業的補貼，才能存活發展。
不過到目前為止，人類還是沒有找到可以生產大量、清潔、可靠和便宜的新能源。在風能、太陽能、地熱、太陽能、水力和纖維素乙醇等領域，得到的只是漸進式發展，還沒有達到突破性的創新。
佛里曼因此呼籲各國政府應該要大刀闊斧整頓目前草木亂生的能源花園。
例如，提高汙染性燃料稅收，創造潔淨能源的需求；設立原油汙染能源最低價，讓潔淨能源的創投資本敢持續地投入，不讓原油價格回跌，使得潔淨能源需求消失等。
佛里曼主張，現在需要的是一套聰明地把政策、法令、租稅誘因和反誘因（disincentives）設計進去的系統，確保更多清潔電力的來源和效率，讓學習曲線降得更快，也讓每一種產生清潔動力的新概念，可以更快超越實驗室的研究階段。
機會在困難中
轉捩？臨界？
佛里曼非常喜歡的一句話是約翰．霍普金斯大學外交政策專家邁可．孟德邦（Michael Mandelbaum）的觀察：「人，不會因為有人告訴他們得改變而改變。他們只有在自己告訴自己必須改變時，才會改變。」
現在，橫在人類面前是的兩條路，轉捩點？臨界點？我們讓人類歷史停留在這個臨界點，接著往下走？還是我們願意以行動，使得它變成歷史軌道扭轉方向的「轉轍器」？誠如愛因斯坦所說：「在繁複中尋找單純，在喧鬧中尋找和諧，而機會就在困難之中。」
機會就在困難中。能源綠色革命的龐大利基也就在世界又熱、又平、又擠中。剩下的就看我們怎麼做了！
作者 : Brain.com記者 莊守禾 2008/08/04 10:32:31
全球最大的獨立代理商聯盟之一，在世界上五十多個國家，擁有超過70家獨立代理商會員的ICOM(The Global Independent Communications Network)國際獨立傳播聯盟執行長Gary Burandt表示，許多行銷傳播代理商選擇保持獨立的原因，主要就是避免來自集團核心管理的壓力，針對地方市場，保持個別的靈活運作。而ICOM聯盟，從五十多年前在美國開始發展，原本是一家代理麥當勞的地區性廣告代理商，後來為了管理美國幅員廣大的市場，與其他許多地區性廣告代理商策略聯盟，互相分享資源，也有經濟規模效益。之後，聯盟拓展到加拿大、歐洲等英語地區，再逐漸往其他語系國家發展，目前台灣獨立代理商──聯廣，也在2006年初加入ICOM聯盟。
不加入全球性傳播集團，選擇保持獨立的代理商，為什麼還想要受到聯盟規範呢？Gary Burandt指出，加入集團與聯盟的差異，在於態度和精神的不同。全球性傳播集團，屬於金字塔型的組織，不願被管理，就要向上發展和競爭；而聯盟的組織是平的，除了運作聯盟的總部(Headquarters)，會訂製一些共享和運作的規則外，會員們都在地區各自為政，只是有一個全球性的組織支援系統，可以幫助瞭解其他國家的消費文化和市場。除此之外，全球性傳播集團，如WPP、IPG等，多以集團發展為前提，對績效不好的地區性代理商施壓，甚至逼迫裁員。對地區性代理商來說，常要面對集團願景和地區服務的重要性，孰輕孰重的困境。
但如果，獨立代理商加入ICOM聯盟中，是為了取得不同市場的訊息，是否會產生競爭關係，而隱瞞資訊流通？Gary Burandt認為，ICOM聯盟，著重在不同地區市場發展，每個市場僅讓少數獨立代理商成為會員，例如，台灣只有聯廣，而美國幅員較廣，幾個地區有不同的代理商代表，避免競爭。而且，相對於全球性傳播集團內部的權力鬥爭，聯盟平行化的組織型態，是可以避免這種情況發生。再者，全球性傳播集團，成員要負擔集團總部、地區性集團辦公室和運作人員的成本，並且，許多地方性行政運作，包括人員運用、業績提報、預算控管及利潤上繳等，都要整理成書面向上呈報，成為地區性代理商不小的負擔。獨立代理商組成聯盟，是希望在獲得全球性資源與保有自主空間中，取得平衡。
而面對傳播態勢的變化，Gary Burandt認為，就ICOM的角度，有三個方向要繼續發展，一是「數位行銷」，網路媒體發展至今，許多人都在嘗試駕馭這個新媒體，但是還沒有一個真正有效果，可以評估的操作方式；二是，讓不同市場之間的ICOM會員，可以共享更多客戶資訊，增加聯盟效益；三是，亞洲市場發展正熱，強化亞洲的會員擴張和市場瞭解。
台灣的廣告代理商，仍幾家本土公司，選擇保持在地化運作的優勢，但大多都已經國際化了。廿一世紀公關董事長丁菱娟就曾表示，加入奧美集團前，也在「自由」與「管束」之間掙扎很久，雖然本土化是公關服務的核心價值，但人才培訓，更是服務的根基。於是，最後選擇併入奧美集團，換取豐沛的教育、財務、IT系統、全球網絡資源。而無論加入集團或結合聯盟，如何在國際化中保有本土優勢，經營上保持靈活彈性，在本土化中又能擁有國際化的資源和服務，才是保持競爭的主因。