TRENDSETTER: MEDIA CONSULTA's CEO Harald Zulauf Bets on Big Growth in Latin America
Can you name a worldwide network comprised of 56 agencies all under the same brand, that's privately held, headquartered in Europe, and planning to open 20 offices in Latin America by year's end? Berlin-based MEDIA CONSULTA (MC) is doing just that. The company's founder Harald Zulauf has an impressive 17-year history of building on specialized expertise than will now surely catapult him and MC to the global mainstream.
According to Zulauf, "The opportunity in Latin America is there." He cites how the company initially grew by having a common European vision and now believes that similar principles can be applied to Latin America. MC currently has offices in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Santiago and Mexico City, which means a countdown to 16 more in the next few months. Over the last several years, the agency has been very active in the BRIC countries, particularly Brazil, where it has several divisions including a PR unit and companies dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility, working with NGOs and creating cultural projects for economic development.
In fact, MC's work in Brazil echoes a broader theme that is critical to the company's future development, especially as a privately-held one. Harald Zulauf is convinced that MEDIA CONSULTA's expansion will be due largely to a focus on CSR. "Consumers will not only look at the integrity of a single brand in the coming years, but at all the actions of the parent company," he says. "Consumers will not only be enticed by good creative, but by how socially responsible a company may be."
MEDIA CONSULTA started in 1993 as a Public Relations company based in Cologne, Germany, and then expanded to focus on sports marketing through an association with Mercedes and Tennis' Davis Cup and Federation Cup. The company moved its headquarters to Berlin in 1998 as it became more involved in Political Marketing and PR with accounts like Germany's Lower House of Parliament and the European Central Bank. It wasn't until 2001 that MC embarked on mainstream advertising and established a network, first in Germany and then with 15 members of the European Union. After 2006, the expansion continued outside of Europe.
Today MEDIA CONSULTA considers itself to be one of the leading PR and advertising agencies in Europe, as well as the German market leader in corporate and political communications and in youth marketing. As CEO Harald Zulauf says, "In the next 5 to 10 years, we expect to be in a similar leadership role in other continents, particularly Latin America."
