MEDIA AND MARKETING: Two seasoned campaigners of the advertising world were yesterday signing papers to create the second-largest Irish-owned ad agency in the Republic.

Mr Des O'Meara and Mr Stuart Fogarty of AFA, reacting to the encroachment of the large multi-nationals on their patch, have decided to pool their resources.

The deal is a straightforward merger and both men claim no money has changed hands. But yesterday the advertising industry described the deal as more a takeover of O'Meara by AFA than a simple merger.

The appointment of Mr Fogarty as managing director of the new entity (to be called AFA O'Meara) and Mr O'Meara as chairman was noted by the industry.

The agency will certainly benefit from a pooling of resources and AFA O'Meara will be one of the most powerful agencies in town. Mr O'Meara said yesterday he expected to see more consolidation among Irish-owned agencies.

Most in the industry agree. The days of the small independent Irish agency are numbered and most of the independents are believed to be searching for international partners. The other alternative is to link up with another Irish name.

Nowadays it is easy for large international brands to stick with their London or New York-based agency and appoint a Dublin-based agency to "Irish-ise" their campaigns. There is still money in this kind of activity but the creative input is minimal.

Mr Fogarty said yesterday the new company did not intend to "knock" the international behemoths. "We are a full-service agency and we are happy to be so," he told reporters. "We still believe the media side should be fused with the creative side."

Mr O'Meara put it another way. "Unlike its major competitors, AFA O'Meara remains owned by the people who actually work in the company, not by UK or US shareholders. Consequently, the agency will continue to ensure that local decisions benefit local clients."

The past few years have been tough for O'Meara in particular - some big accounts have been lost and several senior management figures have left. But the new entity, with 40 people plus, should at least guarantee that firm's future.

Not part of the deal, Mr O'Meara explained, is the agency Rubicon. It is owned by his company but he said it would continue to have a separate existence. Its main business has been recruitment advertising, which has taken a battering in recent years, but 2003 should be slightly better.

98 FM's Fugitive

With FM 104 and 98 FM neck and neck in Dublin, both stations are trying to gain the upper hand. The "Fugitive" campaign of 98 FM has proven to be a big success, at least in terms of public exposure for the station.

The campaign, based around catching a mysterious man known as "The Fugitive" and claiming a large cash prize, has done wonders for the station, with other media outlets like TV3 covering the campaign on their news bulletins.

Radio enthusiasts poured scorn on the campaign at the start because it was not original to Ireland, having been tried by stations in Britain and Australia. But whatever about its originality, the campaign has been highly visible.

There was mayhem in Heuston Station recently when 300 people arrived to pursue "The Fugitive", while customers could not get into the car-park of Power City in Sallynoggin because of a false alarm.

With competition between 104 and 98 so fierce, observers wonder whether 104 will respond in kind or continue to do its own thing.

A long way from sandwich boards

Various forms of ambient media have managed to colonise all sorts of public space in recent years. A new company, Unique Perspectives, has managed to stake a claim to sites in hairdressers and barber shops, fitting-rooms and even sandwich wrapping.

Ambient media is advertising placed in the "surroundings" or margins of public space. Generally, media that do not fall into the TV, press, poster, radio or cinema bracket can be described as ambient media.

Unique Perspectives has introduced three new products to the Irish market. SalonSites places poster advertising in hairdressers and barbers. FashionSites places poster advertising in the fitting rooms of ladies high-street fashion outlets, while MediaBags involves advertising on take-out sandwich bags distributed through city-centre cafés and delis.

Mr Duane Byrne, managing director of Unique Perspectives, says these kind of formats work because they are placed in environments where people are in a relaxed, receptive and spending mood.

While advertising on more traditional forms of media such as radio, TV and newspapers is showing signs of decline, ambient media is the fastest-growing sector in the advertising arena, even if it still remains tiny compared to the traditional sectors.

The sandwich offering is not as strange as it may sound, Mr Byrne says, as it offers brand managers an opportunity to target 18- to 35-year-old ABC1s.

Dublin sandwich-buyers are apparently highly qualified, well-educated, technologically literate and relatively well-off. So now you know.

Media, advertising and marketing news should be emailed to eoliver@irish-times.ie