Industry says BBH will remain unchanged by acquisition, for now

Bogle told Campaign in an exclusive interview that BBH had gone to extraordinary lengths to secure a binding agreement with Publicis that will ensure the agency's autonomy going forward. 

On the part of BBH Asia, chairman Charles Wigley assured Campaign Asia-Pacific that the acquisition would not affect the agency's Asian operations in any way from a management perspective. "Resource-wise, we're clearly in a position where we can do more, which is very exciting," he added. "We won't suddenly be opening masses of offices and becoming a network though."

The agency would also be working independently within the Publicis Network, competing with sister agencies. "Competition is a good thing," Wigley said.

An industry expert familiar with BBH said news of the acquisition had come as a surprise to him but that he was confident in the agency's ability to negotiate a deal in which they retain an unprecedented level of control. "But the reality is, when you sell your company, there's an implication, not in the short-term, but certainly in the long-term," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous. 

A factor that helps ensure BBH's continued independence is the smooth succession plan laid in place by Bogle and Hegarty. In addition, the agency's uniqueness is likely to play to Publicis's advantage. 

"For now, I don't believe anything will change, until, at the earliest, Hegarty and Bogle stand down, or revenues slip—then there will likely be an impact," the source concluded. 

"Independence is definitely a state of mind rather than ownership,"  said Jon Wilkins, founder of Naked Communications, speaking from personal experience. "The first year after we sold Naked to Enero (formerly known as Photon), I spent several days painstakingly entering the Cannes Independent Network award, which once I'd completed, I realised we couldn't enter anyway."

Wilkins agreed that BBH's strong culture, clear positioning and long history will help ensure it retains its independence.

Where things might go wrong, he speculated, is if the parent network decides to overly influence or mould the direction of the company. "This could be by the holding company trying to manage a portfolio of agencies; positioning them against different clients and opportunities and trying to manage a clash roster; this inevitably can morph or lessen inherent culture."

In general, a parent network could also jeopardise the culture of an acquisition by failing to invest behind the management, Wilkins continued. "Most independently minded companies are built on a vision and a growth plan, often around diversifying skill sets and geographies," he said. While holding companies can be powerful accelerators of this, they have their own priorities, which can capture investment and may lead to challenges to individual agency development. 

But in the case of BBH and Publicis, "Publicis would be crazy to interfere, and they're not crazy," observed Wilkins.