BBDO Worldwide, the world's third-largest advertising agency, hopes to wrap up strategic alliance talks with struggling internet consulting firm, Organic, in the next couple of months. BBDO, a unit of
the Omnicom Group, said that it, and its digital marketing agency, atmosphere, were pursuing an alliance with Organic which has, along with other online advertising firms, has been hard hit by a
slowdown in the business. Omnicom, the world's No. 2 ad agency holding company, has a minority stake in Organic, and both BBDO and Organic share clients like British Telecommunications PLC and General
Electric Co. While talks have just begun about what form such an alliance would take, it would probably result in the two companies offering integrated online and offline services with a more planned
approach, BBDO Chairman and Chief Executive, Allen Rosenshine, said, adding that they currently work together on a more ad-hoc basis.
Adam Bernard