MEDIACOM Scotland, the advertising buyer, is expanding into Ireland as it seeks to build a £150m turnover business by 2011.
It is opening an office in Dublin tomorrow where it has already won contracts to plan and buy advertising for companies including Nokia, the mobile phone behemoth, and US confectionery giant Wrigley.
Euan Jarvie, managing director for MediaCom Sco
tland, said he hopes the expansion will allow it to win more contracts from multinational firms that frequently overlook Scotland but which have separate advertising budgets for Ireland.
"If you are Coca-Cola, for instance, you may have a small budget for Scotland, but that's wrapped up in the UK budget. Because Ireland is an international advertising country (in its own right] you have the chance to secure some big multinational contracts," he said.
Jarvie is aiming for the Irish business to generate a turnover of £50m over the next two to three years, and is targeting an extra £25m in turnover from Scotland. MediaCom Scotland currently turns over £75m a year.
He said he is confident the Scottish and Irish businesses can reach those targets despite the sharp downturn in advertising as large corporates rein in their budgets during the credit crunch. Last week, for example, ITV said it was bracing itself for a worse-than-expected 20% fall in advertising revenues from next month.
But Jarvie insisted the budget cuts also offer opportunities, as companies are reviewing the way they advertise and will consider contracting with different buyers and planners.
He added: "In the 11 years we have been working in Edinburgh we have never been working in anything other than an advertising recession."
