Fred & Farid Launch Media Agency

Above and beyond its efforts to expand its international presence, this year's new growth driver for the Fred & Farid Group is the opening of a sixth office in France; an office that specialises in media buying. 

 

This new office is headed by Pascal Crifo, who has been with Fred & Farid ever since they started their communication group in 2007. 

 

The holder of a DESS in information and communication techniques from CELSA (Université Paris IV Sorbonne), Pascal Crifo launched his career in 1996 at OMD (Omnicom Group) as a TV media buyer for such brands as Total, Pepsi Cola, Sony, Arcade Music and Krups. 

 

In late 1997, he joined Mediapolis (now known as HAVAS MEDIA) and served as a senior TV expert for such groups as Peugeot Citroen and France Télécom. He has naturally shifted to multimedia consulting, taking charge of the Orange brand and the overall operations of the France Telecom group in the French market, as well as global co-ordination. At the same time, he has led several 'new business' projects, notably the entire Danone group gain, which he started handling in 2005. 

 

In 2006, he met with Fred & Farid, who had just won the Orange account for Publicis. Together, they launched the Open platform, and Pascal decided to embrace the creative team's corporate vision, thus taking part in the launch of FRED & FARID GROUP in January 2007. 

 

Pascal Crifo has surrounded himself with a hybrid team of creative professionals and media buying experts who work together to come up with media orchestration strategies. All of these team members are digital natives.

 

“Pascal is one of the French market’s top media talents. He’s got a shrews analytical sense when it comes to the media, digital technology and society. He’s managed to absorb the culture of our group splendidly and is now able to generate real creative added value,” said Fred & Farid.

 

The project stems from a solid conviction regarding the need to once again make creativity the core of the stra-tegic media planning process, which is too often governed by buying constraints and volume strategies that are not relevant to the actual message being conveyed. 

 

“Efficiency is achieved by means of the value of the ideas being discussed and the methods used to orchestrate them,’ said Crifo. 

 

This conviction is what motivated Fred & Farid and Pascal Crifo to develop this unique offer for the French market once they had developed it for all of the FRED & FARID GROUP’s client brands, including Wrangler, Orangina, L'Oréal-Diesel, Martini and Quick. 

 

FRED & FARID MEDIA will contribute to strategic analysis within the channels of communication up to the media buying phase; thanks to an exclusive partnership agreement, the agency benefits from the media buying structure of the HA¬VAS Media group, which is France's market leader in media buying.

 

‘Havas Media France is thrilled to join forces with Fred & Farid to develop an innovative offer intended for their clients and beyond. Creativity and adeptness are the best possible responses to the economic crisis. That's the whole point of the Fred & Farid Media project.’ Dominique Delport, CEO of Havas Media France.

 

‘FRED& FARID MEDIA will strive to provide advertisers with the best of both worlds, namely the effective performance and accolades of Havas Media, combined with the innate creati¬vity of our group.’ Fred & Farid 

FRED & FARID MEDIA offers its clients a full-service plan that involves the design of above-the-line media ideas, which are then orchestrated under the best possible conditions. The agency is also able to provide more specialised responses for up-and-coming operations in the immediate term, either alone or combined with other communication structures. 

 

FRED & FARID MEDIA has been secretly starting up its operations over the past several months. Several full-service operations have been designed by media teams in collaboration with the group's other structures: the MARTINI Kisser Casting (1 million fans have been recruited in 12 countries), the Kalenji Expérience (more than 6,000 runners taking part in the competition), the Domyos-Feel Beautiful operation, as well as the orchestration of new communication platforms for such brands as Coyote, Weight Watchers and Morgan. A number of new launches scheduled for 2013 are currently being fina¬lised. 

 

FRED & FARID MEDIA also offers strategic consulting services for all of the FRED & FARID GROUP's brands.

 

FRED & FARID MEDIA currently manages a media buying volume of approximately €30 million and is aiming for two to three times as much business starting in 2013.