The mc Group (formerly Media Consulta) is an international public relations network and advertising agency.[2] Established in 1993 in Cologne, Germany, the company has been headquartered in Berlin since the year 2000.[3]

Media Consulta International Holding AG
Company typePrivate (Aktiengesellschaft)
IndustryPublic Relations, Advertising
FoundedSeptember 17, 1993; 31 years ago (1993-09-17) in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Headquarters,
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
RevenueIncrease 497.7 million[1] (2015)
Divisions
  • mc PR
  • mc Advertising
  • mc Digital
  • mc Event
  • mc Corporate Publishing
  • mc TV & Filmproduction
  • mc Sport & Entertainment
Websitewww.mcgroup.com
Festival on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the ratification of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, planned and implemented by the mc Group on behalf of the Federal Press Office (2009)

The mc Group is Germany's largest communication agency and the third-largest German advertising agency. It is one of the key players in the industry,[4] currently ranking 13th worldwide, 2nd in Europe and 1st in the GCC/Middle East.[5] The mc Group pursues an integrated communication approach, offering a comprehensive service portfolio in a variety of fields.[6] The group of companies includes over 80 agencies on all continents.[7] The mc Group is the only agency worldwide to be present in all 28 member states of the European Union.[6] Clients come from the worlds of business (e.g. Generali, Lidl), media (e.g. RTL, CNN), politics (e.g. the European Union, the ASEAN, many national governments including Germany, Brazil, France or China) and sports clubs/associations (e.g. football, Formula 1, tennis, golf and the Olympic Games).[8][9][10][11][12] In 2021, Mc Group was ranked 17th on the Global Top 250 PR Agency Ranking.[13]

History

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Beginnings in sports and business

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In 1993, Harald Zulauf established Media Consulta in Cologne after previously working as a journalist and a PR consultant.[14][15] "Media Consulta Deutschland GmbH" was listed in the Commercial Register on September 17 of the same year.[16] As sports became an increasingly vital sector for the advertising industry, sports marketing developed into a key area of focus for Media Consulta.[17] Example of this include the communication management of major tennis tournaments, including the ATP World Tour, Davis Cup and Fed Cup as well as projects for Formula One.[18][19] The company also placed electrical appliance manufacturer Braun in the global spotlight during the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[20]

Campaigns for politics

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By the end of the 1990s, Media Consulta had established itself as one of Germany's leading communication service providers, measured in terms of revenue.[21] In 1998, the German Bundestag became Media Consulta's first political client.[22] In 1999, Media Consulta signed a million-Euro campaign from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry and the United Nations to enhance the country's image in Germany.[23][24][25] Political communication increasingly became the focus of the agency, along with public relations for large international companies and top industry associations.[26] Following the move of the German Bundestag from Bonn to Berlin, Media Consulta established a base in Germany's capital.[3] It set up its office in a historically-preserved former shoe factory at Köllnischer Park in Berlin's first and most central "Mitte" district, whilst at the same time continuing to expand its Cologne location.[27][28]

Internationalization

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After the turn of the millennium, "Media Consulta" became the "mc Group",[29] expanded into other member states of the European Union and subsequently received dedicated budgets from the European Commission.[30][31] For example, mc Group launched the "Feel Free to Say No" anti-smoking campaign for the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety.[32] In the years to follow, the group built a network of specialized agencies, including traditional advertising, film and television production,[14] launching its first offices outside of the EU, in New York City and Moscow in 2005. Additional offices followed in Brazil, China and India.[33] Reflecting the group's international focus, "Media Consulta International Holding AG" was established in 2006,[34] which is as a holding company for the corporate group.[35] In its home market Germany and Europe, the mc Group also enlisted additional key clients, e.g. the German Office of the Federal President and the Lidl discount supermarket chain in Germany and Spain.[36][37][38]

Market leadership

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By 2008, mc Group ranked among the leading service providers in the area of public relations on an international scale.[39] For several years, the company was the second largest communication agency in Germany, after Ketchum Pleon.[40] In 2011, mc Group overtook the competition for the first time and has successfully defended its market leadership to this day.[41][42] On a European and global scale, mc Group became one of the key players in communication and advertising industry.[4] The largest campaigns of recent years include communication for the "Deutschlandjahr 2013/2014" in Brazil, along with the international "Make it in Germany" campaign launched by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor.[43] The mc Group was also involved in a project for the Berlin Brandenburg Airport.[44][45]

Structure

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The corporate holding of the mc Group is "Media Consulta International Holding AG", involving a joint-stock company under German law. The purpose of the company, according to its statutes, is "international communication work for industry, media, politics and sports", along with all related business activities. The company is capitalized at some two million Euros.[46] Whilst not all companies in the mc Group are included in the annual financial statements of the holding company, there is a VAT group with the holding.[47]

The mc Group is represented by a management board composed of one or more people. Currently, Harald Zulauf is serving in this capacity. The supervisory board of the group is required to consist of at least three people and in the 2015 financial year, these were Ingo Frieske, Marcus Glasmacher and Peter Holzaepfel (Chairman).[47]

Divisions and locations

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Media Consulta International Holding consists of six divisions, or units. These are specialized expert agencies for public relations (mc PR), advertising (mc Advertising), digital communication (mc Digital), event marketing (mc Event), corporate publishing (mc Corporate Publishing), film production (mc TV & Filmproduction) and sports marketing (mc Sport & Entertainment).[48] In addition to the subsidiaries operating under the mc Group banner, Maximum Media GmbH, Global Translate GmbH and Global Travel GmbH are three companies operating largely independently.[49]

Since 2012, international business has been bundled in continental hubs,[12] currently being seven locations, in Brussels, Dubai, Johannesburg, Moscow, New York City, São Paulo and Singapore. Worldwide, more than 80 agencies belong to the network of the mc Group.[7][6]

References

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  1. ^ "Media Consulta meldet Honorarumsätze 2015" (in German). mc Group. May 19, 2016. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  2. ^ Juliane Paperlein (July 12, 2007). "Media Consulta baut sein internationales Netzwerk aus". Horizont (in German). p. 20.
  3. ^ a b Jens Wiegmann (September 18, 2000). "Kölner PR-Agentur Media Consulta zieht an die Spree". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). p. 18.
  4. ^ a b "Global Top 250 PR Agency Ranking 2016". The Holmes Report. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  5. ^ "Ranking Tables: PRWeek Agency Business Report 2017". PRWeek. May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "Network". mc Group. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Helge Weinberg (March 26, 2015). "Media Consulta startet erfolgreich in das Jahr 2015". PR-Journal (in German). Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "Campaigns". mc Group. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  9. ^ Markus Weber (March 9, 2012). "Media Consulta wächst und bleibt Leadagentur der EU-Kommission". Werben & Verkaufen (in German). Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  10. ^ "Kanzleramt und Media Consulta laden zum Tag der offenen Tür". PR Report (in German). August 17, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  11. ^ "Wende bei BPA-Etatvergabe". Horizont (in German). January 18, 2007. p. 1.
  12. ^ a b Mehrdad Amirkhizi (April 25, 2012). "Wir wollen unter die Top 5 in der Welt". Horizont (in German). Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  13. ^ "Top 250". PRovoke Media. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "MC versucht's mit Ablegern". Horizont (in German). February 10, 2005. p. 29.
  15. ^ Joachim Fahrun (November 27, 2013). "Gute Werbung verzweifelt gesucht". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). p. 12.
  16. ^ "Unternehmensregister (Amtsgericht Charlottenburg, HRB 48548)" (in German). Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  17. ^ Roland Karle (February 2, 1996). "Damit sich Profis nicht zu schlecht verkaufen". Horizont (in German). p. 60.
  18. ^ "ATP Tour im Internet". Horizont (in German). October 6, 1995. p. 12.
  19. ^ "Formel-1-Jahrestimer in Zusammenarbeit mit RTL". Horizont (in German). January 30, 1997. p. 34.
  20. ^ Ingo Frieske (February 25, 1999). "PR stärkt die Tiefenwirkung". Horizont (in German). p. 78.
  21. ^ "Boom der PR-Agenturen hält an". Horizont (in German). April 1, 1999. p. 4.
  22. ^ "Media Consulta werkelt für den Bundestag". Werben & Verkaufen (in German). April 18, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  23. ^ "Etats: Brasilien kommt zu Media Consulta". Horizont (in German). February 12, 1998. p. 40.
  24. ^ "Media Consulta wirbt für Brasilien mit harten Fakten". Horizont (in German). February 4, 1999. p. 29.
  25. ^ "Nicht nur Sonne und Samba". Handelsblatt (in German). March 2, 1999. p. 43.
  26. ^ Mehrdad Amirkhizi (November 2, 2000). "Berliner Luft lockt die PR-Agenturen an". Horizont (in German). p. 66.
  27. ^ Uta Alexander (September 30, 1999). "Ein neues Medienzentrum in Mitte". Die Welt (in German). p. 38.
  28. ^ "Expansion". Horizont (in German). May 2, 2002. p. 62.
  29. ^ "mc Group". Wayback Machine (in German). Internet Archive. July 20, 2001. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  30. ^ Marie-Thérèse Nercessian (June 6, 2004). "Nicht nur flotte Sprüche klopfen". Welt am Sonntag (in German). p. 84.
  31. ^ "Noch ein Etat für Media Consulta". New Business (in German). May 17, 2005.
  32. ^ "Media Consulta startet Nichtraucher-Kampagne für EU". new-business (in German). May 28, 2002. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  33. ^ Juliane Paperlein (July 12, 2007). "Media Consulta baut sein internationales Netzwerk aus". Horizont (in German). p. 20.
  34. ^ "Unternehmensregister (Amtsgericht Charlottenburg, HRB 83891)" (in German). Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  35. ^ "Media Consulta drängt auf internationale Märkte". Handelsblatt (in German). February 10, 2005. p. 17.
  36. ^ Ingeborg Sichau (February 9, 2006). "Bundespräsident wählt Media Consulta". Horizont (in German). p. 4.
  37. ^ "Lidl startet mit neuer Kampagne". Medianet (in German). January 18, 2006. p. 4.
  38. ^ Gerhard A. Pfeffer (March 29, 2012). "Lidl setzt auf Media Consulta". PR-Journal (in German). Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  39. ^ "Drei deutsche unter den größten Werbeunternehmen der Welt". Text intern (in German). May 16, 2008.
  40. ^ Ingeborg Sichau (April 17, 2008). "Verbreiteter Optimismus". Horizont (in German). p. 31.
  41. ^ Mehrdad Amirkhizi (April 26, 2012). "Wachablösung an der Spitze". Horizont (in German). p. 6.
  42. ^ "Das sind die größten deutschen PR-Agenturen". Werben & Verkaufen (in German). April 14, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  43. ^ Mehrdad Amirkhizi (May 10, 2013). "Media Consulta holt internationale Etats". Horizont (in German). p. 6.
  44. ^ Bärbel Unckrich (August 8, 2013). "Hilfe für den Berliner Flughafen". Horizont (in German). p. 4.
  45. ^ Thorsten Metzner (November 28, 2013). "Großflughafen sucht frohe Botschaft". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). p. 15.
  46. ^ "Satzung der Media Consulta International Holding Aktiengesellschaft". Unternehmensregister (in German). December 18, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  47. ^ a b "Jahresabschluss für das Geschäftsjahr 2015". Unternehmensregister (in German). March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  48. ^ "Integrated". mc Group. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  49. ^ "Media Consulta kündigt Ausbau des Networks an". Horizont (in German). March 4, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
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