Deficit as advantage

Making Belgium a service centre for Europe is the only way to make all our businesses grow

In Porter Novelli’s reception area every employee has her or his picture hanging on the wall. On the extreme left a few hooks are empty. Here, too, the crisis has struck. ‘Since the summer we are growing again,’ says managing director Luc Missinne, ‘but with the right mindset we could grow a lot more quickly. It’s time Belgium became the access point to Europe. After all, no one is better suited than us.’

Porter Novelli felt the dip caused by the crisis quite early on. Luc Missinne: ‘Last year, when everyone was still enthusiastic about their turnover, we were already up against it. It’s because of the type of work we do and the type of customers we have.’ Porter Novelli is mainly focussed on international work or on multinationals that have a branch in Belgium. ‘These multinationals are more market-sensitive than your average SME. They keep their budgets tight and take quick action after developing a business prognosis. The marketing communications budget is therefore the first to be cut. At the same time we also do a lot of work at corporate level. An advertising agency concentrating on product launch would only become aware much later that something was wrong with our economy. After all, a product that has to be launched can’t wait, but a future acquisition can be better planned. I therefore had no option but to cut our staff down to eighty per cent. There is nothing worse than letting talent go, especially if talent is the only thing your organisation has to offer. Fortunately I quickly understood what was going to happen at the economic level and took prompt action. Since then we’ve been able to work in a stable way. I haven’t had to reduce my work force any further and since this summer we are growing again, though I want to wait as long as possible before starting to recruit.’

The Belgian entrepreneur

Sensing when things get tight, taking action, making adjustments: only a real entrepreneur knows how to handle this. Missinne: ‘We need more entrepreneurial blood in the consulting world. The normal career path takes a senior consultant to a manager’s position, but even if you have special expertise as a consultant it doesn’t make you an entrepreneur. Porter Novelli has become as big as it is today because of the acquisitions it made. After a takeover the original entrepreneur and founder will remain in charge of the office. After all, you must – once you are in that position – have a pretty good feel for managing the business.’ Missinne calls himself an entrepreneur first and foremost and only then a consultant. ‘I represent a relatively small country within Porter Novelli International, but still I’m the only European on the Executive Board. That has to do with Belgium’s position in Europe, of course, but even more with the fact that I behave like an entrepreneur.’ Belgium is actually a country of entrepreneurs, at least according to Missinne. ‘Belgium is teeming with self-employed people. There are so many who want to achieve this, but they all come up against the same limitation. Our domestic marked is limited.’

Before his career at Porter Novelli Luc Missinne and two partners started their own communications agency. Missinne: ‘After a period of intense growth our expansion ground to a halt. The big problem is the limited profile which you have in Europe as a Belgian agency. We looked at various possibilities of growing further and also of working internationally. Do we go public? Do we join forces with others? Do we let ourselves be taken over by the big boys? Three options, which we examined in that order. And look where I am today. Going public really isn’t easy. Joint ventures were possible, and we did find some worthwhile candidates. But each time it soon became clear that these were slightly more experienced players who were waiting to merge with a dynamic young business as a way of expanding and cash in after that.’ So after serious reflection Missinne threw in his lot with Porter Novelli. ‘Belgian companies don’t become giants, that’s true, but nobody just sells their baby. I did my homework and this was the only way to grow.’

Limitations

If acquisition is the only way to grow significantly, there is something wrong with the system. So how can we solve or change that in future? Missinne: ‘The communications sector very quickly encounters conflict situations. If you gain a client in the IT business, you can write off all the other IT companies. In some other sectors having two clients doing the same thing makes you an expert. In our sector it’s a limitation. As a media contact person you can’t phone the same journalist for two competing brands. How would you explain it? Hi, I’m phoning for Coca-Cola and also for Pepsi. I use these two names because it sketches a caricature of the situation. Such conflicting client relationships put a big damper on growth. As a public relations or communications agency in Belgium, moreover, you are faced with a very limited market, which is also incredibly complex and expensive as a result of bilingualism. Besides, the government doesn’t invest at all in communications delivered by private companies. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, thirty percent of the money spent on communications comes from government. In Belgium there are only two names, and after mentioning Noël Slangen and Wim Schamp there‘s nothing more to say about the role of government. Our government seems convinced that it’s communicating well on its own.’

Fix it

Forcing clients to accept that you’re also managing the interests of their direct competitors is impossible. Tempting government to engage in better and more professional communication is also a tall order, but there are other things that can be done to stimulate growth of Belgian companies. Missinne: ‘The average American still thinks that he’s got to go to Europe via Britain. He’s got no difficulty with the language and he appreciates the Brits for their courtesy and gallantry, though politics can also play a role in bringing them together. However, Europe cannot be compared with America at all. Europe is only a name for a number of countries lying close together. We don’t speak the same language. We don’t have the same mentality. Only some of us have the same currency. What an American who decides to come to Europe via Britain forgets or doesn’t see is that for the average Frenchman everything that comes from the Brits is coming from across the water and therefore doesn’t seem attractive. And here we come up with our ideal location and our lack of chauvinism, our multilingualism and our unlimited flexibility. Belgium, and Brussels especially, is multicultural. We have so many different languages, cultures and parties on such a small piece of land. We don’t have problems with other people and even if they sometimes laugh at ‘the little Belgians’ or ‘the dumb Belgians’ we are quite popular. What was once seen as a weakness – we immediately change our language to that of the person we are talking with, we aren’t chauvinistic, we take up a modest and neutral position – becomes a powerful advantage in this situation. The Hundred Years’ War between England and France isn’t over yet, but as Belgians we happily move in between.’

Crisis as a leg up

‘Because of limited resources, inevitable staff reduction and reduced customer activity companies today are searching for the most efficient operating procedures,’ Luc Missinne continues. ‘Efficient means exactly the same as financially as interesting as possible. They are looking for providers that can offer their services in different languages; providers who feel at home in different cultures and don’t have any conflicts on their track record. Belgians inspire trust and working in an environment of trust speeds up the process of getting results. Today, in this period of crisis, we must show what we are capable of as entrepreneurs in this country. We can use this economic downturn as a leg up to a stable future in which growth is guaranteed.’