First set up in 1958 as an advertising agency, BPC International has been an industry leading player for over 60 years, witnessing meteoric changes in the global and local advertising, marketing, PR, and communications landscape. The company evolved over the years to offer a wide range of advertising, media, and communications services. BPC International has, in fact, handled some of Malta’s leading companies and its client base has included HSBC, Farsons and Melita.

With so much experience under its belt, led by David Brockdorff in his 32 years as Managing Director, many in business and marketing have been shocked to hear that the company has taken a decision to wind down its operations and shed its large number of staff, who have been  offered the opportunity to join a third-party entity prepared to take them on.

The decision to wind down and provide BPC staff with this opportunity has been in the works for months, to ensure ample time for employees to plan their next steps.

It is understood that BPC will continue to provide communications-related advice and services, via a far leaner operation. Additionally, BPC’s headquarters is to be exploited commercially, and will remain a fixed asset belonging to the shareholders.

“As we look ahead, there are two aspects to consider. I believe we can add value in providing communications advice, public relations and marketing insight and an objective external perspective on strategy and messaging in a variety of contexts.

“Obviously, we can now be agile in our approach as we evaluate opportunities to provide services either directly, or in conjunction with other entities. In terms of deploying our fixed asset, our company is also fortunate in owning an attractive 1,000 square metre office block which is very well-located and served by ample parking, and thus has potential to generate reasonable shareholder value.”

Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Mr Brockdorff told WhosWho.mt that a mixture of market changes and shareholder-expectations led to the difficult decision:

“Our business adopted a ‘full service’ model ever since our inception in the late 1950s, meaning that we directly employed practically all the human resources required to support large client organisations with marketing communications services. This used to provide a clear competitive advantage in a market with few professional service providers and scarce sources of supply.

“As in other sectors, the market has changed dramatically and irrevocably – apart from seismic technological change, there are now many service providers who can implement communication campaigns to high standards, and quite efficiently. Difficult as the decision to part with loyal employees is, there was, at least for our own business, no compelling case to continue to maintain any of our traditional advertising agency structure in such a restricted market.

“Apart from the market-related considerations, shareholder expectations and succession realities also need to be taken into account, particularly when planning long-term. Ultimately though, it’s about identifying one’s true point of difference, the ‘core USP’ so to speak, and figuring out how to deliver this as smartly as possible.”

Asked to confirm whether BPC as a brand will continue to exist, Mr Brockdorff believes that the quality attributes the company has come to be associated with “remain highly relevant and will continue to be valid going forward.

“As a result of our strong foundations and of the decades-long efforts by so many dedicated people to bring out brand values to life, BPC is associated not only with effective marketing communications advice and implementation, but also with professionalism, fairness and integrity.”