Andrew Robertson, president and CEO, BBDO Worldwide, has announced the following regional management changes that take effect today:
– Chris Thomas, currently CEO of Asia, the Middle East and Africa, becomes CEO, The Americas, with responsibility for 21 BBDO agencies in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Thomas will also remain chairman of I&S BBDO Japan and chairman of Proximity Worldwide
– Jean-Paul Burge (JP) becomes chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia. He was most recently president of Southeast Asia and CEO BBDO Singapore
– Dani Richa, currently chairman and CEO of BBDO Middle East and North Africa, will add the rest of Africa to his responsibilities
– In Greater China, Carol Potter, president and CEO for the past nine years, will be leaving the company and announcing a new role that will get her closer to her family. Succeeding her will be members of the current Greater China management team: Tze Kiat Tan is promoted from managing director to CEO; Wai Foong Leong becomes chairman and chief creative officer; and Hans Lopez-Vito becomes chief strategy officer
“These changes,” said Robertson, “demonstrate the benefits of our commitment to strong succession planning and will further strengthen the leadership team that will help me deliver our goal of the world’s best work, year after year, and through that, growth for the next five years and beyond.
Robertson said of Thomas, “In his nine years in Asia, Chris has led a sustained transformation of our network there into the most creative and effective in the region. We won Spikes. We were the most effective network at the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards. We were APAC Network of the Year at Cannes and the region’s most effective network in the Effie Effectiveness Index. Revenue and profit growth has followed. Chris established our offering in west and east Africa and has provided Proximity Worldwide with the leadership and glue it needs. He is truly a global citizen who will have a valuable impact on his new time zone when he moves to New York in May.”
Of Burge, Robertson related, ““JP has been with BBDO for more than a decade, and has spent nine years working directly for Chris. He knows what it takes to succeed in the region.”
Robertson said of Richa, “Under Dani’s leadership, BBDO MENA is coming off its best year ever, against every possible metric, with Impact BBDO having been ranked the #1 agency in the region across all marketing communications in the Directory Big Won and BBDO named Network of the Year at the Cristal Awards Festival–the first time in its history.”
Regarding Potter and the changes in BBDO Greater China, Robertson said, “Carol will be announcing a new role that helps her achieve her priority to get closer to her family. Sadly, it is not with BBDO. We always knew this day would come. Carol has built an incredible agency group over the past nine years–from 70 people to more than 500, from an agency that we had to make excuses for to one which makes our competitors envious and our clients proud. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for her contribution. The only thing I am more grateful for is the fact that she didn’t do it alone–as she would be the first to tell you. We have an exceptional team already in place to succeed her. I have every confidence in their ability to continue to drive the business forward.”
