Jimmy Lam fills Michael Dee's CCO spot at DDB in China

On board since yesterday, Lam will oversee nine creative directors of various levels in DDB's North China offices: Beijing and Shanghai. When asked who will oversee South China, Lam said his creative leadership will be focused on Beijing and Shanghai initially since he has not undertaken actual creative work for some time.

Most recently, Lam has been involved in AdFest in Asia-Pacific; he has assembled judges and speakers for the festival since its inauguration in 1997. He has also been asked to be jury chairman for the 2012 HK4As Kam Fan Awards.

Author of three Chinese books Catch Phrase in Advertising, No Truth in Advertising and Dream Talk of an Advertising Maniac, Lam also created the Longyin Review Magazine in 1995 and initiated the LongXi Awards in 1998.

He will be working alongside Amir Kassaei, DDB Worldwide’s chief creative officer, to enhance the agency's global creative hub established in Shanghai earlier this year. Asked for details, Lam told Campaign Asia-Pacific that he will be "aggressively and assertively pushing creative convergence in China".

"In the old days, one can be working on conventional media comfortably," Lam added, referring to the era when he started his advertising career as a Chinese-language copywriter in 1976. "Now one has to think more than what one's creative role entails. A CRM idea, for example, can be put through social media."

Lam's imminent task is to make DDB the "preeminent creative agency in Shanghai, and soon Beijing", and to strengthen brand engagement for Shanghai Volkswagen (SVW) Volkswagen Group China, Volkswagen Import, Unilever Lipton, Pernod Ricard China, McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Neutrogena, Clean & Clear, T-Mall, PepsiCo’s Gatorade, PepsiCo’s Tropicana, and Quaker.

Dee, outgoing chief creative officer for DDB China, decided to pursue other opportunities. "He leaves DDB as a friend," said Dick van Motman, president and CEO of DDB Greater China Group. His last day will be 30 September.