McCann Worldgroup names Brandon Cheung Southeast Asia CEO

Brandon Cheung has been appointed CEO of McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia, with a mandate to scale the network’s capabilities across content studios, influencer marketing, audience intelligence and production automation—areas the agency has identified as critical to meeting shifting client demand in the region.

“It’s no secret brands want to win in social in Southeast Asia,” Cheung tells Campaign Asia. “Our approach is to help clients build enduring brands in social—by finding their voice and their growth audiences. We’ll continue to scale our offerings in social/influencer, audience intelligence, and production automation to deliver impact, investing in talent and technology while deepening our partnerships with platforms and creators.”

Cheung, who most recently served as chief global client and growth officer for McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, added that client budgets are moving toward influencer marketing at pace. “While the majority of spend may not be going into social today, we are seeing significant increases in influencer marketing budgets. I see it as the beginning of a long-term trend toward social-first marketing, much like digital-first marketing took time to cross the tipping point," he says.

He also noted that Southeast Asia’s complexity and creative fluidity make it a fertile ground for this evolution: “This region is full of creative tension—in the best way. You’ve got deeply rooted local storytelling traditions on one hand, and hyper-digital, always-on consumer behaviours on the other. That creates a unique space for innovation. We can pilot, scale, and localise quickly. And creatively, the talent in this region is some of the most resourceful, culturally tuned-in, and digitally fluent I’ve seen anywhere in the world.”

Cheung outlined three priorities for his new role: Evolving the creative product to align with platform-first, performance-driven work; enabling greater integration across Southeast Asia while preserving local nuance; and scaling next-generation capabilities like influencer, content and data-led CRM through investment in talent and partnerships.

He will report to Ghassan Harfouche, president of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, and take over regional leadership at the end of April. The move follows the relocation of outgoing CEO Nick Handel, who will return to the UK to lead MRM as CEO.

Cheung and Handel worked closely during a transition period in recent months. “Nick has built something special here—high-performing teams, deep client trust, and a reputation for delivering consistent business impact,” Cheung said. “What I’ll carry forward is that culture of excellence and partnership. Moving ahead, I’m focused on scaling our offerings—particularly in creative collaboration with influencers, audience intelligence, and building more integrated service models across markets.”

Handel spent the last 18 years based in Singapore and previously led McCann operations in Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand. During his tenure, the agency achieved over a decade of consistent industry recognition and expanded its remit with several multinational clients across the region.

His appointment at MRM UK marks a return to the network, where he held senior leadership roles prior to relocating to Asia.