Ogilvy combines Singapore and Malaysia operations

Ogilvy is integrating its Singapore and Malaysia offices. The move involves no departures among the leadership of either office and no redundancies, a spokesperson told Campaign Asia-Pacific.

The agency said the move aims to "present one agency in two locations" and aligns with a global plan to provide integrated solutions in five core businesses: growth and innovation; advertising, brand and content; public relations and influence; experience; and health.

To that end, the new organisation's leadership team comprises:

• Health and growth/innovation: Pierre Robinet, MD of Ogilvy Consulting.
• Advertising, brand and content: Nizwani Shahar, Malaysia CEO. 
• PR and influence: Emily Poon, APAC president of PR and influence, Q Akashah, executive director of PR and influence for Singapore, and Sunita Kanapathy, head of PR and influence in Malaysia. 
• Experience: Jeremy Webb, vice president of experience for Southeast Asia. 

Chris Riley is the group chairman for Singapore and Malaysia. Jason Hill is chief strategy officer, Nicolas Courant is chief creative officer, and Amir Mireskandari is chief delivery officer.

“This shift in how we have organised our business and our talent is both ambitious and exciting," Riley said. "As we continue to partner with clients to navigate the challenges of the global pandemic, there has never been a better time for us to seize opportunities for growth across both markets. Our ‘one agency, two locations’ approach provides us with the unique ability to offer clients access to broader capabilities and skillsets, as well as increased opportunities for employees.”

The global alignment around the five core businesses is part of an ambitious goal to double the size of Ogilvy's business globally within the next few years, according to a release. Ogilvy describes its five core businesses as follows:

• Growth and innovation: Advisory services in business strategy, product and service innovation, marketing transformation and brand growth.
• Advertising, brand and content: Strategic insights and creative innovation to generate brand value, increasingly leveraging real time content services.
• Public relations and influence: Integrating strategic insights, social content and data to remain the pre-eminent service for clients, with further plans for Singapore and Malaysia to service clients with global communications needs.
• Experience: Driving customer value for clients through an unmatched understanding of brand and human behavior, powered by design, data and technology.
• Health: Supporting life sciences leaders to increase access to health in Asia, focusing on pharmaceutical, medtech, hospitals and clinics, public health and medical nutrition.