Tag: VML

Hong Kong – VML has appointed Alfred Wong as chief creative officer of VML Hong Kong. He has started his post and will report to Maggie Wong, CEO of VML Hong Kong. 

Formerly employed by Apple’s custom agency Media Arts Lab Shanghai (MAL), Wong is a creative leader. He had a key role in producing influential work that changed Chinese culture while serving as executive creative director of MAL.

At Leo Burnett Hong Kong, Wong became executive creative director. For three years in a row, his office was named among the top three Hong Kong agencies. After moving to Shanghai, he worked as Chief Creative Officer at ADK, reshaping the firm with integrated thinking and its creative standards before joining MAL Shanghai to work at Apple.

With over 200 awards, including two consecutive Gold Cannes Lions, Wong held the #2 spot in Asia for creative directors. The international advertising festivals, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Tribeca X, ADC, London International Awards, Andy Awards, Adweeks, Spikes Asia, AdFest, LongXi, Hong Kong Kam Fan, and EFFIE, have honoured this creative leader in the digital, film, and print categories. 

Speaking about his appointment, Wong said, “The fusion of technology and creativity truly excites me. It empowers us to push the boundaries of what’s possible, creating work that is fresh and out-of-the-box. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join forces with Maggie and the team, working together to create something remarkable.”

Meanwhile, Maggie Wong stated, “Alfred joins us at such an exciting time for VML, where we are forging a new path as a growth partner – one that is equal parts creative agency, consultancy, and technology powerhouse. Alfred’s passion for creativity and his ability to push boundaries make him an exceptional addition to our team. Under his leadership, we will continue to nurture an environment that celebrates creativity, empowers talent and produces awe-inspiring work.”

Malaysia – Local telco provider TM and creative firm VML have jointly launched a touching campaign in 2024 to clarify the real meaning behind elderly relatives’ ostensibly foolish remarks made during Chinese New Year. 

The purpose of this campaign was to raise awareness among viewers nationwide of the brand’s Unifi Exclusive TVBAnywhere+ Premium Zone TV bundle.

Unifi TV’s Ang Pow campaign attempts to break down generational boundaries and foster family togetherness over the Christmas season, which is generally associated with younger generations answering probing inquiries and comments from their elders. 

The campaign showcases “Yunni,” Unifi’s mascot, and explores the “love” that lies beneath each difficult question posed by the elder generation. This program provides an opportunity for understanding and intimacy, together with an Ang Bao QR code from Unifi. This highlights the brand’s family TV packages for Chinese New Year as the perfect way to strengthen bonds throughout the celebrations.

Speaking about the campaign, KC Aui, executive creative director, VML Malaysia, said, “This campaign aims to bridge the generational divides which can create tension among families at this time of year. By revealing the thoughtful intention behind seemingly insensitive comments, we hope to inspire more understanding and connection, coupled with the opportunity for family bonding overUnifi’s high quality TV packages.” 

Singapore – Global creative agency VML has launched its inaugural ‘Asia-Pacific MACHathon,’ inviting innovators, thinkers, and technology enthusiasts to demonstrate the MACH (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless) in tackling real-world difficulties. 

VML is holding this in partnership with MACH Alliance, entries will be judged by a jury of APAC brand and technology executives. A portion of the $4.7K USD prize pool will be up for grabs for participants to compete for.

The week-long event, which begins on April 23, is currently accepting registrations. It brings together developers, designers, and creatives to work together on creating MACH solutions and demonstrations that are customised to a real-world brief.

On May 9, 2024, an online awards event will spotlight and commemorate the eight champions from various categories whose winning concepts were chosen. The event, which will be broadcast regionally via hubs in Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai, and Thailand, will be the first time the region comes together to celebrate creative MACH solutions. 

In June 2020, the MACH Alliance was established with the goal of helping businesses make use of MACH technologies. These technologies facilitate the creation of a corporate tech stack that is modular, pluggable, scalable, replaceable, and capable of constant improvement through agile development in response to changing business requirements. 

Holly Hall, managing director of the MACH Alliance, said, “Customer expectations are disrupting every market, and traditional legacy enterprise technology suites can’t keep up. The MACH Alliance presents and advocates for composable, truly open and future-proof best-of-breed architecture – microservices-based, API-first, cloud-native SaaS, and headless.” 

She added, “We know that just the spark of an idea can ignite a game-changing improvement or innovation, and are excited that VML is bringing together the region’s finest innovators to show what’s possible in the first-ever MACH Hackathon in Asia-Pacific.” 

Meanwhile, Hasan Hasnie, chief technology officer at VML APAC, said, “We know first-hand how by leveraging the latest advancements in cloud and API design you can create highly performant, fast, and scalable customer experiences, far ahead of the competition. We are excited to host the region’s first MACHathon and will be looking for entries which demonstrate the power of these technologies for creating connected customer experiences which inspire action, drive engagement, and deepen customer relationships at speed and scale.”

Manila, Philippines – VML Manila has announced changes in its creative team, with the promotion of Maan Bautista as executive creative director and the appointment of Fran Palines as creative director. 

Maan began as a copywriter in JWT Manila back in 2005 and was a key contributor in most of the agency’s wins during this period. She moved to McCann Worldgroup in 2016 and was instrumental in turning the agency into one of the most awarded agencies in the country. 

In 2020, she returned to Wunderman Thompson (now VML Manila) where she has continued her winning ways, while inspiring a whole new generation of young creatives under her watch.

Joe Dy, chief creative officer at VML Manila, said, “Maan has built a career on always fighting for the best idea in the room. She is a special kind of creative leader, in that she combines a sharp strategic intelligence, a precise understanding of the client’s business with award-winning level creative excellence in order to push the work forward. Her impact as a leader is already being felt by the office.”

Meanwhile, joined the company from BBDO Guerrero and had previously been with NuWorks and McCann Worldgroup.

“Having worked with Fran at McCann, I have witnessed firsthand how adept she is at elevating the thinking and creative standards of every brand she takes on. We trust that she will continue her dedication to creative bravery and excellence as part of the VML family. We consider ourselves quite fortunate to have her on board,” Dy added.

APAC– VML has announced the appointment of a new in-market leadership team for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. 

The announcement comes as Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, both WPP creative firms, join together to form VML.

With more than 5000 workers spread across 25 offices in 13 APAC markets, the newly designed organisation hopes to provide improved service for VML’s clientele all throughout the area. It includes industry professionals with deep local knowledge and broad experience in commerce, brand experience, and customer experience.

In APAC, VML works with a wide range of customer partners in several different industries. Ford, The Coca-Cola Company, HSBC, Unilever, Nestle, GSK, Zespri, and other companies are among its clientele.

With principal offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai and Sydney and led by the newly appointed VML APAC Co-CEOs Audrey Kuah and Yi-Chung Tay, the reorganisation includes naming regional market leaders, which will take effect on January 1, 2024.

In Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), Tom Tearle, CEO of VMLY&R ANZ, becomes CEO of VML ANZ, while Gavin Bain, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Australia, becomes VML Chief consulting officer, ANZ, and managing director, Perth, Australia.

In Singapore, Wunderman Thompson CEO Nimesh Desai has been named VML CEO for the region. Rhys Taylor, who is currently the managing director of VMLY&R in Singapore, takes on the role of VML chief client officer, focusing on assuring the delivery of VML’s full spectrum of capabilities to clients.

In Indonesia, Wunderman Thompson CEO Samir Gupte has been named CEO of VML Indonesia.

In Malaysia, Kenni Loh, CEO of VMLY&R Malaysia, has been appointed CEO of VML Malaysia.

Golda Roldan, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Philippines, has been appointed CEO of VML Philippines. 

Wunderman Thompson Thailand’s CEO, Parattajariya Jalayanteja, has been appointed CEO of VML Thailand.

Ha Nguyen, who is the CEO of VMLY&R in Vietnam at the moment, has been chosen to be CEO of VML Vietnam.

Kevin Zhu, who is the CEO of VMLY&R China at the moment, has been appointed as the CEO of VML China. Wunderman Thompson for Greater China CEO Carter Chow takes on the role of president at VML China.

Maggie Wong, CEO of Wunderman Thompson, has been appointed CEO of VML Hong Kong.

Ichiro Ota, the current CEO of VML & Ogilvy Japan, will remain in his position, while Akira Suzuki, the CEO of Wunderman Thompson Japan, will take over as COO of VML Japan.

Even Teng, the CEO of Wunderman Thompson Taiwan, has been named as the CEO of VML Taiwan. 

VML India is a principal office and regarded as an important market for the agency, prioritising the hiring of capable executives to direct their teams for the benefit of employees and clients. The announcement of India’s leadership is slated for the first quarter of 2024.

Speaking about the multiple appointments, Audrey Kuah, Co-CEO, VML APAC, commented, “We are thrilled to introduce our new APAC leadership team, who represent the cream-of-the-crop across two of the most awarded creative agencies in the region. As we unify our storied agencies, there is an exciting opportunity to redefine the possibilities of creativity and set the stage for more innovative and effective work.”

Meanwhile, Yi-Chung Tay, Co-CEO, VML APAC, said, “At VML we are dedicated to creating connected brands which matter to the consumer and drive growth for our client partners. Working closely with our leaders across our APAC network, we are well positioned to provide the best possible solutions to our clients’ most pressing business problems via an integrated suite of capabilities which are unsurpassed in the region.” 

London, UK – Multinational creative communications company WPP has announced the merger of two of its creative agencies, Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, to form creative company VML.

VML unites the capabilities of the two creative agencies in commerce, customer experience, and marketing technology to provide an improved set of offerings to its clients.

The creative company will be equipped to support clients on creative brand growth strategy and transformation initiatives, all powered by best-in-class data operations, technology platforms, and partnerships with various technology companies. It will also provide an exceptional offer for healthcare companies and B2B marketers.

Combining VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson’s respective client bases, functional expertise, and geographic strengths, VML will have a hold on more than 30,000 people in 64 markets.

Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R were both launched in 2018 and since then have experienced sustained growth and amassed a breadth of expertise, having worked on client development, new business, and acquisitions.

Both agencies have partnered with multiple clients across the globe, including Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and more.

With the merger, the parent company WPP also announced immediate leadership appointments, including Debbi Vandeven as global chief creative officer; Eric Campbell as global chief client officer; Juan Pablo Jurado as CEO for LATAM; Ewen Sturgeon as CEO for EMEA; and Audrey Kuah and Yi-Chung Tay to be co-CEOs for APAC.

Meanwhile, Jon Cook becomes the global CEO at VML, and Mel Edwards will take on the role of global president, with the management team bringing together strong leaders from across both companies.

Cook said, “The future of building strong brands and businesses requires the interconnectivity of brand experience, commerce, and customer experiences. We recognised the immediate opportunity to create what every consultancy and advertising agency aspires to build with the formation of VML. We’re especially excited to present our new offering to the industry, as we don’t believe there is another company as creatively awarded with our depth in customer experience and commerce.”

Also commenting on the merger, Edwards shared, “This is the right suite of capabilities, offered at just the right moment, at unprecedented scale. It’s incredibly exciting because, with this new agency, we have the chance to shape the future of modern marketing in every key market around the world. The opportunities it affords our people and the growth we can deliver for our clients at a global scale make this a real game-changer for each business and the wider industry.”

Meanwhile, Mark Read, CEO at WPP, said, “Scale matters in today’s world as AI and technology transform marketing and global clients look to simplify their relationships. VML will combine world-class creativity with deep expertise in data, marketing technology, and platforms to deliver a competitive advantage for ambitious brands. It’s another important step forward for WPP as we continue to reshape our offer for the future, simplify our business, and unlock further benefits of scale.”

“Separately, Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R are two of WPP’s strongest and best-performing agencies. Together, they will deliver an even wider, fully integrated suite of capabilities to our clients in every market. Marketers today expect seamless links between their brand advertising and technology solutions and platforms. VML provides an immediate solution to this business imperative,” he added.