"BBDO is a strong creative agency, regionally and worldwide, said Yeh, but acknowledged that it was a different story in Taiwan. The agency is small in Taiwan, with billings that would rank it somewhere among agencies that are in the 30s position.
Yeh has been hired to move BBDO Taiwan into the ranks of mid-sized agencies.
"We have a loyal stable of key clients, said Yeh, listing Visa, Frito-Lay, Effem Foods, Federal Express, ICI, Adidas and Warner Village. "They're with us because of our approach to advertising."
For BBDO, the next step is obviously growth, but it is a move that brings with it the usual dilemmas agencies face when contemplating their future.
"To grow is simple - you get more clients, said Yeh. "But to service them you need talent, and, of course, to recruit quality talent, you need prestigious clients."
The BBDO plan, in play long before Yeh's arrival at the agency last month, is to buy a local shop.
Yeh and BBDO Asia-Pacific chairman, Raymond So, who is based in Taipei, insist that is a done deal, though still too early to result in an announcement.
"The merger will bring in local clients, allowing us to hire more staff, said Yeh.
"Then we can pitch for more multinational business."
Yeh is well prepared to serve multinationals. At his former post at J. Walter Thompson, he rose from account director for Ford in 1992 to director of the Diamond Marketing Group (DTC under DeBeers) and client service director servicing Unilever's Bestfoods account.
