KSF's parent company Ting Hsin appointed Carat as AOR on the US$55 million account in early 2003.
According to Carat China CEO Thomas Wong, the resignation was inevitable, as Ting Hsin had requested that Aegis Media subsidiaries refrain from handling conflicting business. "It's hard to accept Ting Hsin's request because it will block our group's growth," said Wong. "Ting Hsin doesn't allow any subsidiaries under Aegis Media to handle any accounts that have a similar business nature. However, the aim of setting up subsidiaries is to handle conflicting business." Wong would not reveal which Aegis Media subsidiaries would handle Danone's water brand Robust and Uni-President tea brand Cha Li Wong. Earlier, however, Carat Asia-Pacific CEO David Liu stated that Aegis-owned Pan-Pacific Media was participating in the Robust buying and planning review (Media, October 22). Ting Hsin has since called a pitch for KSF's planning and buying. According to local research house Mei Hua, the brand was the top print spender, investing Rmb 760,-000 (US$91,900) in October.