DDB primes Shanghai for regional hub role

<P>SHANGHAI DDB has signed up a swathe of senior talent in China as it seeks to bolster its Shanghai office as a regional hub for key clients.</P> <P>The hiring spree includes five new creatives added to the agency's existing team, led by JWT Taiwan's award-winning ECD Michael Dee, who will move to Shanghai next month in a new chief creative officer role to lift creative output within DDB's mainland operations. "Michael, with an expanded creative team, will help the agency to both achieve top three creative leadership and help our clients build their business," said DDB Guoan China CEO, Dick van Motman.</P> <P>Other key creative hires include Eva Hou from Lowe Shanghai and Stefan Sonntag from TBWA\ Shanghai, in co-regional CD roles overseeing Johnson & Johnson skincare portfolio in Asia, primarily Clean'n'Clear and Neutrogena, based out of Shanghai.</P> <P>The J&J appointments follow the appointment of Beth Chavez as regional account director on Clean'n'Clear last year, the first step in setting up DDB's Shanghai office as a hub for J&J. "Shanghai is being beefed up to take on more regional responsibilities," van Motman said.</P> <P>The agency has also fortified its PepsiCo account in Shanghai, where it handles non-carbonated drinks, luring fomer Wieden + Kennedy GM Jesse Linn to replace Richard Lee on the account in an upgraded regional business director role, while John Lindsey, who had been on secondment from DDB Chicago, has taken up a full-time role as group creative director leading the PepsiCo and Philips briefs in China.</P> <P>PepsiCo is believed to be stepping up China marketing efforts for non-carbonated drink brand Gatorade, with a new campaign fronted by NBA star Dwyane Wade, though there are not thought to be significant new skincare assignments from J&J.</P> <P>"All the appointments have been made with an eye on reinforcing our current client relationships and setting ourselves up for growth with current and future clients," van Motman said. </P> <P>The agency, which has had a relatively low profile in China, received a fillip earlier this year by linking with former Grey partner Citic Guoan. Van Motman said he expected work from Citic clients, but that it was too early to say which accounts.</P>