The 41-year-old Dutchman becomes the WPP agency’s first regional head since the departure of David Morgan to join Universal McCann last July.
Since then, MEC Asia-Pacific has been run by the team of Bertilla Teo (North Asia) and Stephen Li (South and Southeast Asia).
Since then, MEC Asia-Pacific has been run by the team of Bertilla Teo (North Asia) and Stephen Li (South and Southeast Asia).
Dop will begin his new role in January 2008, after three years as CEO of MEC Netherlands, including two overseeing GroupM in that country. Prior to that, he was client MD for the agency, after joining MEC from web agency Digital Peppers.
He has also spent six years as senior brand manager at Unilever.
As part of his new role, Dop will represent Asia-Pacific on the MEC global board.
He said that both Teo and Li’s roles would not change after his arrival, and there would be no further tweaks to MEC’s regional management structure.
“While I was running MEC Netherlands, our digital capability was growing twice as fast as our rivals, and I want to replicate that kind of performance here,” he said.
“However, MEC Asia-Pacific is already a strong operation. We have 600 people and have an enviable reputation for our communications planning.”
Dop denied that he had a job on his hands to ease sibling rivalry between MEC and MindShare. “If there are enemies, they are outside of GroupM,” he said.
“Internal battles are pointless. That said, I’m a competitive guy, and I play to win. I must ensure that we are higher on pitch lists than MindShare, Maxus or MediaCom. That’s what I get paid for.”
Dop’s priorities for 2008
are to ensure staff and clients are energised around the agency’s ‘Active engagement’ mantra. He also wants more local talent to emerge through the ranks.
His arrival coincides with the launch of MEC Access, a new unit formed from the combination of the agency’s entertainment, sport and cause marketing services.
MEC Sponsorship, Leverage Group and Sponsorcom will be folded into one. MEC Access will offer partnerships and sponsorships across broadcast, the arts, film, gaming, music, causes, celebrity endorsements and sport.
“The launch of MEC Access allows us to present a consistent brand and offer across all regions, giving our clients access to expertise across all platform areas - all totally integrated within the broader MEC proposition,” said Stephen Li, MEC CEO, South and Southeast Asia.
However, it remains unclear as to who will run MEC Access Asia-Pacific.
