Evill’s decision comes eight months after he shifted into his current role from a previous position as Hong Kong CEO. “(DDB Asia-Pacific chief) John Ziegler worked very hard to find a role that was suitable, but in the end we mutually agreed,” said Evill. “It’s very amicable and DDB’s doing very well. I’m obviously very sorry to leave because I love DDB, but I’m sure there are other opportunities out there.”
Evill will depart by the end of the year. In a separate development, DDB has installed DDB Singapore group MD Richard Bleasdale as regional chief of its below-the-line arm Rapp Collins. He succeeds Rapp Collins regional chairman Chris Gordon, who shifts to a global role within Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services unit.
Bleasdale will be tasked to build stronger ties between Rapp Collins, DDB and digital arm Tribal DDB. “We think that Rapp Collins has reached a fraction of its potential in Asia-Pacific,” said Bleasdale, who launched Rapp Collins in New Zealand. “We haven’t been as integrated as we would have liked to date.”
A refocused Rapp Collins would also look to capture clients shared by the network in Europe and the US, said Bleasdale, who takes on the title of Asia-Pacific president and managing partner.
The agency has also relocated Kim Das from Shanghai to Singapore to run its regional Johnson & Johnson account.
