The move that will mean further appointments will be made at general manager level for both offices, to helm the agencies in Foley's absence. Those appointments have yet to be made.
"We are the number one creative agency in both markets. My brief is to sustain that position and develop new capabilities," Foley said. "Overlooking both offices, I will be in a better position to see which resources are more developed in each market."
"We are the number one creative agency in both markets. My brief is to sustain that position and develop new capabilities," Foley said. "Overlooking both offices, I will be in a better position to see which resources are more developed in each market."
Where a discipline is more advanced, like digital in Singapore, there will be no need to replicate the capability, Foley said.
Malaysia, which has a stronger line-up of FMCG clients, is the more likely candidate in which to launch Saatchi X, the network's shopper marketing division, he added.
Separately, Cirio Cinco, the executive creative director of Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, is leaving the agency and a replacement has yet to be found.
Cinco ends a six-year spell at the agency he joined from Dentsu affiliate Image Dimensions, and plans to go freelance.
Ace Saatchi & Saatchi's CEO Matthew Seddon, who took the helm of the agency last December with a brief to rejuvenate its creative output, is understood to be in talks with a number candidates.
Cinco confirmed the news. He said: "I will be doing a little freelance work. Perhaps even a bit of bar tending. I may also learn how to bake."
Prior to Ace Saatchi & Saatchi and Image Dimensions, where he worked for five years, Cinco had a spell at DY&R Alcantara as a copywriter on the Colgate toothpaste account before he was promoted to creative director.
Seddon was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.
