Three-year-old digital firm eAgency Vietnam, wholly-owned by eAgency Australia, and its graphic design subsidiary Cortex Design, will combine with two-year-old street marketing agency Aktivation. Red will offer brand strategy, design, activation, integrated marketing and digital as well as act as a “Vietnam market entry consultancy”.
The new company has an advertising and media licence through a joint-venture with Vietnamese partner CI Co.
Former OgilvyAction Vietnam senior account director Chris Elkin takes the helm as MD, while Rick Reid, an industry veteran and the brains behind Vietnam’s Creative Circle awards, will lead the agency’s creative department. Jason Huang, who has had stints in the digital departments of Lowe and JWT, will run Red’s online and graphic design offering.
The new company has 30 staff, with Gough as founder and majority shareholder. Its client list includes Diageo, Unilever, Vietnam Brewing and Trung Nguyen Coffee.
Gough said: “In year one, we want to grow our existing client relationships following the merger, expand our digital offering, and get on every pitch list in Vietnam. We are brand builders and I see the strength of our team as the reason clients would want to work with us.
“In Vietnam, the key to success is in ensuring that your brand is more reputable and trusted than your competitors. At Red, we speak the truth in advising what needs to be done to build your brand, then we make it happen.”
Gough has launched an agency before. In the 1980s, he founded Gough & Company, which was later sold to what later became FCB Australia.
His career includes a term as national grocery merchandising manager for Safeway Australia and as marketing director for Kellogg’s Australia.
