HEADLINES: Morgan returns to HK as MD of Euro RSCG

Euro RSCG has named former MindShare senior executive David Morgan

as managing director of its Hong Kong operation.

The appointment of a non-Chinese, non-French, non-mainstream agency

operative has raised eyebrows, but the 35-year-old Mr Morgan comes with

a strong management track record from his days at MindShare, where he

played a leading role in setting up the media specialist's operations in

Hong Kong and Japan.

Asked about the transition from a media specialist to running a

mainstream agency, Mr Morgan said he "may have been a media

cross-in-a-box person" before, but his role at MindShare was actually

more about management than being a media exponent.

The early seeds for Mr Morgan's move were sown when MindShare struck a

deal with Euro RSCG to handle its media planning and buying under the

offshoot Motivator.

Mr Morgan had been with MindShare since its inception in 1997, and has

also worked with JWT in London and Shanghai, Carat and Leo Burnett. He

takes over from Euro's former managing director Kitty Lun, who left the

agency to join dotcom company Miclub.com.

Mr Morgan told MEDIA there was "a growing sense of anticipation and a

buzz" developing at Euro RSCG and there was "a real opportunity to take

the agency back to the dizzier heights of a few years ago."

Vietnamese agencies signs up with ICOM Youth Advertising, based in Ho

Chi Minh City, has joined ICOM (International Communications Agency

Network, Inc).

Youth Advertising, which has 38 employees, has had steady growth since

its founding in 1989 and is one of the largest agencies in the

market.

Major clients include Wrigley chewing gum, Kawasaki motorbikes, Tiger

beer, Sunsilk shampoo and other Unilever products.

ICOM is one of the world's largest independent marketing communications

networks with 69 agencies in 41 countries and combined billings of

US$3 billion.