Jaques hires EVP for Wunderman

Faggianelli joins Wunderman from Tequila\Japan, which he founded in 2001 and served as president. At Wunderman, he will carry operational responsibility for the region, reporting to Y&R/Wunderman CEO Chris Jaques, and will also oversee global client accounts, reporting to Wunderman global chairman and CEO Daniel Morel. Jaques and Watson cited differences over company vision for her departure last month, terming the agreement to leave a "mutual" one. Wunderman's new leadership team also includes Mohammed Sirajuddeen, who has been promoted to managing director of Southeast Asia, after setting up and heading its Indonesian arm last year. In late 2005, meanwhile, Anchalee Gibbins was named MD of Wunderman China, succeeding outgoing GM Scott Silverman (Media, December 2). Speaking to Media in Singapore, Morel explained that Wunderman Asia-Pacific was well-placed for growth in 2006, after a difficult period that followed the shift of the global IBM business to Ogilvy in 2003. "When IBM went to Ogilvy, it was a big hit and we went down to one-third in the region," said Morel. "When you start not having a large client, it has an impact on revenue and the talent you attract." While Wunderman went on to absorb the global Microsoft business as part of the IBM shift, Morel pointed out that the Microsoft account was substantially smaller than IBM. However, having won Ford's global business in 2005, along with Samsung in 2004, he was bullish about the year ahead. "Microsoft and Samsung will be very big in 2006, as will Ford," said Morel. "What we're doing is recapturing growth -- we have to put in place different systems and people." For his part Faggianelli termed his move to Wunderman a "return to my roots", after starting his career at Wunderman Paris in 1986. "My focus is to leverage all the assets and strengths of Wunderman in all markets and bring all those knowledge and insights to Asia."