The company, formed from the merger of Portland and Poster Publicity in 2005, now has a US$130 million-billing foundation in China and a $45 million operation in India.
In India, Kinetic will operate as a holding company for WPP’s existing outdoor brands Portland Outdoor and Poster Publicity.
Madhuri Sapru, former head of customer relations for Data Teleservices, will run the operation as Kinetic’s managing partner for South Asia.
Jim Liu has joined from Zenith Media to run the China operation, which is expected to see WPP's Portland rebrand as Kinetic.
Both country heads will report to Kinetic Asia-Pacific CEO Alex Thompson. “China and India are geographically complicated markets, but are crucial to the success of our business,” said Thompson.
“There has been lots of consolidation on the sales side and now 38 per cent of outdoor space sold globally is by four media owners. Kinetic is a reaction to that from the planning and buying side.”
Thompson says Asia-Pacific business has grown by 300 to 400 per cent since launching in 2005, a year after WPP acquired a majority stake in Poster Publicity, now branded as Kinetic in most markets.
China and India add to offices in Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
The company will be looking at ways to diversify its offer. “There are more blades to the out-of-home penknife. We’re moving from an outdoor to an out-of-home operation, to include retail and activation,” said Thompson.
Despite healthy growth since launch, selling the Kinetic proposition in Asia has not been straightforward. “The outdoor specialist is a broadly European concept which we have imported here,” said Thompson.
“We are going to these markets; they are not coming to us. We are taking nothing for granted. Growth is coming quickly, but the biggest challenge is how to manage that growth.”
