Lam adds new offices to Clipper offer

Lam has been charged with locating creatives to work under the Clipper banner in Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta and Beijing. This comes after Lam was instrumental in setting up Clipper Low in Kuala Lumpur with Thomas Low, and two offices in Shanghai: Clipper Red with Helen Lai and Clipper 2 Woods with Benson Lam. Dentsu currently has no financial stake in any of the regional shops, though it owns the Clipper head office, Clipper MotherAsia in Hong Kong, outright. The Clipper network aims to provide business and strategic planning advice for both Dentsu and non-Dentsu clients. "I am more interested in working at a strategic level rather than an executional level," he said. Clipper will also help out with creative pitches and provide training. Lam, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong office, is assisted by Nancy Pang, former general manager, wireless media, at SmarTone Communications. Lam said he chose the Clipper name to signify a light, fast-moving operation, contrasting with its slower,well-resourced agency backer. "We don't have hundreds of cannons, we probably only have one cannon, but our strength is that we can move very fast." Dentsu hired Lam last year as regional creative advisor, with a brief to help build the creative reputation of its Asian network. Dentsu has been investing in Asia to increase its profile outside Japan. Last year it launched an independent network of media agencies, Media Palette.