Layoffs ahead as RMG Connect restructures

“We have grown to 50 people, and have reached the tipping point from a small to a large agency. Nobody’s leaving at the moment, but there will be changes once we’ve gone through the formal processes of restructuring the agency,” said Paul Davies, president of RMG Connect Asia-Pacific. “There are already people lined up to replace to those who will leave,” added Davies, who will oversee the restructure.

Last October, the agency hired Jit Hoong Ng from OgilvyOne as managing director, and creative director TK Lim, formerly of XM Malaysia. Stephanie Loo joined to run the client services department from BMW earlier last year. It is unclear how many people will leave under the new regime.

Some staff are believed to have already left because of overwork and long hours over the past few weeks. Davies dismissed this as an untrue rumour. “People who go into advertising are aware of what is required and know it isn’t a nine-to-five job. RMG Connect Beijing is no sweatshop. I visit the agency regularly and keep a close eye on how it is run,” he said.

The Beijing office was healthy, he added, with high double-digit growth recorded in 2006. A Shanghai office is planned to launch within the third quarter of this year.

The agency launched in April 2005, when it was known as XM Beijing. It later merged with RMG Connect following the acquisition of XM’s parent company Cordiant by WPP, and became JWT’s direct relationship marketing offering.

The agency has grown from 10 to 50 people in two years, with clients including HP, HSBC and mostly Nokia, a client won globally by XM Asia-Pacific in September 2006. Beijing is now one of the largest operations in the RMG Connect Asia-Pacific network, where it also has offices in Mumbai, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and New Delhi.