Walton had helmed the turnaround of MindShare's China operation following his arrival as chief executive officer in April 2001. Last year, the China office netted 46 new accounts, including Motorola, Frito-Lay and China Mobile, and helped win MindShare the Media Agency of the Year award for 2003.
MindShare's Asia-Pacific chairman John Steedman said Walton has been tasked to put the Sydney office on an aggressive new business drive.
"We have spent the past few months restructuring the (Sydney) operating model and we now have a very different offering for the market. Chris is the person to take the business forward."
Added Walton: "The office is in a healthy state. My brief is to help them unleash the potential that is within that office. The office is the fourth or fifth-largest, but obviously no one wants to remain at fourth or fifth place."
Walton will be aided by newly-promoted managing director Tracie Michael, the former head of ATG and negotiations unit. Michael succeeds Beverly Price, who is currently exploring opportunities with the WPP group.
The promotion of Lee, who has a 13-year track record with MindShare and at J. Walter Thompson Taipei, comes less than a year after her duties were expanded to cover south China. Lee, whose key task will be to achieve 10 per cent annual growth, identified finance, travel and pharmaceutical as category gaps she hoped to plug. Lee will be assisted by general managers Michelle Ko in Shanghai, the newly-appointed Siew Ping Lim in Guangzhou and Beijing MD Quinn Taw.