Chau noted that MRM ECD Barry Wong and associate creative director Kevin Wang would be leaving the agency.
Bill Chan, the ECD of McCann Erickson Beijing, will be overseeing the MRM creative team. “All MRM creative team members still remain part of MRM but will report to Bill Chan professionally,” the note stated.
The overhaul follows MRM’s decision earlier this year to centralise its China operations in Beijing, reducing its presence in Shanghai.
A spokesperson for McCann Erickson and MRM confirmed the restructure, noting that the agencies had operated merged teams previously on accounts such as Intel. “Because it has proved effective before we thought we would adopt it across the board. This is about raising the creative bar.”
The latest restructure follows a difficult few months for agencies in China. The spokesperson added that the current MRM headcount across the Shanghai and Beijing offices was 60. Sources within MRM indicate that this is down sharply from a peak workforce of around 130, though the company was unable to provide previous staff numbers.
The spokesperson confirmed that both creative and account people had left the agency. She added: “If client budgets get smaller we have to react.”
MRM Beijing currently services clients including Intel and Microsoft.
Commenting on the shift of resources away from Shanghai, MRM’s global president Bill Kolb commented: “MRM has gone to a strong Greater China ‘centres of excellence’ model, whether it is measurement and analytics, creative, social media or search, based in Beijing. We are looking to leverage scaled, nimble and best-in-class teams to meet needs across the market including Shanghai, providing our clients with efficient, thought-driven solutions to their business problems.”