McCann sets up Worldgroup in the Philippines

McCann has launched its Worldgroup offering in the Philippines, in a bid to bring its clients a full suite of advertising and marketing tools.<BR><BR>Headed by president and chief executive officer Patricia Arches, the Worldgroup will consist of the McCann Erickson, Universal McCann, Momentum and MRM Worldwide agency brands. <BR><BR>The rollout will also see the launch of PR agency Weber Shandwick in the country within the next two months.<BR>"It's really to make sure we keep on growing in the Philippines," explained McCann Worldgroup Asia-Pacific CEO Eric Einhorn. "We could get really complacent or say, where's the next wave of growth going to come from? We need to stay untouchable in the Philippines."<BR><BR>With Arches moving up to take on the Worldgroup role, her previous position as managing director McCann Erickson Philippines is filled by former chief strategy officer Nandy Villar. The other Worldgroup unit heads are Venus Navalta at Universal McCann, Toti Soliongco at Momentum, and Ernest Custodio at MRM Worldwide.<BR><BR>On the Weber Shandwick side, meanwhile, regional president Andrew Pirie revealed that the Philippines launch would end the agency's affiliation with BSMG in the market.<BR><BR>"The affiliate relationship with BSMG will cease and resources from BSMG will be redirected into the new venture," Pirie explained. "There's been a request from our IPG sister agencies to have more of a public relations capability within our client solutions."