Lee, who has been with WPP's Taiwan agencies J. Walter Thompson and MindShare for 12 years, takes over from Ella Poon, who left the position close to a year ago. Lee joined JWT as a media executive in 1990, fresh from graduate school in the US, and moved to MindShare five years ago.
Lee said the sheer size of China would be a major challenge. "Taiwan is a small market and it's only one market compared with the multitude of markets and the differences between one market and another in China," said Lee. "Between Shanghai and Beijing there are already huge differences.
Not only are China's markets bigger, but they are also more complicated. Lee identified the need to build up disciplines and systems in the market as a priority, but added that this would have to be tackled as an industry effort. "But I want to make sure MindShare plays an important role in the process. No replacement has been made to Lee's Taiwan role, where managing director Johnathan Chan works with two deputy general managers.
