Wunderman global chairman and chief executive officer Daniel Morel, speaking to Media in Singapore, admitted that the agency is looking to buy in all of its key Asian markets, including Japan, China and Southeast Asia.
Morel also added that Wunderman Asia will now be solely headed by regional executive vice-president Stephane Faggianelli, after previously falling under the remit of former Y&R regional CEO Chris Jaques.
"We are going to separate more clearly from Y&R," said Faggianelli. "Compared to OgilvyOne, we've lost three to four years now, which is why acquisitions are very important."
An acquisition strategy is unlikely to surprise many observers of the network, given a relative paucity of new Asian business in recent years.
Instead, Wunderman is relying on key global clients Microsoft, Citibank and Ford to drive growth, as evidenced by the decision to buy two Microsoft AOR agencies in Korea — ComHaus Korea and SRP Corporation.
The two agencies will be merged and rebranded as Wunderman Korea, giving the WPP network its first real offering in a country Morel sees as particularly important in terms of digital and mobile.
Previously, Wunderman's Citibank Korea team worked under the Y&R/LG Ad joint- venture in the country.
While Faggianelli will assume the interim managing director role at Wunderman Korea, SRP CEO Sun Kim will take on the general manager position at the merged entity.
Meanwhile, Michael Morsman, from US interactive agency VML, becomes digital lead at the office, while the agency will also look to boost its digital and data talent.
"When we can control and train people in the Wunderman fashion, it makes a huge difference," noted Morel.
Meanwhile, in mainland China, where Wunderman operates two relatively small teams for clients Ford and Microsoft, the onus will be on finding partners and acquisition targets. "Our business is now coming to China," said Morel. "Now clients are asking for our techniques and technology — it's no longer sitting on the periphery like it used to be."
