MullenLowe Tokyo hires Sven Palys for international strategy

Palys spent four years at Flamingo Tokyo and was associate director at the agency. Palys said he will be responsible for helping to strengthen the core of MullenLowe in Japan.

Initial clients Palys will work on include Unilever and Aeon, but he said he will be involved in the broader growth of the business too. Leading the international side of the agency, his focus will be on “translating foreign brands to connect with local sensibilities and empower Japanese clients with an international voice”, he said.

Palys serves as an adjunct professor at Keio University, where he lectures on the subject of branding. He is also a director of the Cool Japan Award.

MullenLowe Tokyo is a joint-venture with a local agency, Standard Advertising, which has been in operation since just after the Second World War. Standard has a history of working with global companies operating in Japan and local companies looking to grow internationally.

The MullenLowe Group itself was formed in May 2015. It is positioned as a global creative boutique, with many of its offices under local ownership. In January, the network introduced a new corporate identity featuring a boxing octopus.

Palys has written for Campaign Asia-Pacific based on his insights as a market research and semiotics specialist.