Potter takes China chief role at BBDO

The agency has also roped in brand consultant Clara Wong, a former Saatchi & Saatchi Hong Kong head, as CEO of BBDO and Proximity Hong Kong. The appointments come after a series of senior exits at the agency, including Asia-Pacific chairman Raymond So, deputy chairman Tom Kao, China CEO Yvonne Lo and Hong Kong general manager Raymond Leung in the past few months. Potter takes up her Shanghai-based role on April 8 and is the second major Unilever hire by an Omnicom agency after Asit Mehra moved from Lowe to DDB in London. She said BBDO's creative reputation and its pool of senior talent -- including new regional chairman and CEO Chris Thomas and recently-named Shanghai ECD Leong Wai Foong -- were key to her decision to leave the global Unilever post. Thomas said that with Potter on board, there would be a marked "step change" in the agency's capabilities. At JWT, Potter handled De Beers and spent six years marketing products to mainland consumers. "The emerging Chinese consumer is fascinating," she said. "China is at the forefront of what should be happening in brand building and communications." Potter added that her key challenge would be to grow local talent, build an understanding of the Chinese consumer and translate that to creativity. "The culture of haggling, negotiating and clients that work on a project basis will also need to be addressed," Potter noted. Meanwhile, Wong -- who spent 10 years at JWT followed by a stint as Saatchi & Saatchi Hong Kong CEO in 1995 -- will relocate to Hong Kong at the end of this month. "The latter years of my career were working in a recession when it was difficult to keep an agency going, and clients were cutting budgets and squeezing creative output," said Wong. "There has been a prolonged recession and clients are pondering how sustainable the recovery will be. This is having an impact on our business in Hong Kong."