Watson joins from Adidas where he was senior global digital concept manager. He comes on board at Profero’s Asia-Pacific office in Singpaore from mid-May.
His role, Coombes explains, will not be to manage the agency's in-market strategy/ planning resources directly, “but to absorb, adopt and adapt best practice from one market to the next while also steering the completion of several key tools we currently have in development".”
Profero’s Asia-Pacific network is described by Coombes as already the largest of any independent digital business and among the largest of any independent agency of any kind, spanning Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Beijing and 150 staff in total. “As we win more global business (e.g. Diageo/Smirnoff) and focus the individual agencies on centres of excellence (Sydney for Usability/Experience, Beijing for Delivery) a central strategic role has become essential.”
“Moving forward, we will continue to bolster strategy and planning services at an in-market level. We believe there is a space in the market for an agency that can deliver both end-to-end digital solutions (from usability through to delivery) but that also encompasses creative and media skills and enables everything with ‘ideas people can belong to’. And we will continue to do all of the above in an independent, uncompromised way,” concluded Coombes.