Shaw, who was one of Campaign's 'Faces to watch' last year, took up the TBWA head of planning role in late July.
After graduating from Oxford University, Shaw received an 18-month scholarship to study Japanese in Tokyo. Upon his return, he joined BBH London. After six years, he was snatched up by Grey and after a year joined TBWA.
Shaw's appointment comes amid observations by executive search companies that Japan is experiencing a crucial shortage of top-level planners. "Japan is such a foreign market, with its own cultural barriers, that not many foreign planners want to come here. Locally, most of the strategic superstars are at Dentsu or Hakuhodo. While new talent is certainly open to opportunities, traditionally, Japanese agencies have been very good at keeping them there.
And we're seeing these agencies get better at retaining staff," said Leonardo Brems, senior consultant at AdMark International Executive Search.
Part of the problem, he added, lay in salaries. While a management position at Hakuhodo can fetch up to Y12 million (about US$109,000) plus perks, international ad agencies offer just over half of that for a similar role, according to Brems.
"The big issue is the pay and the culture. A lot of international agencies aspire to poach talent from Japanese agencies. Some of the great Japanese planners have international aspirations and would rather be a big fish in a little pond, but these are few and far between," he said.