Chris Foster has been promoted to take over from Thomas, who set up the new Saatchi office in Tokyo in late in 1999 after the jointly-operated Saatchi/Bates operation was de-merged.
Foster joined the agency three years ago as regional director for Procter & Gamble and was responsible for the launch of Ascend, rated as one of the best launches by the consumer goods company.
Thomas opened the agency with five clients and followed up by winning accounts from Pernod Ricard, Transitions Optical and United Airlines.
