VIDEO: Lowe Worldwide Chairman Tony Wright announces management changes in Southeast Asia

In an exclusive interview with Media, Lowe Worldwide CEO Tony Wright (pictured) said the management restructure was put in motion to better capitalise on the growth of key emerging markets and elevate Singapore to become a global hub for the agency.

Milesi, who is currently global business director of Unilever's Walls Ice Cream brand and who was until recently based in Madrid, will replace Lowe Singapore's former CEO Bryan Easton. He will continue to serve as a global business director on the Unilever's Clear brand in addition to this new role and will be based in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Lowe's Southeast Asia management board will include Milesi; Charuvarn Vanasin, chairman Emeritus at Lowe Thailand; Tony Prehn, CEO of Lowe Thailand; Rupen Desai, operating director of Unilever Asia; Joseph Tan, country technical advisor of Lowe Indonesia; and Ian Courts, who will relocate from Lowe London to take on the role of regional finance director.

The management board will play a key role in servicing current and future regional and global clients, Wright said, adding that will also play a critical role in sharing consumer insights, facilitating training and creative resources across regional operations.

According to Wright this new initiative will help elevate Lowe's creative and integrated communications excellence to the next level.

Speaking about why Lowe has opted for a Southeast Asia management team instead of appointing a regional CEO, Wright said: "The real issue is that clients don't pay for these people. Clients say, "if you need a regional CEO, you go ahead and get one, but I am not paying for it". In a world where our margin as an agency is shrinking, it is very difficult to justify people who are not directly working the business. Even at Lowe London we have a very lean team."

On camera, Wright denied that the move to make Singapore a hub because of the influence from a single client and said Lowe orchestrated the restructure to attract more pan-regional and global business. Last year Unilever, one of Lowe’s key clients, moved its regional headquarters from Thailand to Singapore. Following this shift Lowe relocated key regional personnel to Singapore. 




However, when asked whether the Singapore operations will focus on local businesses, Wright said: "There aren't that many. We might not be the right agency for a small local client. This isn't about chasing business, but if there is an interesting company here is Singapore that we can do work for, why not? That will make life more interesting for people here."

Wright further addressed the agency's status activation brand that Steve Gatfield, the former CEO of Lowe Worldwide, had previously discussed with Media, saying there are plans to launch it in the early part of 2010.

In rating the agency's digital strength in Asia, Write said that the agency has made more progress in some offices than others.

"Sydney has won a lot of awards. Asia's operations have a long way to go digitally, we have a strong activation arm and we have a digital resource in Thailand," he said. "Digital is going to be a key part of the set up in Lowe's Singapore office. This is a hub for talent."