M&C makes first top management hire

M&C Saatchi Worldwide has officially announced it is launching a full service agency in Singapore, co-owned by senior local talent Tanuj Philip as CEO and the global network.Former Group CEO of Young and Rubicam, Philip is firmly established in the Singapore market with over 18 years' senior experience in the region.While at Y&R, Philip secured a raft of key business wins in recent years, including the global Singapore Tourism Board account for 19 countries, OCBC Bank for Singapore, Malaysia and China, and consolidation of the entire SingTel business.The hybrid ownership structure - a first for Singapore - has worked well for the agency in other markets that its present in such as Malaysia."M&C Saatchi Singapore is not set up as a foreign company with local managers; we have local ownership with the backing of an international network," he said.This marks the agency's return to Singapore after it shut down the operations in 2008. However, in a recent interview to Marketing Chris Jaques, CEO, M&C Saatchi Asia, said the company always intended to restart in Singapore."Singapore presents a real opportunity for M&C Saatchi - the Asian market is strong and business in Singapore is buoyant. M&C Saatchi's global influence will be further underlined by establishing ourselves in this influential territory."The agency's new office will be located at Mediapolis, which the Media Development Authority envisons to be a 'living laboratory' for the media industry."Our choice of office location reflects how we want our business to grow and our unique structure will give clients the best of both worlds: the nimbleness, entrepreneurship and direct attention of senior local leaders, plus the reassurance of the financial clout of a large international agency," Philip added.M&C Saatchi's arrival in Singapore follows the recent launches of new offices in Abu Dhabi and New York, making a total of 27 M&C Saatchi offices worldwide.