Wunderman shifts Asia HQ to Hong Kong

Regional - Wunderman will relocate its regional headquarters from Singapore to Hong Kong in a bid to better serve the China market, its chairman and CEO Daniel Morel (pictured) told Marketing.

"In 2009, we will still see Asia and mostly China and India as growing and global clients like Ford Microsoft, still see Asia as growth markets," he said.

"[And] we're moving our presence in Asia to Hong Kong because it's a better gateway to China."

Wunderman's EVP Asia, Stephane Faggianelli has already relocated to Hong Kong and he said it was too early to tell who else from the agency's regional team of four based in Singapore would move up to the new office.

"It depends on what the clients want regionally," he said.

Wunderman will also keep a local Singapore team in place to service local accounts.

The new regional HQ is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2009 and be around 10 to 15 people strong but depending on the outcome of current pitches (HP and Nokia) it may increase.

The move is in response to the stronger focus on China the agency's bigger clients are adopting while the agency, which has made a string of acquisitions in the region this year, doesn't expect to pull back investments in Asia next year despite the ongoing financial depression.