Hakuhodo names Yang Yeo and Kentaro Kimura creative officers for APAC

Hakuhodo, Japan’s second largest advertising agency group, has appointed Kentaro Kimura (pictured left) and Yang Yeo (pictured right) as APAC co-chief creative officers.According to the agency, this is part of Hakuhodo’s ambition and commitment to raising its creative firepower beyond Japan. Kimura will be based in Tokyo while Yeo will be in Singapore and travel frequently to China.Besides the task of strengthening Hakuhodo’s creative capabilities, especially in the areas of talent, skillsets, and reputation, Yeo and Kimura’s responsibility also extends to strategic planning and integrated marketing in the Asia Pacific. Kimura will also continue his role as co-CEO and ECD of Hakuhodo Kettle in Japan.Prior to joining Hakuhodo, Yeo was ECD of Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai. He started his advertising career in 1992 with Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, and gained global experience from BBH in London, built Fallon in Singapore and Hong Kong, and worked with TBWA\Shanghai and JWT China.Kimura started with Hakuhodo in 1992. He soon developed a unique planning and creative style that blurs the boundaries between strategy, creative, digital, and PR, making sure the ideas can work seamlessly across multiple disciplines. In 2006, he established Hakuhodo Kettle, a boutique creative agency that plans and implements innovative campaigns that look beyond traditional advertising methods. The goal is for Hakuhodo Kettle to serve up boiling hot ideas to the world.“Two brains are stronger than one,” said Masaru Kitakaze, worldwide CCO and senior corporate officer of Hakuhodo. “This new dual-leadership will provide our business partners with the best of both worlds—in delivering truly global creative standards and point-of-view, without losing our heritage and DNA.”