Stephen Li steps down from APAC CEO role at OMD

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Stephen Li has stepped down from his role as APAC CEO of OMD. A spokesperson from OMG told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that Li will remain with the agency until the end of November but is now on gardening leave.

In response to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Li said that he has been doing a lot of self-reflection over the last year, and while helping clients ignite powerful brand stories will remain my passion, there’s a part of him that wants to explore opportunities to give back - both inside and outside of our industry. "As such, it’s now time to move on. I want to thank OMD and OMG for the years of opportunities and I wish them great success. But above all, I’m grateful for all the great clients and colleagues that I had the privilege to spend time with," he added.

Tony Harradine, CEO of OMG APAC, will step in as interim CEO of OMD until a replacement is found. Harradine said that Li leaves OMD in a position of strength. "Our client satisfaction scores are at an all-time high, we have been winning new businesses from a robust pipeline but most importantly, we are continuing to be the best partner to our clients. We wish Stephen all the best in his future endeavours," he added.

Li has a demonstrated history of leading people and driving cut through work in the marketing and advertising industry, according to his LinkedIn. Over the years, he has delivered significant growth in all of his roles, and maintained maximum client and customer satisfaction.

Based in Singapore, Li previously worked at MEC for nine years, where he was CEO for South and Southeast Asia and Australia, and later APAC CEO. He was also APAC COO at Batey Ads. According to his LinkedIn, Li had also spent 13 years in Hong Kong working in WPP, Lowe Lintas and Batey Ads. In his LinkedIn post, Li said that in each leadership role, he has led, nurtured and trained talented colleagues whom have subsequently moved on into leadership positions themselves.

Separately, OMG saw a slew of hires and promotions this year. In August, OMG appointed Bharat Khatri as chief digital officer for its operations across APAC. With over a decade of experience under his belt, Khatri is tasked with leading digital marketing capabilities, productisation and governance efforts for the network in this region. In March, it promoted Daler Kendzhaev to lead its data tech and analytics division Annalect in Malaysia. Kendzhaev is responsible for Annalect’s growth in the market and is building the division’s new capabilities in Malaysia by overseeing the increased adoption of Omni, OMG’s people based marketing and insights platform, across OMG Malaysia and its agency brands.

OMG Hong Kong saw four key promotions in February this year. Florence Wong was promoted from managing partner at OMG Hong Kong to CEO of OMD Hong Kong; Derek Yip was promoted from general manager of investment and trading at OMG Hong Kong to chief investment and trading officer at OMG Hong Kong; Gary Wong was promoted from managing director of OMD Hong Kong to chief operations officer at OMG Hong Kong; and finally, Clement Chung was promoted from managing director of PHD Hong Kong to CEO of PHD Hong Kong.

February also saw OMG promote Eileen Ooi, MD of PHD Malaysia, to the role of chief operating officer of OMG Malaysia. Ooi reports to Tony Harradine, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, Asia Pacific in her new role and leads a 104-man team in Malaysia. She also oversees the business operations of OMG and its brands in Malaysia.

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