Nirvik Singh has been promoted to the post of chairman and CEO, Grey Group Asia Pacific, responsible for Grey and G2 in the region, effective January 1st 2009. Singh (pictured) succeeds Mike Amour who held the top post in Asia Pacific since 2005.
Singh has been both chairman and CEO of Grey Group South/South East Asia since 2005 and CEO of G2 Asia Pacific since 2007.
Asked whether this promotion would imply that a restructuring was in order for the India office, given his additional responsibilities, Singh told Campaign India, "Yes, there will be some developments for us in India and we will be making an announcement in the first week of January 2009."
He declined to elaborate further on details related to such a restructuring.
Talking about the challenges of operating in the current economic climate, Singh said, "The fact of the matter is there is an economic slowdown and Asia has been the growth engine for a lot of organizations. So the pressure on Asia is that much greater. We have already made plans on how we will be dealing with the downturn, including more offices working with each other and using better technology. So while it is in the early stages yet, we are conscious of the fact that there is an economic slowdown."
Speaking on the challenges before him in the year ahead, Singh remarked, "We have to build on the good work that we have been doing over the last three to four years. We have built a significant research proprietary tool Eye on Asia, and we will continue to do bigger and better things around it. From an advertising perspective, we need to lift our creative profile across the Asia Pacific. As for G2, clearly, we have now got some scale across the region. We have made some acquisitions in the last few months which are beginning to bear fruit. In that space, we want to understand the trade better, understand shopper marketing."
Mike Amour is leaving Grey Group at the year end to take a sabbatical before considering new career opportunities, including potential options within WPP.
