AdAsia 2011: In conversation with Chris Thomas

BBDO Asia's philosophy is "Acts, not ads", and we asked Chris Thomas, chairman and chief executive officer of BBDO Asia, Middle East and Africa, and chairman of Proximity Worldwide, a little more about carrying out the acts. 

Asked if an act can be purely undertaken on digital, he said, "To me, the digital side is better used for the amplification of an idea. It's a powerful medium, but you need to be careful with it as a world, because pretty much everything is digital now or will be. You need content that creates a conversation; that may be only digitally distributed but more often, it has to use mass media."

On markets besides India and China that are seeing rapid growth, Thomas said, "Sri Lanka is one, Vietnam is seeing tremendous investment, dynamic growth and creative work, and Indonesia has a lot of focus as well."

Thomas also responded to questions about Proximity Worldwide, the direct and CRM division of the agency, and how it's doing, and the intent behind opening a new, standalone office in Sri Lanka.