JWT Singapore hires Chris Chiu as chief creative partner
Chris Chiu, whose short-lived return to Leo Burnett Singapore where he was CEO and chief creative officer came to an end in March, has joined J. Walter Thompson in a senior creative role, Mumbrella can reveal.
The WPP agency confirmed the news today, saying Chiu would take on the role of chief creative partner for the Singapore office.
News of Chiu’s move comes a few days after it emerged that Victor Ng had abruptly exited the JWT Singapore ECD job after just eight months, the same tenure as Chiu’s Leo Burnett reunion.
JWT noted in a short statement to confirm Chiu’s arrival that he is “the second senior award-winning creative to join JWT in recent months,” referring to last month’s hire of Marco Versolato from Brazilian hotshop DM9DDB as chief creative officer, who came in to replace Facebook-bound Valerie Cheng, who was in the top creative role for five years until December.
The agency clarified what the role chief creative partner means, saying that Chiu’s role is “as you’d expect of a senior creative, providing creative leadership for a number of clients and supporting the CCO.”
Chiu worked for Leo Burnett for a decade in three different markets before leaving to set up his own agency in Singapore, Renn Partnership, in 2012. With that business hit by the loss of key client KFC early last year, Chiu returned to Leo Burnett in August 2015 as CEO and chief creative officer.
In his career, he has been highly awarded at all of the key awards shows, winning Gold Lions at Cannes, a Gold Pencil at One Show, Best of Show at AdFest, and golds at New York Festivals, Effies and Appies.
This is a very good fit….Chiu has had a lot of experience at agencies that fit the same business profile as Leo Burnett.
Reply@Deja Vu – not sure if satire, but if so, very good!
Absolute merry go round. Next week’s news here first: Victor Ng joins Leo Burnett
Or some other agency. It really doesn’t matter. Except to clients. But creative agencies don’t have too many of them these days, so that’s okay. Plus all these creative folks will anyway be working for Facebook by the end of the year.
Reply@Michael: Not intended to be satire.
Coincidentally or otherwise, there has always been a tradition for LB creatives to move to JWT in senior positions, and they have shaped much of the agency’s success to date. That’s why I’m pretty optimistic about the outcome here.
The CEO and CCO are fairly new to the Singapore scene, so it’s nice to see that they are receiving good advice from the old guard at the agency.
As long as Chiu can understand that he is no longer giving orders but taking them, I am sure they will all get along just fine.
And if ever the CEO and CCO get food poisoning from sharing a platter of seafood, it is always reassuring that there is someone who can stand in for them.
Reply@Deja Vu even a Star Trek USS Enterprise has newer captains to steer their old ship.
Reply@Deja Vu….lol.
Also have to applaud jwt for closing a great deal.
Where else got hire successful ex entreprener, ceo and cco for for the price of a senior creative…bargain of the century. Sibeh cool man!
ReplyCongrats on the role. Truthfully, the whole musical chairs game is the same in every market. Take LA for instance, most of the players in those markets shift to other agencies the same way they do in SG but nobody says anything. Of course LA is bigger, and the talent bench is much deeper so you will have young names come up as the younger creatives step into larger roles. I guess if SG wasn’t so scammy, no one would bat an eyelid.
ReplyThis is a move down….for both parties.
ReplyNo details given on what “number of accounts” he will be leading ….they seem to have parted company with most of their sizable revenue generating clients.
Also, facts show that he certainly didnt succeed as CEO and CCO at LB…so will be interesting to watch if this is a smart move ot just a gamble.
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