Essence ramps up Asia-Pacific presence with four office openings
Global digital media agency Essence has opened a raft of new offices in Asia-Pacific, bringing its regional count up to 10.
From left: Jay Lee, Anand Chakravarthy, Kyoko Matsushita, Jovy Gill, T. Gangadhar, Kunal Guha
The GroupM-owned company has opened two offices in India – Mumbai and Bangalore – plus hubs in Jakarta and Melbourne.
GroupM’s doubling down on Essence’s presence follows on from last year’s consolidation of Maxus and MEC in order for the company to ramp up its investment in the data-heavy agency.
However, prior to then, Essence has experienced rapid growth in APAC since it first launched with four Singapore-based employees in 2013.
In the time since then, it has opened offices in Tokyo, Sydney, Shanghai, Delhi and Seoul. With the additional offices opened, Essence now employs around 300 across the region.
In India, the three-office operation will be led by Anand Chakravarthy, the former managing partner of the now-closed Maxus, who was recently made the local MD of Essence.
Chakravarthy reports to T. Gangadhar, the former head of MEC, and now chairman of Essence India.
In Jakarta, the agency’s first foray into Indonesia, the operation will be led by Kunal Guha, the Singapore-based managing director of Essence Central Asia. There the agency will service Essence’s main global client Google.
Kunal Guha: Essence’s new Indonesia head
All offices will report to Kyoko Matsushita, the Tokyo-based CEO of Essence APAC.
She said: “APAC continues to be our fastest-growing region and a huge priority for us as an agency.
“As our clients continue to scale their businesses across channels and continents, we need to do the same.
“I’m grateful that GroupM has helped us transform into the global, full-service agency partner our clients need right now, and for the robust leadership team we have in place to shepherd this next wave of growth in the region.”
Eleanor Dickinson is the editor of Mumbrella Asia. Eleanor joined the Asia platform from Dubai, where she acted as senior reporter for Campaign Middle East.
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