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M&C Saatchi restructures Hong Kong operation, powerbase shifts to Shanghai and Singapore

M&C Saatchi Hong KongThe Hong Kong office of creative agency M&C Saatchi is to reduce in scale, reflecting the decline in importance of what was once the region’s lynchpin market.

Hong Kong will continue to serve as a regional management base, but local operations have been stripped out of it, with M&C Saatchi’s Asia Pacific ‘centres of excellence’ shifted to Shanghai and Singapore.

The rethink, led by regional boss Chris Jacques, comes five years after the Singapore operation was shut – only to be later reopened under new management led by Tanuj Philip in 2012.

Hong Kong has long served as M&C’s regional hub and the focal point for markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, India, Greater China and Japan. Its Australia and New Zealand operations report directly into London HQ.

On M&C Saatchi’s website, the agency still states at the time of writing: “Hong Kong has a unique location at the heart of Asia; the hub of Greater China; the bridge between the East and the West. That’s why we chose Hong Kong to be the centre of our operational, financial and M&C functions.”

The news follows a strategic review of the micro-network’s Greater China operations, which saw M&C enter a joint venture with Shanghai-based independent agency aeiou.

Chris Jacques said in a statement: “M&C Saatchi is a lean, nimble and entrepreneurial company that makes the right decisions at the right time, and isn’t beholden to legacy structures, like the big old agencies are. We respond to the new reality, and we respond fast.”

“With our strategic investments in Shanghai and Singapore – combined with the restructuring of our Hong Kong office – we are making the smart decisions, and building the right platform, to capture the dynamic growth offered by Asia’s future.

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