Ogilvy Strengthens Creative Leadership Team in Asia

Ogilvy has announced the promotion of Reed Collins and Ajab Samrai to the newly created positions of Chief Creative Officer for Ogilvy North Asia, and Chief Creative Officer for Ogilvy ASEAN respectively. Both executives will join Sonal Dabral, Chief Creative Officer & Vice Chairman for Ogilvy South Asia, forming a regional leadership team reporting to Eugene Cheong, Ogilvy’s Chief Creative Officer for Asia Pacific.

Cheong said: “Sonal, Reed, and Ajab are a dream team. As part of Ogilvy’s Next Chapter agenda, we are recommitting to putting our clients at the centre of everything that we do. By moving to a market focused structure, our top creative talent will be more focused than ever on providing the best ideas to our clients and ensuring that each Ogilvy office is producing exceptional work.”

Collins who joined the network as Chief Creative Officer for Ogilvy in Hong Kong in 2013, will take on the additional responsibility as the overall creative leader for Ogilvy North – which includes markets such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. This also follows the planned departure of Graham Fink announced earlier in the week - who has held the position of Chief Creative Officer for Ogilvy China since 2011.

Chris Reitermann, Ogilvy’s Co-CEO for Asia Pacific, and CEO Ogilvy China said “We could not be more excited for Reed and his expanded leadership role for Ogilvy in North Asia. He has truly become a recognised creative force in the region – last year alone being the most awarded creative in Greater China at Cannes Lions, in addition to being named Campaign Asia’s Greater China Creative of the Year”.

Samrai who joined the network as Chief Creative Officer for Ogilvy in Japan in 2013, will take on the overall creative leadership for Ogilvy ASEAN, relocating to Singapore.  With Samrai’s departure, Ogilvy has also announced the appointment of Doug Schiff as Chief Creative Officer for Ogilvy Japan. Schiff – who returns to Asia after short stint in the USA - is no stranger to Ogilvy, having worked with the network for more than a decade – most recently with Ogilvy China. 

Kent Wertime, co-CEO of Ogilvy Asia said “Ajab and Doug are true Ogilvy giants. Ogilvy Japan saw exception growth under Ajab’s leadership and he has been one of our most awarded creative leaders in recent years.  I am excited to see what he will do next. For Doug, we are delighted to have him return. He’s exactly the kind of transformative thinker that will continue Ajab’s extraordinary work for that office”.