Gary Tse, CEO and chairman Greater China, DraftFCB bids farewell after 23 years

Tse has been with the Draft FCB for 23 years, joining from Bozell as a senior account director in the 1980s. The agency went through a number of merger and acquisitions, including being brought by IPG three years ago.

“I intended to leave last year. I won’t touch the advertising industry any more after being in a corporate job for 23 years,” said Tse “The most important part of my decision to jump from agency life is that I could see the golden opportunity in China's consumer market in the next 10 years, and I want to take full advantage of this market growth before I regret it. I decided to set up my own company, and will be travelling across Hong Kong and China and targeting the consumer market in China.”

Iris Lo, managing director/executive creative director declined to comment. However, the agency sent Media an internally released statement, which read: “Gary Tse, chairman and CEO of Draftfcb Greater China, since the agency was created following the merger of Draft and FCB in 2006, has decided to step down from his position to pursue another opportunity outside the agency, effective immediately.”

It continued: “We are grateful for Gary’s contributions to the agency, and we wish him continued success and good fortune. Until his successor is officially named, his duties will be overseen by Mark Pacchini, president of global accounts and Greater China, and our strong leadership teams that spans Shanghai, Hong Kong, Qingdao, and Taiwan.”

One former colleague of Tse said: “There are not many Chinese agency veterans like Tse left. Tse is a very sympathetic boss who is trusted and stands up for his colleagues."