Staff Reporters
Mar 21, 2013

Barry Cupples set to depart Asia-Pacific; Cheuk Chiang to lead OMG in the region

SINGAPORE - Barry Cupples, chief executive of Omnicom Media Group (OMG) Asia-Pacific, is understood to be moving to a global role focused on trading, analytics and investment within OMG in London, with Cheuk Chiang, currently Asia-Pacific CEO of PHD, set to succeed him in the region.

Cupples (left) and Chiang in Hong Kong
Cupples (left) and Chiang in Hong Kong

Cupples, who is tipped to relocate to the UK this summer, has been offered a newly created global CEO position to lead OMG’s investment and capability development. The move follows the recent departure of Johan Boserup, who left his role as OMG's chief trading and accountability officer worldwide to become global CEO of Trading at WPP’s GroupM in October 2012.
 
Cupples took charge of OMG Asia-Pacific in 2007, following the appointment of Mike Cooper as chief executive of PHD Worldwide. He is credited with building OMG into a powerful competitor in Asia-Pacific. He hired Chiang from Cummins Nitro as one of the first major moves in the region, and managed OMD until 2011, when Steve Blakeman was named as Asia-Pacific CEO of the agency.
 
He leaves behind a healthy business that racked up more than US$400 million in new billings for OMD from 180 clients and 90 new business wins worth $623 million for PHD, according to R3’s 2012 New Business League. OMD also earned the top spot in the Recma Compitches report.  
 
One of Chiang’s top priorities in his new role will be to fill the vacant CEO post at PHD. According to industry sources, OMG is in talks with five candidates, both internal and external, for the job.
 
Chiang joined PHD in July 2008 with the brief to push the network’s pioneering position. During his tenure, PHD has punched well above its weight and was recently named Campaign Asia-Pacific's Media Network of the Year. He moved to Melbourne in 2012 for family reasons following PHD’s win of the global account for banking giant ANZ, and is now expected to run the region for OMG from Singapore.

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

1 hour ago

Keeping the creative fire alive in a global network

Global chief creative officers weigh in on cultivating creativity without losing identity in a large agency network.

12 hours ago

Salesforce invests $1 bil in SG, collaborates with ...

The investment will aim to play a key role in accelerating digital transformation in Singapore’s service and public sector. Meanwhile, SIA will leverage Salesforce’s AI-powered CX tools.

13 hours ago

Lifebuoy urges Indonesian youth to get 'possessed ...

The soap brand presents itself as the solution to the country's record-breaking heatwaves in a horror-comedy to resonate with Gen Z.

13 hours ago

Spikes Asia live judging underway in Vietnam

GALLERY: More than 80 jurors from across Asia Pacific are in Da Nang, judging the best creative work from across the region in contention for a coveted Spikes Asia Award, ahead of the April 24 gala.