BBDO Guerrero opens Proximity Shop

This new venture is looking to expand the agency’s existing offering by providing creative advice and expertise within the retail environment. Its remit will cover all aspects of the shopper experience from retail design to in-store display.

To head this up, BBDO has hired two proven experts in the field from successful local operation The Red Zone. Aya Montebon and Chin Pangan were founders of TRZ and have previous shopper marketing experience across a range of famous brands and clients.

Montebon was previously group shopper marketing director at McCann Worldgroup where she was responsible for running their Coca-Cola business. Pangan previously worked as associate creative director at Ace Saatchi & Saatchi working across a variety of brands such as P&G and The North Face. They founded TRZ in 2010 and worked on a variety of clients such as Havaianas and Victory Liner.

Said Montebon, “The realization that the retail environment is a fertile ground for marketers is reshaping the way we do marketing. I can’t wait to start working with some of the most brilliant minds in the country in producing compelling work based on deep understanding of the shopper”.

Proximity Shop will be fully integrated within the BBDO Guerrero and Proximity Philippines organization and is intended to work seamlessly with account teams across all manner of campaigns and projects.

Pangan added, “I’m excited to work with a team that will rethink the way we see in-store communications”.

Tony Harris, chief executive of BBDO Guerrero | Proximity Philippines, said, “Retail marketing, in all its aspects, needs to be considered as part of the entire communications mix and so we have spent considerable time finding the right candidates for this important launch. Aya and Chin bring the kind of local expertise that is crucial in looking at the specifics of the Philippines retail environment.”