Dan Paris takes on new regional role under TBWA Group

Paris will assume the new position of regional managing director of The Integer Group Asia Pacific, marking a promotion from his current role as managing director for TBWA Group Singapore, a role he has held since 2006.

Dedicated agencies in Sydney, Singapore and Mumbai will complement the existing Integer Group agency in Shanghai and the dedicated shopper team established some time ago in TBWA Hakuhodo in Tokyo, bringing together a network of five Asia-Pacific offices and close to 100 dedicated staff. The new Singapore office will serve as a hub for The Integer Group across Southeast Asia.

The Integer Group in Asia-Pacific will launch with a number of local clients across the network including Insurance Australia Group, Procter & Gamble, Pacific Brands, GlaxoSmithKline, Mars and Michelin.

The intention is for Integer Asia-Pacific to serve both its existing network client base and to capitalise on the growing demand for its global shopper marketing capability.

Speaking exclusively with Campaign on the occasion of the Sydney office launch, Jeremy Pagden, worldwide chairman of The Integer Group, said that digital and shopper marketing are the two fastest growing sectors worldwide, “Reaching shoppers where they buy is a very compelling proposition.”

Asked why The Integer Group is only now setting its sights on Asia-Pacific, Pagden said the further expansion is in response to demand from clients internationally, as well as serving the group’s own business growth.

President of Integer International Marc Ducnuigeen explained that Shanghai and Tokyo had been the network’s first offices in the region due to the sheer size of those markets.

“If there’s anything we’ve learned about shopper marketing in Asia, it’s not to be too aggressive too quickly. Even in the region’s more mature markets, like Australia, clients are slower to move their marketing budgets to shopper marketing. In India, only five per cent are retail consumers, the other 95 per cent still shop in high-frequency stores.”

Ducnuigeen said Integer may be relative latecomers into the region, but some competitor shopper marketing offerings may have been too early and too aggressive.

“There is no question that over the last few years there has been tremendous shift in the way that clients are looking at their spending, particularly in media,” said Paris. “At the same time shopper marketing has evolved into the powerful new philosophy for clients, to not only tap in to a whole new arena of insight this discipline presents, but also to place a fundamental consumer role across all their main spending. It is fast becoming the future methodology for consumer engagement and I am delighted to be leading this space to forge the growth of this discipline for our network and clients ” he said.

Keith Smith, president of TBWA Group International commented, “Since The Integer Group became part of the TBWA Group in 2006, we have seen tremendous appetite from all our key clients for the smart, upstream, strategic shopper thinking that The Integer Group brings to our network. Asia is on the threshold of leading the way globally in innovative marketing solutions and I am delighted that we are assembling such a tremendous team to build this network from the ground up.”

The Integer Group was established in the US in 1993 and currently has 15 global offices serving clients including MillerCoors, Procter & Gamble, Pernod Ricard, Kelloggs, Kraft, 7-Eleven, Mars, Michelin, and Nissan.