Cox (pictured) has lived in Japan for the past 23 years and was most recently executive officer and chief strategy officer of MRM in the market. He will work closely with Okubo to grow domestic operations and build the business out to the broader agency network.
While Cox will be responsible for the day-to-day operations and business development, Okubo will concentrate on helping Japanese brands with their global expansion efforts. Okubo pointed to a “second wave of opportunity” for Japanese brands to create new revenue streams in foreign markets.
It is not clear at this stage which domestic brands Okubo will work with in this capacity. The agency recently won business from Sharp, and its portfolio of foreign brands includes Chivas, Air France and Sanofi-Aventis.
Okubo has been with Euro RSCG for 14 years. In addition to MRM, Cox has worked at Japanese interactive agency D.O.E. and for BMG Music. Over the course of his agency career he has worked alongside companies such as Apple, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Dell, Disney, Hibiya Kadan, Mazda, Shiseido and Unilever.
The new leadership structure will take effect from April. Both Okubo and Cox will report to Juan Rocamora, chairman of Euro RSCG Asia-Pacific.