McCann Malaysia makes senior appointments as prior CEO, creative duo move to new affiliate

Michael Constantine and Richard Irvine have been appointed president and chief creative officer of McCann Worldgroup Malaysia, respectively. Incumbent chief executive officer Tony Savarimuthu, as well as creative duo Huang Ean Hwa and Szu Lee, deputy chairmen and executive creative directors, will be leading the new Merdeka LHS (an acronym of the surnames of the founding partners).

Savarimuthu, Huang and Lee have been credited with the success of the Malaysia office for the last 10 years, achieving six ‘Agency of the Year’ awards and winning key clients and international accolades. Huang and Lee were the winners of Malaysia’s first Gold Lion at Cannes, while Savarimuthu is the serving president of 4As Malaysia.

Savarimuthu noted that Merdeka LHS will be "an independent company, specialising in strategic brand consulting and helping clients build teams to achieve market leadership". Its focus will be on specialised strategic branding, design and marketing.

“The McCann leadership has been very supportive of our ambitions," he said. "We will continue to have a close strategic relationship with an affiliation, which will give us the support of a strong international network.”

Constantine and Irvine previously led the Leo Burnett Manila office for five years, with key clients including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Samsung, Sun Cellular and GM.

Constantine was previously global marketing director of Prime Focus. Joining McCann Worldgroup Malaysia at the end of this month, he will be a member of McCann Worldgroup’s Asia Pacific Executive Committee.

Irvine, meanwhile, was most recently the chief creative officer at Publicis Worldwide Malaysia and chairman of the Southeast Asian Creative Board. A multi-award winner and Grand Prix Cannes Lion winner, he has worked in London, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia.

His appointment at McCann Worldgroup Malaysia is effective next month, where he will also become a member of the Asia Pacific Creative Leadership Committee.

“Malaysia is a priority market for us in Southeast Asia, and therefore leadership is key to our success,” Charles Cadell, president at McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, said. “Tony, Hwa and Szu have been tremendously successful for us and with them now leading Merdeka LHS, Michael and Richard are charged with driving our global strategic and creative direction, and ambitious growth strategy for McCann Worldgroup Malaysia.”