In an exclusive interview with Media, Kenny pointed to changes in the chain of command and the role of new acquisition Razorfish as boosting China's importance within the group.
Kenny, who is based in Boston and is one of two managing partners of the digital group, noted that VivaKi’s agencies - China Media Exchange, Digitas, Starcom Mediavest and ZenithOptimedia - have seen more than US$1.4 billion of billings in the market. He added that China had the potential to “leapfrog the rest of the world” in terms of its clout as a media producer.
To capitalise on the market’s potential, VivaKi announced the appointment of former EVP and chief representative of MTV China Yifei Li to the post of chairwoman of Greater China earlier this week, which is a position Kenny said he had been looking to fill for a year.
“Yifei reports directly to me and the only markets that do are the US and China, so we treat it like the US. We treat it as a market that is really going to have scale,” Kenny said, adding that he anticipates that the addition of Razorfish to VivaKi will boost the digital group’s profile in China. “I think that we will be doing more content inside of VivaKi and [Razorfish] that will bring some skill to Hong Kong, Shanghai and in Beijing.”
Kenny added that Australia, India and Korea are also target markets for VivaKi, suggesting India will fully emerge as a dominant player when it becomes more digitally mature, and Australia is a valuable market to test trends.
He also looks forward to a prosperous relationship with Dentsu in Japan, confirming that Dentsu's Razorfish will continue operations as usual.
“[Razorfish] brings with it the joint venture in Japan, which we’re also excited about,” he said. “Razorfish is very happy with that joint venture. Dentsu has told it that it is very happy with its joint venture and actually sees some new opportunities now that Razorfish is a part of VivaKi.”
In terms of expansion, Kenny said each brand under the VivaKi umbrella will look to expand in both Korea and Southeast Asia
Kenny, who is based in Boston and is one of two managing partners of the digital group, noted that VivaKi’s agencies - China Media Exchange, Digitas, Starcom Mediavest and ZenithOptimedia - have seen more than US$1.4 billion of billings in the market. He added that China had the potential to “leapfrog the rest of the world” in terms of its clout as a media producer.
To capitalise on the market’s potential, VivaKi announced the appointment of former EVP and chief representative of MTV China Yifei Li to the post of chairwoman of Greater China earlier this week, which is a position Kenny said he had been looking to fill for a year.
“Yifei reports directly to me and the only markets that do are the US and China, so we treat it like the US. We treat it as a market that is really going to have scale,” Kenny said, adding that he anticipates that the addition of Razorfish to VivaKi will boost the digital group’s profile in China. “I think that we will be doing more content inside of VivaKi and [Razorfish] that will bring some skill to Hong Kong, Shanghai and in Beijing.”
Kenny added that Australia, India and Korea are also target markets for VivaKi, suggesting India will fully emerge as a dominant player when it becomes more digitally mature, and Australia is a valuable market to test trends.
He also looks forward to a prosperous relationship with Dentsu in Japan, confirming that Dentsu's Razorfish will continue operations as usual.
“[Razorfish] brings with it the joint venture in Japan, which we’re also excited about,” he said. “Razorfish is very happy with that joint venture. Dentsu has told it that it is very happy with its joint venture and actually sees some new opportunities now that Razorfish is a part of VivaKi.”
In terms of expansion, Kenny said each brand under the VivaKi umbrella will look to expand in both Korea and Southeast Asia
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