dentsu HK names new CEO for GBA Solutions

dentsu Hong Kong has appointed Tom Wan (pictured) as the CEO of Greater Bay Area (GBA) Solutions for the group. He will report to Simone Tam, group CEO of dentsu Hong Kong and work in partnership with the wider leadership team, across dentsu’s capabilities including creative, media and CXM.

In his new role, Wan will spearhead growth of this newly established business team across borders, realising the group’s commitment to contribute to their clients’ strategic growth in the region and weave capabilities with this important development paradigm for decades to come. 

With over 30 years of experiences, Wan began his career in New York and Hong Kong before spending the last 20 years in mainland China. Wan joined dentsu Hong Kong in February 2023.

Prior to joining dentsu Hong Kong, Wan served as the president of experience in Ogilvy China, which he oversaw the relaunch of the agency’s digital transformation and experience unit that covers the martech, data analytic, CRM, eCommerce, UI/UX, and performance media practice. During his tenure, Ogilvy China has expanded its experience offerings and clients’ adoption of them. Wan also served as the CEO of IPG Mediabrands China and led key positions in the wider WPP Group APAC.

According to dentsu HK, the GBA initiative is a national scheme to link the nine cities in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing), Hong Kong and Macau into an integrated economy and world-class bay area. Its current population is over 86 million, with a GDP of US$2 trillion that estimated to have a faster growth than the national average.

Moreover, a joint survey by KPMG, HSBC, and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) showed that businesses are keen to share the pie. Over half (52%) of business executives indicated plans to expand geographically into this region by 2022. 61% of those are willing to invest more than GBP 1M, and majority of those will be spent on branding and marketing, depending on industry.

Taking advantage of GBA's geographical position and horizontal working model behind “one dentsu”, dentsu Hong Kong will combine the group’s integrated services including creative, media, and CXM across borders to tailor effective GBA business and go-to-market strategies for clients.

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Simone Tam, group CEO of dentsu Hong Kong, said: “GBA is a primary growth strategy for many of our clients for the next decade. With Wan’s deep experience and knowledge of the mainland market, we are confident we can truly offer strong, practical business solutions for clients who are interested in GBA.”

“I’m excited to return home to Hong Kong after spending over 20 years of my professional career in the mainland market, be able to contribute my knowledge and experience to our clients’ growth strategy and initiatives in the GBA region,” said Tom Wan, CEO of Greater Bay Area (GBA) Solutions.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to dentsu for more information.

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