VMLY&R names new managing director for Singapore ops

WPP creative agency VMLY&R has appointed Rhys Taylor (pictured) as its new managing director for Singapore. In his new role, Rhys Taylor will oversee sales, account management and revenue generation for VMLY&R’s Singapore operation, reporting to Hari Ramanathan, CEO of VMLY&R South and Southeast Asia and Japan.

Taylor brings with him more than 14 years of industry experience working in senior leadership roles, most recently as managing director of dentsu's Merkle B2B APAC, where he was responsible for CXM, B2B strategy and creative. His appointment is part of VMLY&R’s strategy to strengthen its regional flagship operation with strong capability leads, ensuring that the office has the region's best to deliver for clients, and underlining its focus on commerce as the intersection point between business experience and customer experience. 

Taylor takes on the role following on from Preethi Sanjeevi, who stepped down in June this year after 16 successful years with the network.

Hari Ramanathan, CEO of VMLY&R South and Southeast Asia and Japan, said, “VMLY&R Singapore is our flagship for the region, and I can think of no one better to take the helm. Taylor’s background in strategy and CX makes him the ideal leader to take Singapore to the next level, complementing our full suite of capability leaders, and helping us to build connected brands for our growing portfolio of clients via our cutting-edge commerce, experience, technology and creative offering.”

Taylor added, “VMLY&R is a leader in brand experience, customer experience and commerce; and is uniquely positioned to support clients beyond traditional marketing and communications — solving business problems and creating new commercial opportunities. VMLY&R stood out because its culture is built around an attitude of innovation and connectedness; and I’m incredibly excited to get to know and work closely with everyone who has been a part of its success so far and look forward to building more with our clients in 2023.”

VMLY&R Singapore has in recent times added on clients such as Zespri and  Scoot. In recent months, Singapore’s investment into capability growth saw the appointment of Saurabh Mathur as regional head of customer experience, Asia, and Alex Tan as regional commerce director. Both Mathur and Tan are based in Singapore and lead growth in solutions for Singapore and regional clients.

Last year it also enhanced its commerce capabilities with the launch of a global commerce accelerator programme in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). The commerce accelerator programme will be based in Singapore and is aimed at developing commerce and commercial advisory services for the agency’s international clients. It will bring to life three new commerce innovation projects, including IMPACT, an in-store touchpoint planning platform, OhMyCart, a disruptive path to eCommerce for small retailers and social sellers, and the agency’s own commercial growth advisory, a data driven commercial growth consultancy for incremental growth.

The agency said the evolution of VMLY&R commerce and the expansion of its customer experience and commerce capabilities have been a major part of the network’s considerable growth trajectory over the past two years, which saw revenues double and headcount triple.