WPP reorganises Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R in Malaysia and Indonesia

WPP has reorganised the business operations of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R in Malaysia and Indonesia. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands that Wunderman Thompson's operations have been folded under VMLY&R in Malaysia, while the reverse has happened in Indonesia where VMLY&R's operations now sit under Wunderman Thompson.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands that the local reorganisation, which happened earlier this year for Malaysia and more recently for Indonesia, allows both brands to share resources. Both agencies will also continue to operate under their respective names in each market while WPP seeks efficiencies in line with its strategic goals. 

In Malaysia, both agencies will be led by Kenni Loh, CEO of VMLY&R COMMERCE, while the teams in Indonesia will report to Vaishali Sarkar, CEO of Wunderman Thompson, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands. It is understood that both agencies will still retain their respective clients, with Wunderman Thompson, for example, retaining Nestlé. Employees on both teams will also work across both brands barring conflicting clients, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands.

Meanwhile, Wunderman Thompson Malaysia's MD, Patrick Yap, left earlier this year. He first took on the role in 2019 after former CEO Saurabh Saksena left to take on the role of president at WPP's Red Fuse Communications. In a statement during his appointment, Yap said he is tasked to build the Wunderman Thompson brand in Malaysia, driving growth both for the agency and for ambitious brands.

WPP did not comment further on MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's queries at the time of writing.

In recent years, WPP has merged many of its iconic brands to create operating efficiencies within the network. In fact both VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson were birthed out of the mergers of agencies under the WPP family. In 2018, it merged VML and Y&R to combine brand experience and brand advertising. Months later, it combined J. Walter Thompson with Wunderman to create an agency that is a provider of end-to-end solutions, from creative, data, commerce, consulting and technology. Last year, WPP also further merged Geometry and VMLY&R to form a new end-to-end creative commerce company named VMLY&R COMMERCE.

On the creative front, WPP also merged AKQA and Grey to form AKQA Group. The combined entity will have 6,000 people in more than 50 countries and a blue-chip client roster that includes more than half of the Fortune 500’s top 20.

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