Wunderman Thompson names new APAC CEO

Wunderman Thompson has appointed Audrey Kuah (pictured) as its new chief executive officer of Asia Pacific region. Kuah will report to Wunderman Thompson's global CEO, Mel Edwards, and will oversee the creative and strategic growth of the business in the region.

Kuah will be based in Singapore and will commence her role at the beginning of September. She takes over from global president and EMEA CEO Ewen Sturgeon who was acting as interim APAC CEO.

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Kuah expertise in marketing and advertising has been deployed across industries and geographies for over two decades. She joins Wunderman Thompson from OCBC Bank where she was head, group marketing, global consumer and financial services, responsible for driving business and growth-focused marketing initiatives.

At OCBC, Kuah delivered creatively driven, integrated campaigns that were inspired by consumer insights with personalisation at the core, Wunderman Thompson said in a statement. She also partnered with OCBC's group brand and communications team to design the consumer arm’s experience in Decentraland, OCBCx65Chulia.

Prior to that, Kuah spent eight years at Dentsu where she held multiple leadership roles including that of executive director, media practice, Asia Pacific and managing director, global data innovation center. Kuah is also currently on the board of the Singapore Tourism Board and was most recently on the board of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore International.

“My journey in marketing and advertising was jumpstarted at J. Walter Thompson Singapore and I’m delighted to come full circle and lead the network’s operations across Asia Pacific," said Kuah. "It’s not often this kind of opportunity presents itself, let alone for a network as progressive as Wunderman Thompson. The depth and breadth of the capabilities Wunderman Thompson has to offer is unmatched, and I look forward to working with both teams and clients to deliver their vision in one of the most dynamic and fast growing regions in the world,” she added. 

“Having worked both client and agency side, Kuah understands and appreciates the dynamics of working with leading global brands. We’ll have the best of both worlds for our people and our clients in APAC with Kuah at the helm, and I have no doubt she will bring her joy for creative problem solving to combine our creative offering and capabilities to drive growth in the region,” said Edwards.

The news comes shortly after Wunderman Thompson's executive director of strategic initiatives across the APAC region, Tarun Rai, retired after 30 years in the ad industry, according to the agency in a statement. 

Rai joined Wunderman Thompson in 1988 as an account executive and quickly rose through the ranks to become managing partner at global ad agency J. Walter Thompson (JWT) which merged with Wunderman in 2018 to form Wunderman Thompson. 

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