Vero, a Southeast Asia-based independent communications consultancy, has welcomed award-winning creative communications agency Mad Hat Asia into its regional network. This brings together Vero’s regional footprint and established strategic PR expertise with Mad Hat Asia’s creative strength and distinctive culture-first approach to communications, strengthening the consultancy’s ability to deliver integrated communications solutions across the region.
The move immediately strengthens Vero’s presence in Malaysia whilst broadening its capabilities in Singapore. For Mad Hat Asia, it opens the door to Vero’s region-wide specialist capabilities spanning public relations, government relations and public affairs, strategic planning, corporate communications, data analytics and research.
Mad Hat Asia also brings a complementary strength to Vero through its consumer lifestyle expertise, social media management capability, cultural fluency and a sharp understanding of emerging trends and next-generation audiences.
The Vero-Mad Hat Asia partnership is anchored in a shared ambition for growth and a common vision of what the region needs next: a communications model that connects markets, sectors and disciplines more effectively.
As CEO, Brian Griffin will continue to guide long-term direction and ensure that the integration supports sustainable business growth, operational continuity and consistent client work. Mad Hat Asia Founder Rengeeta Rendava will take on a regional strategic role focused on advancing communications strategy, service excellence and capability-building to deliver consistently high-quality, world-class service across the Vero network. As a growth-led acquisition, there are no staff redundancies planned.
“Vero has built an exceptional reputation across Southeast Asia for its strength in corporate, public affairs, government relations and strategic communications,” said Rengeeta. “Joining Vero gives us the opportunity to learn from that strength while contributing our own perspective on culture, digital-first audiences and strength in consumer storytelling into the mix. Together, we’re in a much stronger position to deliver integrated, insight-led communications that truly reflect how companies and brands need to operate today.”
The integration creates even closer alignment between Mad Hat Asia and the Vero’s government relations arm, Vero Advocacy, in Malaysia, enhancing their collective ability to connect policy understanding with culturally resonant communications, an increasingly critical advantage for brands navigating complex regulatory and reputational environments.
“Mad Hat Asia was already familiar to Vero. We have worked closely enough to understand how they operate, how they think and how their clients respond,” said Vero Chief Financial Officer Thanpitcha Suksawad. “When the conversation evolved into something more permanent, it was a natural progression. This isn’t expansion for scale; it’s a focused investment to strengthen our positioning in the region. This deal reflects our broader growth plan: scaling the business with discipline and a focus on long-term value creation.”
More broadly, the partnership supports continued business momentum. Vero achieved a fee income growth of 11.5% in 2025, thanks to strong cross-market collaboration and growing client relationships. With the addition of Mad Hat, Vero is expected to deliver USD 13.5 million in revenue in 2026, supported by 300 communications, government relations and influencer marketing experts working across seven markets, including Myanmar, where it has a special partnership.
Technology and intelligence will be a central pillar of the partnership. Mad Hat Asia will tap into Vero’s proprietary technology stack, analytics infrastructure and regional intelligence teams to deliver more insight-driven strategies, thereby accelerating its next phase of growth. Both firms also share a clear ambition to build meaningful, AI-first advantages to enhance creativity, precision and effectiveness in communications, without sacrificing the importance of authentic, people-led storytelling.
Furthermore, as a B Corp certified company and a pioneering signatory of the Clean Creatives pledge, Vero’s commitment to responsible and sustainable business practices will remain an important part of this new chapter.
“The Mad Hat team has built a business with a real creative identity and genuine heart over the past decade, and that’s exactly the kind of energy that will help to power our progress,” said Brian. “Bringing Mad Hat Asia into Vero deepens our ability to combine PR and government relations in Malaysia. We believe it’s this combination of PR and government relations that helps clients grow and protect what they’ve built across this region. Ultimately, Mad Hat and Vero are fundamentally aligned on building an organization where the most talented communicators in Southeast Asia thrive and want to build their careers.”
Both recently named among the top 100 consumer PR agencies in the world by PRovoke Media, Vero and Mad Hat Asia bring recognised consumer communications credentials to a partnership built to drive innovation, impact and influence across Southeast Asia.
