ASIA-PACIFIC – SINGAPORE, FEBRUARY 2012: After working at Ogilvy Singapore, Stephen Mangham and Robert Gaxiola have jumped the proverbial ship and teamed up to launch ManghamGaxiola. With over SGD25 million in billings, this makes the full-service independent boutique agency the biggest independent start-up in country. And with only 12 people on board as of this writing, the office also opens on a brave, bold note.
Mangham, formerly group chairman of Ogilvy, resigned from the agency last November last year following his appointment as head of Ogilvy Indonesia (which was eventually given to Katryna Mojica). Gaxiola, or Gax as he is called by colleagues, was hired by the Singapore office in 2009 as executive creative director.
Under Mangham, Ogilvy Singapore nearly tripled its revenues and strengthened its presence in the country with close to 600 people. The Mangham-Gaxiola partnership brought home metals from the most prestigious awards shows, including Cannes Lions and a D&AD Yellow Pencil.
Gaxiola, who also worked at Goodby and Silverstein and Partners in San Francisco, said that he also wanted to “go back to being a writer again” and this agency will give him a chance to do just that. He describes the small group as “switched on ad-guys”, who collaborates and gets involved every step of the way.
The breakaway agency is also a “cool place”, says Gaxiola. It’s not to say that their previous home network was anything bad – in fact, Eugene Cheong, regional creative director of Ogilvy Asia Pacific, speaks very highly of Mangham and his work. But these two award-winning minds have decided to build another agency with a great work-life balance and an even greater “serious creativity”.
