London – iris Worldwide today announced that founder and global CEO, Ian Millner, will be relocating to Asia this Summer, as the independent marketing agency looks to increase its focus on the rapid growth markets of South East Asia (Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand), India, Australia, and China. He will remain heavily involved in all aspects of client business globally, spending time in all regions and working closely on key client accounts such as Sony Ericsson, Barclaycard, Shell, Hertz and adidas.
iris is looking to accelerate the development of its integrated network where it already has a footprint with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Delhi, Sydney and Melbourne. Further investment is planned in markets like China and Indonesia according to the agency, which currently has 17 offices across 10 countries.
“The mature agency markets in the US and Europe are still just coming back to life after a lengthy period of doom and gloom. It is possible that these markets will never be the same again, and will lose their influence to the newer more dynamic marketing markets that are more open to risk, innovation and integration,” said Millner.
“We think that we can reproduce the sort of growth we’ve enjoyed in our most mature offices throughout Asia. This will be the making of iris as a real threat to the advertising-led global networks, and will be an incredibly exciting period in our history. We have some brilliant people, some brilliant client relationships and no outdated legacy systems, ways of working or remuneration methods to hold us back. We’re independent and we can be whatever we need to be, to be relevant and successful. What that is will almost certainly change as the markets change and clients’ needs change as a result. This is our secret.”
The move follows the recent announcement that iris has created regional management teams for China, Asia, Europe and the Americas. “We need to have our leadership closer to what is valuable: our people, our clients, and our opportunity. This allows us to make better decisions, more quickly, and also to have a style of company that genuinely shares responsibility and benefit,” added Millner.
Paul Bainsfair will continue to lead European operations as regional CEO, David King will lead the new China region, Stewart Shanley the joint global CEO and co-founder will focus on the Americas and Josh Thomson, former CEO of iris Concise, will focus on Asia-Pacific.
Ian Millner, along with business partner Stewart Shanley, launched iris in 1999 with the ambition of creating a credible alternative to the traditional networks – one that is smarter, faster and more flexible in delivering true integration. Today the agency provides fully integrated solutions for client through its specialist offerings spanning advertising, digital, sponsorship, experiential, PR, DM, CRM and strategic consultancy services.
Other co-founders include; Sean Reynolds (joint global executive creative director), Sam Noble (global executive planning director), Steve Bell (CEO of iris London), Claire Humphris (managing partner, iris London), and Adam Wright (managing director, iris New York).
iris launched in Asia in 2006 with a Singapore office, before expanding across APAC with five more offices and was named ‘Mid-sized Network of the Year 2009’ by Media magazine in December.
adobo magazine. The Word on Advertising.
