ASIA-PACIFIC – JAPAN/SINGAPORE, FEBRUARY 8, 2013 – Maxus and Asatsu-DK (ADK) has launched a new Asia-wide initiative aimed at providing regional media planning and buying services for Japan-based clients, named ADK+Maxus.
The new collaboration will provide ADK’s clients direct access to market-leading media planning and buying expertise and scale across the entire Asia Pacific including China, through the Maxus network.
Starting from January 2013, the ADK+Maxus partnership will begin with the establishment of dedicated media planning and buying units within Maxus offices across key markets in Asia. At the core of the initiative will be a new ADK+Maxus Asia Strategic Planning Centre in Singapore, jointly resourced by the two partners and focused on supporting multi-market regional Japanese clients and their growth ambitions.
A unit of WPP’s media and investment management arm GroupM – the world’s largest media investment group with global billings of $77.1 billion, Maxus have already been working closely with ADK for several years in selected markets, including India and the Philippines. The new initiative announced today takes this collaboration to a new level – covering the entire APAC region, and offering a new strategic planning resource in the centre.
“We are pleased that Maxus and ADK are able to leverage their assets for the benefit of Japanese marketers, who count among the largest in the world,” said WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. “We continue to look for more ways to collaborate with our Japanese partners and to provide their clients with improved access to services throughout the world.”
Neil Stewart, CEO, Maxus Asia Pacific, stated, “We are delighted to have stepped up our cooperation with ADK to offer their clients best-in-class media services and exciting new offerings.”
Commenting on the need for growth in the Asian market, Yoji Shimizu, CEO of ADK, said, “So many of our clients are looking to Asian markets for growth; and success in these markets requires innovation and new media expertise as well as scale to offer the best value. By establishing this new partnership we can ensure our clients will receive customized services from ADK with the scale and support of Maxus/GroupM.”
WPP holds a minority stake in ADK, Japan’s third-largest full service advertising agency, with billings of $4,465 million [Y347 billion in 2011].
