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Published on March 26, 2008

The TBWA network is opening more offices of Creative Juice/G1 to expand the "Siamese Twin" business model worldwide.

Witawat Jayapani, the newly appointed co-CEO worldwide along with Theerasak Thanapattanakul of the agency, said their responsibility now was to choose high potential countries to open G1 on all continents, select creative directors and art directors who can work well together and train all the executives in the "Siamese Twin" model.

He said their task was to make G1 the second major brand of the TBWA network, specialising in local marketing communications and advertising. G1 aims to have offices on all continents within three to five years.

Meanwhile, veteran creative director Passapol Limpisirisan, and art director Wiboon Leepakpreeda, have been tasked with building a boutique advertising agency called Monday to be at the forefront of the ad industry in Thailand and the nearby region. 

In establishing the agency and appointing it as a new affiliated agency, WPP Group has vested its faith and investment in two advertising men known for their passion to lead an agency after working in the industry for 20 years.

Monday will be WPP's maiden venture in a totally new brand.

Meanwhile, it would also be the first time that Thai executives, under the TBWA umbrella, have been named leaders for a worldwide operation with the Bangkok office serving as the headquarters for the brand.

The potential of Thai advertising executives in managing ad agencies, combined with an ability to create great ad works, has long been recognised in the international arena. Many advertising offices in Bangkok have won awards for their impressive financial results. They have also received numerous creative awards at local competitions and on the global stage at the renowned Cannes Lion.

Despite their successes almost all ad agencies in Thailand have been opened and are operated under the supervision of their headquarters in the Western world. The HQ consistently introduces new working tools and systems through brainstorming with their offices worldwide, combining long experience and continual feedback.

G1's co-leaders are treading a different path by introducing the home-grown "Siam Twin" working model beyond the shores of Thailand while Monday's co-leaders will be building a totally new agency brand. These are important milestones for them and perhaps for the industry as well.

"Opening a totally new agency brand is actually not a new thing for Western headquarters. They also do the same thing in some other countries," said Sorn Chongsrichan, chief executive of Y&R Thailand, who also acts as an adviser to Monday's co-leaders.

He said the world is getting small, hence it's not necessary that all working tools come from the West. He was making a case for networks getting expertise from around the world.

While Passapol and Wiboon have creative expertise, they are also businessmen, Sorn said.

Meanwhile, the expertise of G1's leadership duo has resulted in greater acceptance for their creative "Siamese Twin" business model, a concept that every project has two ingredients that blend into one, such as the ad agency and corporate customers, or the creative director and art director.

The ad agency will try to make its DNA the same as its corporate customers while the creative director and ad agency will work closely together on one job.

The rise of the Asian economy in comparison with the slow growth in Europe and a slump in the US is a reason behind major ad networks giving more attention to their businesses in Asia and letting Asian executives play a bigger role, Witawat said.

Sorn has another point of view that Asia is still small compared to the large volumes of networks in Europe and the US. The four executives now face bigger challenges.

For G1, it means how to attract ad people with high skills to work with them because people abroad don't know Witawat and Theerasak as well as in Thailand. A second challenge is how to ensure smooth working relationships with people from totally different backgrounds in different countries.

"Good English skills, ability to control operations and human resources, and clear working tools and strategies are the three keys," Witawat said.

The challenge before Passapol and Wiboon is how to maintain their standards of creative work while ensuring the boutique agency will have strong financial growth and the right human resources to build a strong foundation for the new brand. Although they have a clear vision of not wanting the agency to grow large like Y&R, working for only big local or multinational brands, the duo already plans to build the brand in healthy nearby economies like Malaysia.

To meet the higher challenges for all these executives, Sorn said: "First, we have to make the networks trust us and respect us for what we have created. Second, these people must have a high passion for success because it goes beyond mere responsibility."

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation