Dentsu Hong Kong has tapped Tom Wan as the CEO of Greater Bay Area (GBA) Solutions tasked with growing the newly-established business team across borders.
Wan brings 30+ years of experience having begun his career in New York and Hong Kong before spending the last 20 years in Mainland China. He joined dentsu Hong Kong in February 2023.
Prior to joining dentsu Hong Kong, he served as the President of Experience in Ogilvy China, where he oversaw the relaunch of the agency’s Digital Transformation and Experience Unit that covers the MarTech, Data Analytic, CRM, eCommerce, UI/UX, and Performance Media practice. During his tenure, Ogilvy China has expanded its Experience offerings and Clients’ adoption of them. He has also served as the CEO of IPG Mediabrands China and led key positions in the wider WPP Group APAC.
Wan will report to Simone Tam, Group CEO of dentsu Hong Kong and work in partnership with the wider leadership team, across dentsu’s capabilities across creative, media and CXM.
The GBA initiative is a national plan to link the nine cities in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing), Hong Kong and Macau into an integrated economy and world-class bay area. Its current population is 86M+, with a GDP of USD 2 trillion that ranked Top 10 in the world and estimated to have a faster growth than the national average, said dentsu adding that it will be the world’s 4th largest economy in 2035
Citing statistics from a joint survey by KPMG, HSBC, and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, dentsu noted that over half (52%) of business executives indicated plans to expand geographically into this region by 2022. 61% of those are willing to invest more than GBP 1M, and majority of those will be spent on branding and marketing, depending on the industry.
“GBA is a primary growth strategy for many of our clients for the next decade,” said Simone Tam.
“With Tom’s deep experience and knowledge of the mainland market, we are confident we can truly offer strong, practical business solutions for clients who are interested in GBA.”
Wan added: “I’m excited to return home to Hong Kong after spending 20+ years of my professional career in the mainland market, be able to contribute my knowledge and experience to our clients’ growth strategy & initiatives in the GBA region.”
