BBDO Asia CEO Tze Kiat Tan retires after 2 decades

BBDO's Asia CEO Tze Kiat Tan (pictured) is retiring after two decades with the company, following Omnicom's US$13.3 billion takeover of Interpublic, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands.

Tan, well-known as “Z” in the advertising industry, is a person who strongly believes there are no limits to all possibilities. Previously working at McCann and Saatchi & Saatchi, the Malaysian Chinese joined BBDO Shanghai in 2004 as group account director and then took up the role of managing director, Greater China three years later.

Now, she has been working for the agency for more than two decades. As former president and CEO at BBDO and Proximity Greater China Carol Potter left the agency in 2019, Tan succeeded her mentor and ex-boss and become CEO of BBDO Greater China, opening a new chapter for the agency.

Earlier this week, Omnicom said it will retire several long-established agency brands, including DDB, FCB and MullenLowe, as part of its integration of Interpublic into a single global group.

As part of the sweeping restructure, Omnicom is consolidating overlapping networks, folding FCB into BBDO and rolling DDB and MullenLowe into TBWA. Financial Times reports the company will cut more than 4,000 jobs as part of the immediate post-merger integration.

Omnicom’s own announcement made no reference to the retirement of any agency brands, but the new Omnicom website confirms the shift. DDB, FCB and MullenLowe no longer appear anywhere in the creative structure, which is now built around three global networks: BBDO, McCann and TBWA.

BBDO global CCO Chris Beresford-Hill told media that he was very excited and the newly formed BBDO-FCB entity is a "1+1=3" situation. 

Don't miss: BBDO refreshes identity with new global vision 'Do big things'

Earlier this year, BBDO rolled out its first global repositioning "Do big things" in nearly 30 years, emphasising "big" is not about size, but about solving big problems, delivering big results and partnering with brands with bold ambitions.

The move was understood to be spearheaded by global CEO Nancy Reyes and global chief creative officer (CCO) Chris Beresford-Hill, and aimed to redefine BBDO's role in an evolving advertising landscape while staying true to its creative roots.

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