Emily Poon steps down as Ogilvy PR APAC president

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Emily Poon (pictured left), president of Ogilvy PR Asia Pacific, is stepping down from her position after five years in the role, and a combined 17-year journey with the agency.

Based on a statement sighted by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Poon will be taking a break to plan for the next chapter of her career, and will be pursuing new ventures.

She will be succeeded by Richard Brett (pictured right), who will hold the role of president in addition to his current roles as CEO of Ogilvy PR ANZ and Ogilvy Health Australia. Brett will take on the expanded role from 1 August, based out of Sydney.

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The statement also read: "Her leadership and dedication have shaped not only our agency’s success and culture but also the careers of many who worked with her. We wish her all the best in her next adventures."

Prior to leading Ogilvy PR APAC as president, Poon began her journey with the agency as an account manager in 2008, before moving up the ranks as associate director, and was then appointed director of business development and consumer marketing practice lead.

She was also the deputy managing director for three years beginning 2015, before being made managing partner in 2019.

Reflecting on her time at Ogilvy, Poon shared: "My past 17 years at Ogilvy have been truly transformative and enriching on so many levels. It has also been my privilege leading Ogilvy PR in APAC for the past five years."

"While I’m excited for new horizons ahead, my heart remains with friends at Ogilvy. Brett is an extremely talented and values-driven leader, I couldn’t be happier with him taking on the role,” she added.

On the other hand, Brett comes into role of president with more than 25 years of experience leading communications consultancies, and as an in-house communications and marketing leader. "I’m honoured to step into this role and build upon the momentum Poon, and our Asia and Australia teams have established,” said Brett.

"Ogilvy PR’s legacy is built on a peoplefirst culture, bold creativity and cutting-edge innovations, and I’m excited to lead our talented teams into the future, both within Australia and New Zealand, and now the broader region," he added.

Commenting on the leadership change, Jullianna Richter, global CEO of Ogilvy PR said: "Richard’s strategic brilliance and passion for integrated, earned-first creativity make him the perfect fit to guide Ogilvy PR forward in the region."

"We are confident he will elevate our capabilities in APAC and inspire our team to continue achieving great things. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Emily for her charismatic leadership, she will be greatly missed," she added.

Earlier in May this year, Ogilvy APAC unveiled a unified social marketing offering under the Social@Ogilvy banner, combining experts across various divisions into one single, integrated team. While Ogilvy first introduced Social@Ogilvy globally in 2012, social marketing has long been a core focus for Ogilvy APAC.

This strategic move consolidates Ogilvy’s diverse social expertise from paid and organic social, influencer marketing and social commerce into a single, unified team of 550 social experts in 16 markets.

The move reflects growing demand for social-first marketing and streamlines the agency’s offer across brand strategy, influencer marketing, paid social and social commerce, all under what it calls a “connected social” model.

On the creative front, it was also announced in May that WPP would be moving creative agency Grey under Ogilvy, shifting its current reporting structure from AKQA group. The move is aimed at strengthening collaboration and unlocking growth opportunities across the WPP network, according to internal memos obtained by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

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