Proximity London CEO Thomas off to head BBDO Asia

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 24-Nov-05, 08:30

LONDON – Proximity London chief executive Chris Thomas is moving to lead BBDO in Asia, prompting his replacement by Amanda Phillips as managing director with Cilla Snowball as chairman.

Thomas has been appointed chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia, replacing outgoing chairman Raymond So. He will report to BBDO Worldwide president and CEO Andrew Robertson, as well as Michael Birkin, chairman and CEO of Omnicom Asia.

Robertson said: "Chris cares passionately about the work, has boundless energy, a broad bandwidth and is a ferocious competitor. He will be a great leader for this growing region."

Prior to joining Proximity London in September 2003, Thomas was ousted from the chief executive position at Lowe London in March of that year. Under his leadership, Proximity posted strong revenue growth and picked up key clients such as Yell, HP and Shell.

His departure sees a rejig of the agency management, with a promotion for client services director Phillips to managing director. Snowball, the chairman of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, will take on an additional role as chairman of Proximity London.

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