Chris Brewer and Paolo Mercado take on joint leadership roles at Ogilvy Consulting in Asia

Chris Brewer has been elevated to President of Business Transformation and Innovation at Ogilvy Consulting in Asia and Paolo Mercado comes on board as President of Brand Transformation and Innovation in Asia.

Jerry Smith, who currently holds the position of CEO of Ogilvy Consulting Asia, announced his retirement at the end of the year and will continue to work for the company in an advisory capacity.

Brewer has led Ogilvy Consulting based out of Hong Kong, which he has called home for 15 years. He is responsible for advising C-Suites, Boards and Business Leaders on the creation of transformational growth strategies. This has included AXA, FWD Insurance, HSBC, Jardine Matheson, China Mobile, PVH, Marriott International, Huawei and Asia Miles to name notables – work which has resulted in both palpable business outcomes and award-winning impact.

Prior to joining Ogilvy, Mercado spent 12 years with Nestlé where he headed up marketing and communications for China, and then in the Philippines where he also led Innovation. Throughout his career, Mercado has managed complex marketing projects in all major geographies of Asia-Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

The new dual leadership structure is intended to bring focus to two, large and vital practice areas that Ogilvy will be accelerating in the coming months. Both areas are reflective of more international and local clients’ demands in Asia and connect to other Ogilvy services, supporting clients to develop growth-generating strategies.

“Jerry has been a true pillar and thought leader of Ogilvy in Asia for over two decades as well as a champion of helping create and lead the future. He leaves a lasting legacy and framework that will prevail as we see Chris and Paolo work together to ensure that there is a common and coordinated plan for Ogilvy Consulting in Asia as a whole,” said Kent Wertime, Co-CEO of Ogilvy Asia.

Carla Hendra, Global CEO of Ogilvy Consulting, added, “No one worked more closely with me than Jerry to develop the original concept of Ogilvy Consulting globally. He led so much innovation for Ogilvy Consulting and our clients – from our relationship with MIT and the Open Roads initiative to forging countless technology partnerships. I am excited to begin work with Chris and Paolo to continue Ogilvy Consulting’s strong growth in Asia, and in support of our global innovation solutions for brands and businesses.”

In his role as President of Business Transformation and Innovation, Chris Brewer will focus on a number of areas of business transformation, inclusive of business audits, transformation strategies and roadmaps, product/service/experience strategy and design, and marketing transformation. He will closely align Consulting services to Ogilvy Experience and Verticurl for digital transformation where Ogilvy has been seeing enormous growth potential.

In his role as President of Brand Transformation and Innovation, Paolo Mercado will continue to develop Behavioral Science services, sustainability consulting, and various other areas of brand transformation and portfolio strategies for clients. Many of these areas lead to enhanced opportunities for work in Advertising, PR, and Health.

Commenting on the new leadership structure, Chris Reitermann, Co-CEO of Ogilvy Asia said: “We are thrilled to make these key appointments to our leadership team at Ogilvy Consulting. Both Chris and Paolo have an acute understanding of our clients’ rapidly changing needs in Asia and will be instrumental in delivering cross-capability work that generates impact and positions us as the go-to growth partner in the region.”