Dentsu Hong Kong appoints Tom Wan as CEO of Greater Bay Area Solutions for the Group

Dentsu Hong Kong has appointed Tom Wan as the CEO of Greater Bay Area (GBA) Solutions for the group. Wan will spearhead growth of this newly established business team across borders, realizing the group’s commitment to contribute to their clients’ strategic growth in the region and weave capabilities with this important development paradigm for decades to come.

Wan encompasses 30+ years of experiences; began his career in New York and Hong Kong before spending the last 20 years in Mainland China. Wan joined dentsu Hong Kong in February 2023.

Prior joining dentsu Hong Kong, he served as the President of Experience in Ogilvy China, which 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 scheme 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.

Businesses are keen to share the pie. 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 industry.

The winning formula for GBA is to bring a cluster of cities together to generate integrated offerings for its citizens and the world, and Hong Kong’s unique East-meets-West position has made it a natural business driver. Taking advantage of such geographical position and horizontal working model behind “one dentsu”, dentsu Hong Kong will combine the group’s integrated services: Creative, Media, and CXM across borders to tailor effective GBA business and go-to-market strategies for clients.

Tam said: “GBA is a primary growth strategy for many of our clients for the next decade. 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 said: “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.”