TBWA\Hakuhodo President & CEO Ichiro Zama Awarded the “2013 Agency Innovators” award
Ichiro Zama, President and CEO of TBWA\Hakuhodo, has been selected by US advertising industry journal The Internationalist as one of the 31 “Agency Innovators” it has chosen from around the world as having produced the most groundbreaking innovations of the previous year.
Zama (left) has been a powerful force behind the development of TBWAHakuhodo, a joint venture with roots in both Hakuhodo and TBWA, into an organization that integrates people of different backgrounds across company departments and functions. His achievement is the result of a deep understanding of how important it is to accept diverse cultures and value systems, creating a fusion of two company cultures. This understanding was enriched by his experience in Los Angeles working at TBWA\CHIAT\DAY. He received the Agency Innovators honor in recognition of his ability to deliver growth even during difficult times, his efforts to foster innovation, high spirit and cross-cultural leadership, all of which have led TBWA\Hakuhodo to grow in a short period of time.
In 2007, Hiroshi Ochiai, the previous TBWA\Hakuhodo President and CEO (now a member
of the Hakuhodo Board of Directors, Senior Executive Corporate Officer), was also named
Agency Innovator, and his successor’s selection for the honor is an extremely rare case in which more than one person in the same position at the same firm have been chosen successively. It demonstrates the high regard in which The Internationalist holds their work at TBWA\Hakuhodo.
Zama commented upon receiving the award, “It is both a great surprise and an enormous honor to receive this award six years after my predecessor Mr. Ochiai. What makes me feel most proud is the fact that eight years since its founding, TBWA\Hakuhodo has given rise to a single unified culture, and this is part of the reason I was selected. The culture is one that is focused on passion, innovative thinking and the development of best practices. It is also greatly pleasing that our steady growth has been recognized in this way. I am grateful to all of our clients for making possible the honor of receiving this prize, an honor which is shared by all of our employees.”