MUMBAI: Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific chief operating officer Kent Wertime has been given the additional role of chairman of Ogilvy Malaysia.

In the immediate term, Wertime’s focus will be to tap into the strengths of the respective discipline skills within Ogilvy Malaysia to create integrated offerings tailored to clients’ business needs.

Wertime said, “Malaysia is a key market not only in ASEAN but also the Asia-Pacific region. Given its importance, it is essential that Ogilvy Malaysia provides integrated offerings that will support clients’ growing business needs. To ensure we remain ahead of the rapid changes in the market, we are moving quickly to consolidate and strengthen our offerings with a focus on two areas, data and content.”

“Today, we have to monitor and interpret data in real-time and make quick decisions in the moment that are aligned with clients’ long-term business needs. Equally important in this data-driven process is content. We want to create channel-agnostic content – rich content that can be translated across any channel without losing impact or relevance. In order to do so, we need to have the right expertise, insights, and technology in place,” added Wertime.

Given his regional role, Wertime will continue to be based in Bangkok. However, he will be spending a significant amount of time in Malaysia to oversee the business while a new country head is being identified.

Earlier this year, Ogilvy Malaysia group managing director Anand Badami since 2011, moved to Singapore to take on a global client leadership role for the agency.

Wertime has been with Ogilvy Asia-Pacific since 1999, when he joined the network to head up its Interactive division. He has lived and worked in Asia for 25 years, having held senior agency roles in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok prior to joining Ogilvy.

Ogilvy Malaysia comprises Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, OgilvyOne Worldwide, Ogilvy Public Relations, H&O (Hogarth & Ogilvy, previously known as RedWorks), and Bates CHI & Partners.