John Brown's CEO Andrew Hirsch says, "We have been looking to invest and grow in Asia and this new office will further enable us to deliver our trademark inspirational and hard-working communications to many of our global clients."
Locally, amid tough industry conditions, the South African office has concluded a successful 2011, having secured two blue chip accounts, increased its staff complement to 40 full time staff, grown turnover and doubled its office space.
Core to its success has been the ability to attract some of the best minds in publishing, including editors Toni Younghusband on Discovery and Justine Stafford on Edgars Club. "Editors of this calibre are best placed to nurture the crucial client/publisher partnership. It's about balancing the right creative and strategic approach," says local MD, Lani Carstens.
The group has offices in UK, Shanghai, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
