TH Peng Joins Grey as Chairman and CEO of Grey Greater China

NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- James R. Heekin III, Chairman and CEO of Grey Group, today announced that TH Peng, one of China's most accomplished and respected advertising industry leaders, is joining the agency as Chairman and CEO of Grey Greater China, a new position.  His appointment will be effective in March, 2012 and he will be headquartered in Hong Kong.

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Peng has served as CEO of McCann Worldgroup Greater China since 2001, an unprecedented period of growth and development for the company.

"TH Peng is the finest advertising leader of his generation in China.  During our years together at McCann and beyond, I have been deeply impressed with his vision, passion, creativity and dynamism as the architect of one of the world's leading networks in China," Jim Heekin said.  "We are delighted to welcome him to Grey.  TH will be instrumental in guiding our ambitious growth plans in China, a fulcrum market for our future development in the region."

Grey Greater China, with more than 500 employees, includes operations in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  Its blue-chip client roster includes Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Tencent, Galaxy Macao, Uni President Foods and Hong Kong Tourism.  The Grey Group Asia Pacific network covers 16 countries and is present in 28 cities.

"TH brings a tremendous track record of achievement to his new role," Nirvik Singh, Chairman and CEO of Grey Group Asia Pacific, said.  "His appointment is a clear signal of our ambitions to aggressively pursue growth and expand our reach and resources in China."

TH Peng: Innovator, Builder, Creative Champion

TH Peng has been called a great leader, a champion of creative ideas and people, an inspiring mentor to a generation of ad professionals, an innovator in brand building across channels and, simply, one of the best ad executives in China.

Peng began his career as a Copywriter and became President of McCann Taiwan in 1995.  He was promoted to CEO of McCann Worldgroup Greater China in 2001, overseeing McCann-Erickson, MRM, Momentum, McCann Healthcare and Can Create in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Peng is credited with building the important Greater China market into one of McCann's foremost operations in terms of growth, creative excellence and strategic innovation.

He is Deputy Chairman of the China Advertising Association and served as Director of the Taiwan 4As.

About Grey

Grey is the global advertising network of Grey Group.  Grey Group ranks among the largest global communications companies.  Its parent company is WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY).  Under the banner of "Grey Famously Effective Since 1917," the agency serves a blue-chip client roster of many of the world's best known companies:  Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Pfizer, Canon, 3M, Eli Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim and Allianz.  Grey was featured in FAST COMPANY magazine's "50 Most Innovative Companies in the World" issue in both 2010 and 2011 (www.grey.com)

SOURCE Grey