BBDO Asia appoints talent director; launches internal training programme

To be based in Hong Kong, Parr moved into this position after six years as regional account director at BBDO Hong Kong. Prior to that she was with AMVBBDO in London.

She has been working part-time on the role of talent director since February while sharing her account management responsibilities for FedEx. She moved into the role full-time in August.

The appointment will see her focusing on talent, learning and development across the region. Working closely with BBDO U in Europe, the network’s global internal training programme, Parr has spent six months designing the launch of BBDO U Asia in September.

“We have always invested heavily in our people—through training and cross network collaboration. Katy will make sure that investment is being made strategically and wisely,” Chris Thomas, chairman and CEO at BBDO Asia, Middle East & Africa, commented on the appointment.

BBDO U was launched in Singapore, with the agency’s Rising Stars programme in September. Rising Stars is a week-long training programme for planners, account managers and creatives across the region, including the Middle East, Greater China and Southeast Asia.

With the overall theme of ‘Proactive leadership’, the course allows the participants to grow leadership abilities, enhance digital skills and learn proprietary strategy tools.

The programme not only enables up-and-coming leaders to learn from senior management who attend the course but also encourages peer-to-peer networking across the group.

Parr will also be working closely with local offices on their individual curriculums as well as progressing Asian stars through to the BBDO and Omnicom global talent programmes.

“Our talent is what sets BBDO Proximity apart, and this new role is a vivid demonstration of the network’s commitment to attracting and retaining the very best talent in the marketplace,” Parr added. “I will focus solely on nurturing and developing the fantastic people we have across the agency.”