Stephen Drummond returns to agency side after four years with Coke China

His new role is chairman and chief strategy officer. In his earlier Y&R stint he was chief strategy officer.

At Coca-Cola, he held the twin roles of regional creative excellence director and China IMC director. Notable awards in his time there included Coke's first Cannes Grand Prix in 2012 for 'CokeHands' and the Effie China Grand Prix for the ‘Nickname Bottles’ campaign.

This time around, Drummond will have a broader leadership remit, with his role spanning the agency's offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. His appointment starts 1 July. He will be based in Shanghai and report to Matthew Godfrey, president of Y&R Asia.

“Having started my advertising career as a graduate trainee at Y&R, it’s great to be coming home,” said Drummond.

He replaces Kaiyu Li who, until recently, held the post of CSO. Li has left Y&R and returned to his native Australia for personal reasons.