Y&R appoints Tarun Dhawan and Travis Sorge to head Vietnam operations

Dhawan will replace Ram Kapoor, who left Y&R in August after a two-and-a-half-year stint.

Dhawan joins Y&R after working six years in Vietnam as client service director at JWT, leading the agency’s largest group of businesses. During his tenure there, the agency more than doubled in revenue and is ranked among the top agencies in Vietnam. With a career spanning more than 15 years in advertising and communications, Dhawan brings a solid track record of having managed blue-chip accounts including HSBC, Pepsi, Sunsilk, Shell, Kit Kat and Ford.

Sorge was most recently working at Bates Singapore as creative director. Under his helm, Bates won the regional Sony Bravia account. Prior to that, he was a part of the BBH Singapore team that created the irreverent Chuck character for Chupa Chups' global campaign. The Californian has also had stints at Saatchi Los Angeles, Colenso BBDO Auckland, DDB New Zealand and Wieden & Kennedy.

Ambar Brahmachary, Y&R's Asia president, said: "Powerful networks, like buildings, have to be solid from the ground up — we have been reinforcing our agencies in each market with forward-looking, best in class partnerships at their helm. With these two appointments, we have completed the overhaul of all the agencies in the network. This will reinvigorate the Vietnam office and firmly put it on the path to growth in 2010."

The network's chief creative officer Marcus Rebeschini said that Y&R Asia was on track to becoming one of the most "creative integrated agencies in the region".

"We are remaking our future. We are reinventing ourselves in important parts of the region's geography and Travis and Tarun will make sure that now Vietnam joins the crusade."