Y&R boosts Yangon offering

Y&R has hired Mohit Pise as general manager and Milla Chaplin as strategic planning director in the agency’s Yangon office, highlighting its ongoing expansion into Indochina.

Pise takes over as GM from Khin Myat Thu, who has been promoted to chairwoman of the Yangon office.

Pise arrives from being the business lead for Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zambia at Africa’s biggest telco, MTN. He has almost a decade’s experience in advertising, and previously worked with agencies like Wieden & Kennedy in India.

“It’s an interesting time to be in Myanmar with some great brands already in our stable,” Pise said. “The potential for growth is big and Y&R’s presence in Indochina is strong. We are the only agency in Myanmar to have ever won Gold at Cannes and hopefully we can add more to our name.”

Chaplin joins from Mango Media, where she was in charge of new business. She joined WPP’s marketing fellowship programme in 2008, and has experience in branding, advertising and media.

“Myanmar is an incredibly complex market, full of diverse, considered and passionate people,” Chaplin said. “There is much work to be done to build brands with which people can identify and to deliver campaigns that will have a lasting impact, but I believe that the young, local talent coming up through the ranks have curiosity and creative firepower to achieve this.”

Peter Skalberg, CEO Y&R Indochina, said: “Y&R Yangon has gone from strength to strength since it was established in 2013, and we owe much of that success to 'ThuThu', our agency’s new chairwoman. Not only were Y&R one of the first multinational networks to establish an Indochina operation, our commitment to this vibrant sub-region continues to strengthen.”