Advertising agencies DDB and Brandcom Middle East have merged their operations in the region.
The finalisation of the merger follows a lengthy period of negotiations, which culminated in Brandcom moving to offices in Dubai’s Knowledge Village – where DDB is already situated – at the tail end of last year. DDB Worldwide had initially bought an 80 per cent stake in Brandcom at the end of 2007.
DDB Worldwide has been consolidating its complicated presence in the region for the past few years, and what were formerly TD&A DDB, Gulf Promoaction DDB and Brandcom are now one entity: DDB.
Najam Khawaja, formerly CEO of DDB, becomes executive chairman of the merged agency, while Ajay Shrikhande, previously CEO of Brandcom, becomes COO. Babu Subramaniam retains the title of MD of the Dubai office, while the creative department will be headed by Shehzad Yunus.
Patrick Ehringer, DDB Worldwide’s president for the Middle East and Africa, stated that the new agency was majority owned by DDB Worldwide.
“I was frustrated at not being in the region under one single DDB banner, but the merger changes that and really puts DDB on the regional scene,” said Ehringer. “The merger combines our creative resources and account expertise into a unit that can really begin to be noticed in the region.”