Bates to get a new identity - Bates CHI & Partners

Bates will adopt a new identity across Asia which will also include India. The agency will now be called Bates CHI & Partners. This follows the announcement of the joint venture between Bates Asia and CHI & Partners.

David Mayo, CEO of 'Bates CHI & Partners' in Asia confirmed the news to afaqs!. "The curtain will be up in February. We will work with our clients and our staff, with CHI & Partners and WPP to make sure everything is in place."

Bates India CEO Sanjay Thapar will continue to head the joint venture in India for Bates CHI & Partners. Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar will remain as the head of the creative front. "We have given Sagar a chance to build his creative team in India, the way in which he wants to build it," he adds.

It may be recalled that Ranjan Kapur was brought in to take charge of the agency as chairman, in February this year. Later, in May, Sanjay Thapar, former head, North, Ogilvy was moved to Bates India as chief executive officer.

Bates Asia currently has 14 offices across Asia-Pacific, while CHI & Partners has offices in London and New York.

The new network will be led globally by Johnny Hornby, co-founder, CHI & Partners. David Mayo, who moved from Ogilvy to Bates a month ago, will be CEO of 'Bates CHI & Partners' in Asia. The London and New York offices will continue to operate under the CHI & Partners name.

Mayo emphasised that Bates needed a creative shot in the arm from CHI & Partners, while the latter needed a network beyond London and New York.

The new agency network will give CHI & Partners' existing clients direct access to strong market capabilities across Asia's fastest growing economies. Asian brands wishing to break into Europe and USA can also benefit from CHI & Partners' local knowledge in these regions.

Established in 2001 by Simon Clemmow, Hornby and Charles Inge, CHI & Partners is an independent agency. In 2007, WPP had acquired 49.9 per cent stake in the agency, and the remaining 50.1 per cent was placed in an employee benefit trust owned by the founders.

It may be recalled that Bates was established by Ted Bates in Hong Kong in the early 1960s. It was fully acquired by WPP in 2003 and merged with agency 141 to form Bates 141. Last year, it underwent rebranding after dropping 141 from its name.