Iris elevates Luke Nathans to regional CEO for APAC

Iris has appointed Luke Nathans as its new regional chief executive officer for Asia Pacific. Nathans, who presently holds the position of regional development director for the region, will take on the role this month, and will report to the Iris joint global chief executive officers Ian Millner and Stewart Shanley.

Nathans fills the gap left by Josh Thomson, who has moved into more of a strategic role heading Iris' management consultancy arm Concise in Australia (Thompson previously was one of the directors of Concise when Iris bought it in 2008). 

Nathans will continue to be based out of Iris’ Singapore office, and will be responsible for the agency’s client base in the region which includes Diageo, adidas, Tiger, Coca-cola, Shell, Philips and Heineken. He will continue to chair the Asia Pacific board of Iris, which comprises the leaders of Iris’ offices in Asia as well as its leaders in creative, planning, consulting and digital.

Ian Millner, joint global CEO of iris, said, “Luke has been at Iris for four years now and has been a key part of driving the development of the agency proposition, the agency product, and key client relationships in Indonesia,India, China, Singapore and Australia. As the network grows, it will become more important to release more autonomy internationally to enable Iris to continue empowering talented and entrepreneurial people in the diverse and exciting markets we now operate in. Luke has given Iris a real edge across Asia, as we start to become a real threat to the global networks. He’ll continue to bring our brand and our best people to life over the next few years.”

Commenting on his appointment, Nathans said, "It's an honour to be asked to drive Iris' operations in Asia Pacific. In the last 12 months we've experienced unprecedented growth that has led to us becoming one of the leading creative innovation networks in the region. Our growing success has been due to our ability to create world-class participation brands. We've got a fantastic portfolio of progressive brands that want to be known for more than just the goods and services they offer, brands that want to be part of popular culture. This desire, coupled with some of the best minds in the business, will ensure that we are the agency the most talented people want to work for, and the one clients want to work with."

He added, “We're also increasing our footprint significantly in a few key markets before the end of the year, so I'm looking forward to the exciting times ahead.”

According to the agency, Nathans will play a key role in Iris’ forthcoming entry into MENA as the agency eyes a number of locations in the region. Iris recently entered Indonesia, launching a licensing deal with Indonesian agency Nava+. Iris’ current headcount in Asia stands at 400 spanning its APAC offices in Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Shanghai, Jakarta and Delhi.

Nathans was promoted to regional development director for Asia Pacific in August 2011, following his appointment at Iris as managing director of its Asia Pacific experiential arm. Prior to this, he worked for agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, OgilvyOne, Belgiovane Williams Mackay, G2, The One Centre and TBWA Tequila UK.