iris names Josh Thomson new APAC CEO

Integrated agency iris, has appointed Josh Thomson as regional CEO for Asia Pacific.  Thomson, who is currently CEO of iris’ in-house strategy consultancy ‘Concise’, will be charged with overseeing the Sydney, Melbourne, Delhi and Singapore operations and the opening of further offices in the region.  His appointment comes following the announcement that Richard Bleasdale is to depart iris at the end of the year. 

Param Saikia, CEO of iris India will report into Thomson.

Thomson will be based in Sydney and report to Ian Millner, joint chief executive of iris Worldwide.  He has been overseeing the launch of Concise in North America and its roll-out in Asia, which will add CRM, loyalty strategy, commercial innovation, research and analytics capabilities to iris’ existing integrated offering which includes advertising, digital, direct marketing, sales promotion and experiential.      

Thomson set up Concise in 2002, offering strategic consultancy services to a blue-chip client base, which included Fitness First, Intercontinental Hotels Group, AstraZeneca and Costa Coffee, as well as advising numerous private equity firms.   In 2008 iris - an independent - acquired Concise in a £5m deal before merging it with its existing strategy arm to form iris Concise. 
Ian Millner joint chief executive of iris Worldwide said, “To have a long term effect on a client’s business, the future integrated model has to be about more than just communications. Josh has invaluable experience in what’s required to get to the root of our clients’ business issues and what’s then needed to deliver competitive advantage in their market through innovative creative.  His diverse background spans time spent at strategy and relationship marketing companies as well as agency side.  We’re delighted that he’ll be working across more of the business as we look to expand our footprint in Asia”.   

Josh Thomson said of his appointment, “My own philosophies when launching Concise seven years ago are identical to those of iris, which was key to the acquisition last year. That, coupled with iris’ forward thinking approach to creativity, media and talent, makes me extremely excited to be playing such an active role in driving the agency’s ambitious expansion plans. I’m really looking forward to the next stage of the journey and to continuing iris’ success as we focus on growing in the region.”