 Good afternoon. I have with me today Mr Rupert McPetery, CEO AIPAC at EssenceMedia.com. Thank you so much Rupert for joining us. A real pleasure and great to have the opportunity to talk about the agency and can and the future. You took over as CEO in May last year in the midst of the merger process at EssenceMedia.com. What were the big challenges that you faced in the run-up to this merger, which finally concluded in January this year? It's been an extraordinary journey bringing the two businesses together. I think we set out to create something very, very new and because of that we wanted to take our time to do it properly. So although there were challenges, some of them around logistics, some of them around how we set up our organizational design, some of them around keeping up with what our day-to-day business is whilst trying to imagine the new agency. We were very lucky that we took the time that we did because that allowed continuity of business, but also to manage any small challenges here and there. And I'd say probably the biggest challenge that we had was trying to find the balance between taking the time to do things properly with full engagement, participation from our people, keeping all our clients up to date, so taking some real time and care about what we're doing. But at the same time, we don't want to lose any time. We wanted to move quickly, move decisively. And of course the industry, the market, our clients and our people were very curious about what will Essence Media.com look like. So the only real tension we had was that finding a balance of moving fast versus taking the time to take care of everything properly. So what have you achieved in the short term and what's the long-term agenda? So when we launched formally, Essence Media.com, the new agency in January, we felt we'd already achieved quite a lot. So we have a new vision, a new proposition, we have a new way of working with a new operational structure. We've integrated our people into one team. We're still in the process of moving some people into co-location. So that's sort of step-by-step getting the estate sorted. But I think what's really heartening for all of us, what we take really positive is the feedback we're getting from the industry is very positive. So if you ask what we've achieved, I think we've positioned ourselves well as the agency for the future to help clients navigate the new communication economy, to elevate our work, to take it upstream, to deliver what we call breakthrough work. And it's working. It's working well. And we've had many proof of concepts when we've been pitching of how relevant our new offer is, how attractive our new offer is. Because we're looking to go beyond just the sort of simple find an extra half of 1% advantage here or tune up a strategy there. We're after something much richer and fundamental that will genuinely change the game, create a breakthrough for our clients' businesses. So we've achieved a lot. Longer term, honestly, there's still a lot to do. We're at the very start of this journey. It's only 155 days since we launched. So whilst I'm fiercely proud of what our people, what we call essentials have achieved so far, there's a lot to do as we roll out our new vision and proposition, the tools, the technologies, the capabilities, and we scale these across the region and in market. So we're proud of what we've achieved, but we're humble enough to know we've got a huge amount to do. You use the term new age agency. How do you define that? Well, look, I think we've been very fortunate in taking the brilliant capabilities. And by that, I mean people as well as the tools and the tech of Mediacom and of Essence. You know, you've got a Mediacom, a classic, strong agency model with a really diverse range of clients, very strong in communications and strap planning, brand building activities, you've got Essence with data analytics at the heart, performance, digital centric. So the raw ingredients of what we have, I think are quite unique. And in our new proposition, what we're trying to solve for and why these people capabilities are so important is really trying to address what we see clients are asking for now. And this is no longer really just optimizing individual silos of activity. Of course, we're trying to do the best we can in every platform, every media, every plan. But clients these days, they want to understand the co-relationship, the co-dependencies, social and commerce of content to data analytics, as well as classic brand building activity. And so that's the agency of the future that we're building a new agency to navigate what we call this new communications economy. And critically, I think quite unique for us is we're able to solve for a whole broad range of questions that clients are asking in one go. Okay. So looking just at the agency business in the AIPAC region, what has been the client's response to the merger? And what are you looking forward to the year ahead in terms of growth? So clients in AIPAC, I think have responded really well. The feedback's been very positive. I think what we're standing up in the region from a capability point of view, really does solve for many of the key business challenges. So I think we really want to be clear to our clients that the breakthrough work that we deliver, it's not just nice work. It has a measurable impact on their business or on the KPI that they sell. So I think we're in a really, really good place to deliver on that. The feedback's been positive. I think there's also a really, really high level of curiosity about what it means, what it means for their brands, what it means for their businesses. So since we launched, we've been working with all our clients on very bespoke, specific application of some of our new technologies, some of our new tools, or even bringing in different profile of talent from the broader agency. You can imagine how powerful it is, let's say, for one of our former media clients to get exposed to some of the talent profiles that come from the former essence side of the business, and vice versa. I think marketers these days are just so curious about not just what their direct competitors are doing, but what adjacent sectors, adjacent categories, and other businesses are doing. The more we can bring different profiles of talent, diverse talent and capability to bear, the better. So we're working on these plans for all our clients to introduce some where irrelevant, where it's going to make a meaningful difference, some of these capabilities. You've preempted my question, my next question. I was going to be asking you, how has the talent profile changed in the organization, and what would you define the culture of the organization today? So I think from a talent point of view, the profile of talent is changing quite quickly now. I think for us, we're obviously still maintaining that sort of classic media capability, but where we make a difference for clients' businesses, and therefore the type of profile of people that we want to have in essence media is in more upstream areas. So I think we're seeing a higher proportion of our talent pool being really well equipped in areas like data analytics, digital and data consulting, commerce, social content, on top of that classic media planning and buying. So it's changing quite quickly, and we're driving this very intentionally, because we think that's the profile of talent that we want as essentials to deliver on our proposition. That's what clients needs, what clients want. And that comes in two areas. Number one is how we educate the learning and development programs that we have for all our essentials in Asia Pacific. So we're rolling out multiple programs right now, very bespoke for individuals to help keep people on topic, on trend, and really at the forefront of the capabilities that they need. But it's also a question of when we're out in the market hiring, we're probably looking for a slightly different profile of talent than perhaps we would in the past. What is this different profile? Well, I think it's absolutely about the specialist expertise in some of these core areas. So of course, we still need classic account managers, account planners, you know, the buyers that will activate campaigns. But we also need data specialists, we need people who are very skilled on e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, people who are very comfortable understanding the role of content, be that, you know, original IP or DCO on a client's schedule. So it's a very broad spectrum of talent. So increasingly specialist talent, increasingly upstream, but honestly, increasingly higher value to customers. A word on the Indian leadership? Brilliant. Okay. Now this merger has also created scale for Essence MediaCon, particularly in India, where it's now among the top three agencies in the country. What are your plans for the market? The Indian market, I think, is terrific for us because we've got a very strong Essence MediaCon, we've got a very strong GroupM and a very strong WPP. So there's extraordinary infrastructure in the market from a talent and a resource and capability point of view. So post merger, I think we're in a really, really strong position. We've got a very strong overall leadership. We've got a client list, but I'd say is the envy of everybody. So what we're doing now is we're just really concentrating on elevating the work, just really making sure that our promise, our commitment to clients around finding breakthroughs for their brand, breakthroughs for their business, we actually deliver them. So it's a bit sort of heads down. Let's concentrate on the work. Of course, we do want to grow, but I think the growth will be a function of our capabilities and the work that we do. Having said that, we've also had a really, really strong year from a new business point of view, year to date in India. So I think we've got a high level of confidence in the Indian market and our place in that market. And we're looking with a level of optimism for the future. So with this increased scale, are you looking to add on more new clients in the next six months? Any pitching in the work? Any pitches in the work? Yes, absolutely. I'm a little bit greedy, to be honest. So whilst we've had very, very good progress at the start of the year, with an extension on our P&G assignment. And by the way, we won an amazing award at the Cannes Lion last night at Bronze for P&G Whisper, the missing chapter, which again is testament to the quality of the work that we're doing for clients in India. So the extension on P&G, we won the consolidated Vivo business. So we've got good first half year momentum on new business. We've got quite an interesting pipeline, but of course, what we want to do is make sure we take care of current clients, do breakthrough work for current clients and then step by step grow through the acquisition of new clients. So again, we feel optimistic. We've got a plan. And I know with Navin leading the business there, we're in good shape. You mentioned quality of work and the quality of work goes back to the talent in the country. So how do you assess the Indian talent? From my experience, I've been running Asia Pacific for just over a year now. And I think that talent we have in the Indian market is world class. I really do. And that P&G can win is a great example. And that work was also rewarded and recognized by war. So I think the work is coming through. And that's a function of the talent, as you say. We're increasingly investing a lot in the learning and development of our people in India so we can deliver on the proposition. But I think the raw base of talent is extraordinary. And if you imagine that breadth of talent I was talking about earlier, the different specialist capabilities around data, tools, analytics, insights, commerce, social content, that's all there in India. Our job is to make sure everyone has the tools and the capabilities that they need to thrive. So that's the learning and development piece. And the way we operate empowers and enables them. So I feel very confident in the talent that we have in India. And one of the things we're very positive about from an essence media con point of view is giving all our essentials, all our people, mobility opportunities. So we'll be seeing more and more talent exchanges, mobility movements, just to give people that career building opportunity. How important is cross learning across the region then? It's huge. I think it's huge. I think one of the challenges agencies have is sometimes we try and reinvent the wheel in different parts of the world or on different clients even in the same market. So one of the initiatives we've been driving over the last year is to really share and reapply work, share and reapply best practices more quickly, more practically around the region. So sometimes that's, you know, in a leadership forum, sometimes that's in town halls, sometimes that's in very specific practice based sharing sessions. And sometimes it's very client specific, just so that we're moving best practice and information and ideas around the organization as fast as we can. The question which I was actually really curious to ask you is, you're a big proponent of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Why should the DEI be at the forefront today? For me, DEI and I is just so fundamental to how we go about our business. And for me, the reason is really, really simple. It genuinely matters. It makes a difference and it matters to our people. And I think sometimes we talk about our talent and our teams. So they're one. They're not. They're 2,500 individual essentials in the region. And we need to respect all of their individuality. We need to create an environment where they're all comfortable. Everyone is comfortable to be their authentic selves at work. And it matters to our people. It matters to our clients. So many clients now in a review and a tender will want to understand for real. So not just some nice words, but for real, what are we doing for our people in the DEI space? And beyond that, and I take this really, really seriously, it's the right thing to do for the communities that we operate in. I think as a leading agency in the world's largest marketing services organization, we've got a responsibility. We have a genuine responsibility through our work to drive change. Everybody's talking about DEI now. But what was really interesting is that you are Essent Media Comm's Fate Diversity Lead. Can you tell us more about this fate in inclusivity? Because you also operate in an area which is extremely diverse. So can you just tell us something about this? Yeah, sure. And this is a topic very close to my heart, as you'll understand. When we set up, if you like the founding principles of Essent Media Comm, we did want to ensure that DEI was at the very heart of who we are and what we want to be. And to that end, in addition to having some really specific policies to ensure that people can be their authentic selves at work, we think there's a really important point around ownership and accountability and responsibility. So in our global leadership team, every one of us is responsible for advocating a strand within DEI. And I thought given the diversity of Asia Pacific, the really wide range of beliefs and thinking, faith, that it would probably be the right thing for me as the APAC CEO to advocate for. Because it just comes down to the fact that many, many, I guess, views on DEI tend to be on what I call more traditional areas of it. Is it race, ethnicity, social class, et cetera. And faith is often the forgotten, the forgotten piece, right? And I think, again, when we look at DEI, I'm a big believer in this intersectionality, because you could be many parts of DEI. My core beliefs could straddle a whole range of things around gender, ethnicity, social class, neurodiversity, as well as faith. So I didn't want faith to be left behind, particularly given its significance in our region. So we're at the start of this journey of really trying to advocate to ensure that faith is not the left behind strand of DEI. This was so interesting because every, like I mentioned, everybody's talking about DEI, everybody's talking about LGBTQ, but nobody, very few, or I haven't heard many people talking about faith. Exactly. It is the forgotten thing. And we're doing a lot of research as we're sort of preparing our founding principle. And there's a lot of great work being done by many businesses around DEI. But if you look at DEI in company reports, for example, it's very rare to see faith covered, very rare. So we felt it had to be an integral part of what we're doing for our people. I think we have to show equal respect and create equal space in faith, as in other areas of DEI. It's that simple, I guess. So I'm really proud to be advocating for this faith element of DEI. So we're just trying to, you know, one, raise some awareness around it to make sure we're creating that space so that people can be their authentic selves. The way to drive that, as with everything, is that someone owns it, someone's accountable for it. And that's me. Finally, there's a lot of talk about recession and uncertainty about the economic scenario today around us. What is your assessment of the APAC region? And are there any green shoots that you're seeing? So APAC is, of course, vulnerable to the global headwinds, global ups and downs. And I think, you know, this year, much as last year, there's challenges around inflation, around supply chain, logistics. Some of the consequence of that is seen in interest rates to try and manage inflation. So there are concerns, of course. And I think in various parts of the region, markets will have their own specifics, you know, that perhaps accelerate that or slow it down or add or detract from it. When I look at the region as a whole, I remain still cautiously optimistic for 2023. I think, you know, relative to some of the other parts of the world, we still have significant opportunity in some parts of the region. India last year was terrific growth market for us. This year, not quite as terrific, but still relative to the rest of the world, I think it's still quite interesting. One of the big hopes we have in the region for 2023 is the recovery in China. I was in Shanghai just last week talking to a lot of our customers and our team. And I think we feel quietly confident that there'll be a steady recovery. So not a rapid ramp-up, but a steady step-by-step recovery in China, which of course is a significant part of the region. So I think there are a few green shoots, particularly if we look at China, because China, of course, is not just about the domestic China business. You know, when China grows and when Chinese consumers feel confident to spend money on brands, they do it outside of China as well as in China. So I feel cautiously optimistic for 2023. Thank you so much, Rupert, for your time and have a safe flight back home. Thank you so much. A real pleasure to talk to you today.