R/GA launches consulting practise across Asia Pacific to help C-suite innovate
R/GA has launched its consulting practice across Asia pacific, with the aim of bridging technology and business solutions to help businesses innovate.
R/Ga launches consulting practice in Asia Paciifc
The agency has opened the business in Singapore, led by Jehan Leanage, who has been hired in the newly created role of executive director for consulting, APAC.
R/GA will be offering businesses organisational design and managed services, as well as Connected Space, a service designed to help companies connect physical to digital. It will be using resource from its global network but will be specifically building the offering across its Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo offices.
According to Leanage, the timing of the launch is right because more mature markets in Asia Pacific, such as Singapore and Australia, are already looking to solutions to business problems.
“There has been a really interesting shift in tech spend, away from traditional infrastructure spend (telecoms and data) to IT and business solutions because people are now looking at how tech can solve business problems. In the more mature markets the focus is on business transformation. By mature I mean Singapore, Australia, Japan and China for instance, which have a little more infrastructure, they have the support back bones. In the next couple of years all markets in Asia will also be focused on business solutions,” he said.
Leanage joins R/GA from a traditional consulting career but believes that the traditional model isn’t fit for purpose and that agencies that are strong in technology can provide a better consulting service for businesses.
“With new trends in business problems that we are seeing now, we feel traditional management consultancies and tech consulting models are not fit for purpose. Currently with business solutions, you would expect them to be outcome driven and have tangible outcomes but with the traditional model, at management consultancies, for strategy work the outcome would be a deck telling you where the problems are. You would then need a tech firm to implement the changes. What you end up with is a bit of a desperate situation and form the start the tech isn’t aligned,” he explained.
The consulting practise is already live in North America, after the agency spotted the disconnect that it could fill. According to Leanage, the Asia Pacific hasn’t launched with any clients but interest is already picking up in early conversations.