Dentsu MY bids farewell to Merdeka LHS veterans, welcomes Andrew Low

Dentsu Malaysia (formerly Dentsu Aegis Network) is bidding farewell to three veteran partners of Merdeka LHS, the creative agency it acquired in 2016: CEO Tony Savarimuthu, and Chief Creative Officers Huang Ean Hwa and Szu H. Lee. 

According to a statement issued by the company, former CEO of dentsu Malaysia Nicky Lim and new CEO Kien Eng Tan are both grateful for everything the three individuals have done in building, growing, and subsequently completing the earnout duration of Merdeka LHS and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours.

“As these three ride into the sunset, their everlasting legacy has been imprinted into dentsu’s DNA and it is my honour to have served with them,” Nicky said.

Tony has served the industry for more than a decade and was previously the Vice President and President of the 4A’s where he introduced many progressive initiatives such as The Effies.

“I’ve had the good fortune of working on some of the world’s most renowned brands as well as go-getters striving to change the status-quo working with the best creatives in the land,” Tony said. “I wish to pay tribute to my long-time colleagues and friends Huang Ean Hwa and Szu Lee, and not least Ali Mohamed and the late Yasmin Ahmad who were my past colleagues for their ideas, inspired creativity and for changing the perception and fortunes of many a brand both in Malaysia and globally.”

Szu on the other hand said that as they go on to pursue new interests, they look forward to seeing dentsu Malaysia continue to thrive.

“When we joined dentsu we brought Merdeka LHS’s philosophy of being the ‘Enemy of the Same’ with us,” Szu said. “Over the years, we have pursued that mantra and infused it with the privilege of working with amazing brands, clients and colleagues.”

Hwa has been with Merdeka LHS for 8 years (3 years independent and 5 years with Dentsu).

“(It’s been an) amazing journey to start as a creative entrepreneur and back into a network – I feel the circle is complete,” Hwa said. “I thank Tony & Szu for their kinships, Dentsu for their belief in Merdeka LHS and the amazing people I’ve had the privilege to work alongside.”

Hwa added that he is taking some time to pursue a passion project of restoring classic Porsches.

“I’ve a bit of a queue of clients wanting to restore or retro-mod cars,” he continued. “So there’s still a big idea, a digital component if you’re modernising an engine and of course the execution of the whole lot!”

Andrew Low has been appointed as new Group Chief Creative Officer for dentsu Malaysia’s Creative Line of Service.

Andrew’s career spans across three countries in the Asia Pacific region with Ogilvy, Publicis One, and Leo Burnett. His work has won a multiple awards at D&AD, Cannes Lions, The One Show, One Show China, China 4As, Clios, LIA, Adfest, AdStars, Spikes, Kancils, IPA Effectiveness Awards, AMEs, Effies (APAC/China/Malaysia Editions) and WARC.

Andrew will be bringing dentsu’s creative powerhouses together to solve client’s marketing challenges in an ever-more virtual economy, championing meaningful progress in never-before ways for brands.

“To spur growth, I believe it is fundamentally important to be agile, especially if we want to thrive in new creative business models,” Andrew said. “I am looking forward to working with the team and being a part of its unifying force.”