Carat opens in Korea.

Carat have opened a wholly owned subsidiary, Carat Korea, in Seoul, initially to work for Phillips Electronics, Sweden’s SCA Hygiene Products, Volkswagen, Giordano International , and Thiriet, a French ice cream maker, all Carat clients in other countries.

Leading the new shop as managing director is Mr. Myung-Hwan Oh, who previously worked for Cheil Communications as Regional Director for Europe and manager of their London office.

The new agency began media buying last Autumn. “It was imperative that we were up and running as rapidly as possible,” says Oh, who expects the new shop to bill US$15 million to US$25 million this year. Carat Korea opened after a lengthy feasibility study by Kim Walker, regional director for North Asia. “We explored a number of options for Korea and decided that an independent operation would give us more flexibility to build the business than a partnership with one of Korea’s major business groups,” said Walker.

by David Kilburn

Published in Media April, 2002