Cheil Worldwide is consolidating its entire global retail resource under a single banner, Cheil Retail.
The new unit will be led by Simon Hathaway as the Global Chief Retail Officer. Hathaway, who joined Cheil in 2012, will head a team of 1,500 people across 52 offices in 43 markets.
Cheil Retail will work across both traditional retail and ecommerce, offering omni-channel solutions for clients.
The move recognises the importance that clients place on retail and their desire to work with specialists. Cheil Retail’s offering will include digital solutions, retail operations, data and analytics, store design and build, shopper-marketing and brand activation.
Cheil Retail’s launch aims to build on Cheil’s strong reputation in the sector, through work including the famous virtual store in a Seoul subway for Tesco Homeplus, mobile innovation with South Korea’s biggest retailer Emart, and the worldwide roll out of Samsung’s presence in retail.
Cheil leadership will work closely with Cheil Retail; the new specialism will also be partnering with the network’s other affiliate brands including The Barbarian Group, iris Worldwide and Cheil PengTai.
Daiki Lim, the Cheil Worldwide CEO & President, says: “Cheil Worldwide was born of the Eastern tech revolution and today we are a dynamic collaboration of specialisms, purpose-built for change. Retail is an industry that is experiencing huge change and clients are demanding specialist agencies. We’ve built an enviable global capability and our work in stores and ecommerce speaks for itself. The time is right to launch Cheil Retail as part of the ‘Network built for Now’”.
Simon Hathaway adds: “Today people expect retail to be everywhere – instant and personal – and we have brought together the skills, experience and creativity to deliver against the huge opportunities and challenges that brings for retailers and brands. I am looking forward to partnering with retailers and brands who are turning away from legacy networks and demanding specialists that can deliver solutions for the fast changing world of shopping.”
The Cheil Global Network unites specialisms in brand communications, retail, innovation, social and design and includes Cheil, The Barbarian Group, BMB, Bravo Asia, iris, McKinney, and One Agency.
Clients include Samsung, Absolut, Adidas, Etihad, GE, Google, Hyundai, Lego, Microsoft, Mini, Nestle and Shell.
Cheil is a subsidiary of the Samsung Group.
