Omnicom Media Group launches Sport & Entertainment Practice, Fuse, in Asia-Pacific

The service will be led by Jonathan Drakes, who played a pivotal role in growing Fuse’s international business out of the UK as its Strategy Director.

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) announced the official expansion of Fuse, OMG’s market-leading sport and entertainment practice, across Asia-Pacific. Headquartered in Singapore, the Fuse team will be tasked with delivering transformative marketing solutions for clients in the region across sport, e-sports and music.

Fuse in APAC will build on the established Fuse network in the UK and across EMEA, where award winning work has been delivered for international brands such as PepsiCo, Nissan, HSBC, Google, and Vodafone. This enables clients in both regions to benefit from scale and specialist local expertise of a globally integrated practice.

In APAC, Fuse will be built on a new model that leverages the commercial, digital and creative capabilities of OMG’s network to help clients modernise their sponsorship strategies through better strategic guidance, smarter digital activation, cutting-edge analysis and delivering faster and more attributable return on investment.

The service will be led by Jonathan Drakes, who played a pivotal role in growing Fuse’s international business out of the UK as its Strategy Director. Drakes will be based in Singapore and responsible for developing the business across the region, with a particular emphasis on maximising opportunities in Asia. He reports into Tony Harradine, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, APAC and Louise Johnson, CEO, Fuse.

Drakes starts the venture with founding client Tuborg (Carlsberg Group), in a move that builds on Fuse’s five-year relationship with the brand, during which time Fuse helped create and grow ‘Tuborg Open’, the global music platform which has seen the beer brand collaborate with international artists such as Major Lazer, Chainsmokers, Badshah, Li Yuchun and Z.Tao. Tuborg will now benefit from Fuse’s strategic capabilities in the region, reinforcing the campaign’s relevance in key APAC markets.

“Launching Fuse in APAC underscores OMG’s confidence in the power of sports and entertainment platforms to deliver meaningful results for our clients in a dynamic marketing environment, and under uniquely challenging times,” said Harradine. “Our new model for Fuse will enable us to maximise the effectiveness of our clients’ sponsorships by constructing integrated digital solutions that deliver tangible business return on quicker timescales for brands across the Group,” he added.

Louise Johnson, CEO Fuse said “We’re delighted to be building on the success of the Fuse brand and expanding into the Asia-Pacific region. The global sport and entertainment rights and media market is evolving at a phenomenal rate, driven by expanding fan bases and new digital media platforms. This presents fantastic opportunity across APAC and EMEA for agencies that can quickly adapt, at scale. Powered by Omnicom Media Group, Fuse is uniquely placed to do this for our clients in both regions.”