JWT has launched a new global digital agency brand called Mirum – the Latin word for “amazing”.
The new agency, which will be made up of 11 digital agencies in 17 countries, will mean the end of the well-established XM name, which over two decades years has graduated some of the best names in Asia’s digital marketing industry, including PHD APAC boss Susana Tsui and former Yahoo Southeast Asia head Ken Mandel.
In Asia, Mirum will by run by Nanda Ivens, who was recently named APAC CEO of XM.
The news of the launch emerges just a few weeks after two senior XM executives, Paul Soon and Vince Lui, left the agency after more than two decades of service combined.
“This has been not an overnight process. It’s been three years in the making, and I’ve been fortunate to be part of it in the last six or seven months,” Ivens told Mumbrella. “Yes, XM has graduated some of the best names in the industry. But what is now called Mirum was made up of separate companies across the world, with different brands and different cultures and different ways of working. People felt like they were a local company and wondered where they were in the grand scheme of things. They wanted to be part of something bigger.”
Ivens said that the formation of Mirum took a “massive push” from individual markets locally, but ultimately was “a no brainer”.
“It was exciting to see in Asia that everyone raised their hands and jumped in with a huge sense of relief and a huge sense of belief,” he said.
The agencies that form Mirum besides the XM network are Digitaria (US), CASA (Sweden, India and UK), Twist Image (Canada), Lunchbox (US), i-Cherry (Brazil), HeathWallace (UK), Quirk (South Africa and UK), Clarus (Mexico) and X-Prime.
The global boss of JWT, Gustavo Martinez, said in a statement: “The launch of Mirum is an integral part of our strategy to continue building on J. Walter Thompson Company’s many assets and capabilities in order to drive business transformation. Mirum is poised to deliver both the technology and creative solutions that global brands demand.”
Mirum’s clients includes CBRE, Cyrela, Daum Kakao, Finnair, HSBC, Magazine Luiza, Mazda, Microsoft, Nokia, Petco, Singapore Tourism Board, TD Bank, Walmart and XL.
XM was launched in 1995 as the digital arm of advertising agency Bates.
