The network has been named Law & Kenneth, and will open in six markets: London, Mumbai, Dubai, Stockholm, Sydney and Paris. Other offices, including ones in China, the US and Japan, will follow in the next six months. The network's advisers include Dave Stewart, best known as one half of 1980s rock act the Eurythmics.
Law & Kenneth says it will focus on emerging markets, saying that the traditional agency structure of having a worldwide creative director does not work in markets such as China, when they do not know the language, culture nor sensitivities of the market.
It promises to bring together the best advertising experts in each local market and reinvent advertising communications. The company has created a concept called "Open Source Creativity", which it says will tap into creative hotspots around the world, without unnecessary layers of people and duplicating resources.
According to Law: "The biggest need of the hour today across every client's boardroom around the world is partnerships that will strengthen their brands in the marketplace.
"A partnership that goes beyond just a financial and business transaction. The purpose for our existence is to be exactly that -- their brand partner."
Law, who takes the role of chairman at Law & Kenneth, was most recently head of the ad agency Boymeetsgirl, which was founded with the backing of the Interpublic Group in January 2004. The agency went into administration in March this year.
Before founding Boymeetsgirl, Law was one of the founders of St Luke's, the advertising agency that garnered wide respect in London and internationally for its work on brands such as Ikea and for its operating philosophy.
Kenneth is well known in the Asian advertising industry for becoming the youngest chief executive of Publicis' Indian operations, at the age of 29. He went on to set up the Asia-Pacific hub of St Luke's, based in India. He takes the role of co-chairman and managing director at the new network.
Along with Stewart, Law & Kenneth is being advised by: Anita and Gordon Roddick, founders of the Body Shop; Bill Dalton, former chief executive of HSBC Worldwide; and the dean of St Anthony's College Oxford, Professor Theodore Zeldin.
The first offices, in London, Paris, Sydney, Mumbai, Stockholm and Dubai, open today.
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