What I learned selling our agency to WPP as an engineer
The short answer
I co-founded Sofresh, a digital agency in Ho Chi Minh City, with my friend Justin Cohen in 2007. WPP bought a majority stake in 2012, through XM Asia, a JWT company. Sofresh became Mirum Vietnam. I became Deputy CEO, then CEO, of J. Walter Thompson Vietnam, and led the merger of Mirum and JWT into Wunderman Thompson Vietnam, 100+ people. WPP bought it out in full, and Justin and I exited in 2021, after 14 years.
I came to all of this as an engineer. I studied computer science at SFU and computer systems technology at BCIT, and I was a software engineer in Kyoto before I knew what advertising was. That shaped how I saw the sale and everything after it.
Seven lessons
Buyers buy your reputation, not your size.
What got us bought was not our headcount. It was a name for tech-led work. Build a reputation for one thing so clearly that the big players come to you.
Public proof is distribution.
We entered awards to see how we matched up. The wins brought judging invites, and later, acquisition talks. A visible track record works for you long before you need it.
Question the brief, even from your future owner.
JWT once hired us only to produce a Poca chips job for PepsiCo. We questioned the brief and pitched a better digital idea, and PepsiCo later made us the digital agency for all its brands in Vietnam. Being hired as a supplier doesn't mean you have to stay one.
Say the scary questions out loud.
When we joined the network, our all-hands deck put the team's fears on a slide: "Will I get fired? Do I have other bosses? Can I come back?" Integration fails in the hallway, not the boardroom. Name the fear, then show the path.
Integration starts with desks.
Our first team inside JWT sat in its office. Later, the merger mixed people from both agencies at the same tables. Put the teams in the same hallway and the work follows. As an engineer, I think of it like connecting two systems: the interfaces matter more than the diagrams.
Most failures are handoff failures.
After one project went badly, our own review said we were late and coordination was weak. The talent was fine. The handoffs weren't. We made strategy go before creative, and after every project we asked each team "what slowed us down?"
Restructure once.
After the merger, approvals for the new structure dragged on for months. Waiting hurt people longer and cost more than deciding. The kindest restructure is the fastest one: decide once, decide deep, and move.
What the name changes taught me
Our logo changed four times: Sofresh, XM Sofresh, Mirum, Wunderman Thompson Vietnam. Morale dipped with each rename, so every time we doubled down on the team, not the logo: internal campaigns, a company trip abroad, "5 Days of Good News". A name is not the brand. The culture is.
Why it matters now
When we joined the network, my message to its regional leaders was one line: think big, start small, move fast. I use the same line today, building AI agents for small businesses. The tools changed. Building the system, testing it and fixing the handoffs did not.
Questions people ask
Who founded Sofresh?
Justin Cohen and I co-founded Sofresh, a digital agency in Ho Chi Minh City, in 2007.
When did WPP buy Sofresh?
WPP bought a majority stake in Sofresh in 2012, through XM Asia, a JWT company. It later bought the agency out in full, and Justin and I exited in 2021.
What happened to Sofresh after the sale?
Sofresh became Mirum Vietnam. Later, Mirum and JWT merged into Wunderman Thompson Vietnam, which I led as CEO.
What was the hardest part of selling an agency?
The people side. Integration fails in the hallway, not the boardroom, so we named the team's fears out loud and mixed people from both agencies at the same tables.