MUMBAI: BBC Advertising is boosting its ad sales team in Asia to tap into the growing opportunities in the region. Recent studies have predicted strong growth in advertising revenues in Asia Pacific.

Two new roles have been created within the Asia leadership team to get closer to customers and identify new cross-platform opportunities. John Williams has been appointed ASEAN and India vice president, based in Singapore while Katy Xu will be Greater China and North Asia vice president, located in Hong Kong. They both have commenced their new roles from 1 September 2014 and report to BBC Worldwide advertising sales EVP Sunita Rajan.

Williams was earlier located in New York where he was BBC Worldwide North America international advertising VP. Xu takes up an expanded role while currently being Hong Kong and Greater China regional director.

Speaking on their appointment, Rajan said, “With their knowledge and valuable experience in operating across both mature and emerging markets, John and Katy will lead our region to further growth. I am looking forward to working with them to drive the strategic direction and new business across Asia Pacific.”

Williams said, “I am excited about this opportunity to work in one of the most exciting regions in the world with a new team eager for continued success, representing a suite of BBC products that are both in demand by audiences and advertisers alike.”

Katy Xu commented, “BBC is already a successful brand in countries across Asia and I am looking forward to building partnerships in new and existing markets to take our ad sales business to the next level.”

BBC Advertising plans to focus on its key priority markets such as India, China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia.