Move and win roundup: Week of April 12, 2021

Resorts World Genting appointed Dentsu Malaysia for media and marketing agency services, following a pitch. The appointment was effective in April. The agency will be responsible for developing and driving the marketing strategy for Resorts World Genting and also the launch of the Genting SkyWorlds theme park. Dentsu will handle omnichannel media strategy, planning and buying, customer experience management, performance marketing, and e-commerce.

Singapore's Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) appointed Truescope to provide media monitoring and/or online analytics services for the whole of government in Singapore. The appointment follows a public tender in which Truescope and nine other media intelligence companies responded against incumbent Isentia, which held the contract for the previous four years. Truescope Singapore is a joint venture between Dataxet and Truescope. Dataxet was established in 2020 and has previously acquired Sonar and NAMA.

L'Oréal has brought its South Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa regions together into a new geographic zone, SAPMENA, that will be headquartered out of Singapore. The SAPMENA zone encompasses 35 markets, and is led by Vismay Sharma as president. Sharma has been with the beauty giant since 1994, and has been CEO for L’Oréal in the UK and Ireland since 2016. As well as leading the new region, he also joins L'Oréal’s Executive Commitee, becoming the first Indian national to enter this rank. L’Oréal first announced its intention to reorganise its geographic zones in November last year following the departure of Jochen Zaumseil, president of APAC.

Child-focused platform TotallyAwesome appointed Jean-Michel Wu as head of talent, a new position. In his 25 years of experience, Wu has been APAC CEO of global executive search firm Grace Blue Partnership, chief talent officer of McCann Worldgroup APAC, chief talent officer of WPP APAC and regional talent director for Ogilvy in Asia. He joins two other high-level appointees in recent weeks: In late March James Sawyer was named MD of Australia/New Zealand and Mikio Kudo joined last week as country manager of Japan.

Singapore agency Dstnct announced two business wins from Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC). The agency won the retainer account for integrated marketing, public relations and social media management, as well as a remit for website development and maintenance. The integrated account was previously held by Tate Anzur, while the website account is a renewal. 

In Hong Kong, Appnovation appointed Yann Gunther as delivery director and Chandni Motwani as strategy director. Gunther was previously delivery director at UX agency IceMobile. Motwani has experience with Google, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Nest.VC, where she was head of product and innovation design prior to joining Appnovation. 

Malaysian direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand Signature Market appointed Citrine One Malaysia (COMY) as its public relations agency of record starting April 1. The appointment came following a pitch with three other agencies in early February. The remit includes brand innovation, community partnerships, media relations and thought leadership initiatives to support Signature Market as the brand sets its intention towards an impending IPO filing next year.

InMoment appointed Carl Kimball as vice president of sales for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ). He was most recently on the APJ leadership team for Workday, based in Singapore. Earlier, he was one of the first 400 employees at PeopleSoft. InMoment has four new offices in the region in the last three years: Singapore, Shanghai, Melbourne and Auckland.

The South China Morning Post appointed Darryl Choo, most recently sales director at Inskin Media, as APAC regional sales director. He will lead the Post’s international advertising business in the region and contribute to its international sales strategy. The move bolster's the company's focus on Southeast Asia, according to a release, as Choo will oversee the regional sales office in Singapore and report to Romanus Ng, SVP of advertising and marketing solutions. Choo has more than 12 years of advertising sales experience, including senior managerial advertising sales roles at BBC Global News Limited, Pixels Asia & Gravity4, Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks Asia, SPH Magazines, Discovery’s AFC Network and FOX Sports.

Amplified Intelligence added former Unruly executive Phil Townend as its chief growth officer. The Adelaide-based company said Townend will lead its commercial expansion alongside CEO Karen Nelson-Field. Townend's most recent role, at Unruly, was regional GM and APAC chief revenue officer. Over 10 years he helped the UK based company build its global presence in over 18 countries, leading to its acquisition by News Corp in 2015.

Red2 Digital launched Red2 Digital Solutions, a new business-to-business, cross-border online marketing division, in Vietnam and Singapore. The new offering, according to the company, offers digital consultancy built specifically for B2B brands across the region, with digital-marketing expertise including performance marketing, ecommerce, SEO, creative and content development, and social capabilities. The unit will combine market performance analysis and creative localisation on Facebook and Google for an increasingly globalised B2B market. Tai Le is the director of operations for the offering.

Asia PR Werkz announced its reappointment by the Singapore Public Hygiene Council for a second term, which started in February. The agency will provide support for PHC’s publicity initiatives, including the annual ‘Keep Clean Singapore’ campaign. The team is responsible for the strategic PR counsel, conceptualisation and development of campaign strategy, media relations and management. Director Ginny-Ann Oh will lead the account. The agency also announced that it will be supporting NTUC's Strategic Communications Department as the NTUC make plans to commemorate its 60th anniversary this year.