Move and win roundup: Week of July 11, 2022

Wieden Kennedy has hired Ayesha Ghosh as managing director in India. Ghosh, who will be based in Mumbai, will partner with Santosh “Paddy” Padhi, who was hired as CCO in March. She joins WK on July 15th, and moves from Taproot Dentsu, where she was CEO. Current WK Delhi managing director Gau Narayanan, who is leaving India and the agency to return home to the UK, will help with the transition through August.

Omnicom Media Group agency, OMD, has won the New South Wales (NSW) government’s new Media Agency Services (MAS) contract valued at more than AU$70 million (US$47 million). The two-stage tender process took over 12 months and eventually whittled down to a final two including UM; both UM and OMD were incumbent agencies on parts of the account. The deal starts in October 2022 and will run up to 2025, consolidating a roster of five media agencies into a single supplier. The NSW government’s current client list includes UM, OMD, Havas Media, Atomic 212 and WPP. 

Havas Group Australia has evolved its HR operations with five new hires to further focus on four key supporting pillars–flexibility, DE&I, mental health, and employee wellbeing and career development.

• Vicki Bainbridge, an industry veteran with over 24 years of experience, has been promoted to director of Human Resources, Havas ANZ, and will lead the growing HR team. She replaces former Havas chief people officer/HR and talent director, Thierry Lalchere.
• Brittany Haskins and Yarra Harb join as the two new HR admins.
• Xanthia Gardner joins as talent executive.

The Hoffman Agency has promoted Nicolas Chan to the newly created role of chief strategist for Asia-Pacific. Chan has been with the company since 2019, when he joined as head of digital for the region and his promotion is also part of company-wide efforts to build out Asia-Pacific leadership. It follows the recent elevation of Caroline Hsu from regional managing director to chief global officer and of Maureen Tseng to general manager of Singapore and Indonesia. 

Dentsu Creative has announced that Elvis Liu joins as China chief operation officer. Liu will be leading operating model transformation, resource planning, productivity increase, and operational excellence agendas to enable sustainable business growth for Dentsu Creative. He will play a role in Dentsu Creative's integration, contribute to new revenue growth and support China's product strategy as part of his responsibilities. Liu will report directly to Keita Ishikawa, China chief executive officer at Dentsu Creative. Liu has worked in advertising and media, management consulting, and high-tech industries for over 20 years. Prior to joining Dentsu, Liu was in charge of business development in marketing operations and sales operations at Accenture China. He also worked at WPP, Publicis, BCG, and IBM. 

TBWA Asia has appointed Perry Essig as chief creative experience officer. Read full story here.

Sling & Stone has won three new APAC-wide clients, and ramped up its teams in Australia and Singapore. AI solution Dataiku, HR platform HiBob, and sustainability management solution Equilibrium have selected the agency to handle their communications strategy and execution across Asia Pacific.  

Persolkelly, a HR solutions and recruitment company headquartered in Singapore, has appointed SPRG Singapore as its public relations agency of record. SPRG is tasked to deliver strategic, creative communications to drive awareness, build brand credibility, and engage the recruitment community as PERSOLKELLY goes deeper and wider to provide solutions to employers and job seekers.  

Zeno Group Malaysia has been tapped by HSBC Malaysia and YTL Communications for integrated communications programmes. Zeno’s remit for HSBC includes a social strategy that complements its new brand promise, 'Opening Up a World of Opportunity'.  Meanwhile for YTL Communications, Zeno is developing PR programmes to raise the profile of its telecommunications brand, YES, in supporting the nation’s agenda of a 5G network and infrastructure. 

Shopper, an Australia-based retail out-of-home business, has promoted Sam Cameron to the role of NSW group sales manager for independent agencies and direct client sales. Shopper also added Casey Central, in metropolitan Melbourne, to its national center network, growing its existing partnership with Haben Property Fund.

R3 has expanded its senior leadership across the company’s US, EMEA and APAC offices with four hires from clients and agency. Former senior vice president of media and sponsorships at Mastercard, Ben Jankowski, joins R3’s media practice in New York with a career that spans North America, Asia Pacific, and China. Also joining R3’s New York office is Constance (Connie) Pincus, who brings experience in pharmaceutical marketing, having worked with brands like Johnson & Johnson and across the specialist areas of immunology and oncology. Andrew Lambert joins R3 with more than 20 years of experience in global financial marketing. Currently based in London, he most recently worked at Visa as senior director of global brand marketing. In Singapore, R3 grows its media practice with Priya Jean Alexander, former managing director of PHD Singapore. Alexander brings over 16 years of strategic business and marketing experience to her senior role. Her agency experience spans three networks and several brands, including Procter & Gamble. 

Anzu.io, an in-game advertising platform, has announced the appointment of Tom Simpson, former senior vice president at Asia Pacific at AdColony, as its newest strategic advisor with a special focus on the APAC region. Simpson brings experience from working with brands and game publishers across APAC to connect gaming and marketing opportunities. He recently left mobile gaming in-app advertising platform AdColony, where he led the APAC business, culminating in a sale to Digital Turbine. Simpson also serves on the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) board in APAC.

RICE Media has announced client services director, Khai Asyraf, is taking over as managing director, while its branded content strategist, Ilyas Sholihyn, is taking on the position of editor-in-chief.

Sefiani, a communications agency, has appointed Therese Raft as senior consultant and Kate Skokan as account director. With 17 years’ communications experience including more than a decade in corporate roles, Raft is a returnee to Sefiani after first joining the agency in 2008. She then held communication leadership roles at Arup, the global design and engineering firm; Grant Thornton, an Australian professional services firm; and Accenture. More recently, Raft was a regular contributor to Australian Financial Review Special Reports, which will continue under flexible work arrangements at Sefiani where she will focus on thought leadership, corporate narrative and compelling content as well as issues, crisis and reputation management. Skokan joins Sefiani from Deloitte, bringing almost 10 years’ communications experience in property, investment and professional services overlaid with a sustainability lens. At Deloitte, Skokan was executive eminence communications manager supporting the firm’s business leaders with external thought leadership and internal communications. Previously, at Lendlease Investment Management, Skokan was investor and communications advisor for five years, before commencing her career as a social media consultant.

Shuttlerock, a creative-as-a-service business, has appointed Guillem Bonavia as its chief strategy officer to continue its growth and global expansion. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Bonavia will report to chief executive officer and founder Jonny Hendriksen to accelerate key focus areas that will drive the greatest impact over the coming years. Bonavia began his consultancy journey two decades ago in Barcelona with positions at Accenture and Everis. He then moved to London where he held roles at financial and consultancy institutions such as Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and McKinsey & Company. In 2016, Bonavia was appointed by Lloyds Banking Group to drive the digital transformation journey. In 2018, he moved to New Zealand where he was hired as the head of strategy (digital) for Woolworths NZ. In this role, Bonavia shaped the digital strategy and transformation portfolio. Bonavia serves as an advisor to Tech Futures Lab, a graduate school designed to prepare people and organizations for the future of work.

Creative communications agency Icon Agency appoints Hamish Fitzsimmons as director of strategic advisory and public affairs. Having recently served as head of corporate affairs with the Australian Energy Council, and senior manager of government affairs at NAB, alongside several senior roles for BUPA, Fitzsimmons’ appointment strengthens the agency’s government and stakeholder relations practice.

Global creative agency network Dentsu Creative has won TCL Industrial’s 2022 brand strategy business mandate in Shanghai following a competitive pitch. As part of the remit, Dentsu will understand the company’s long- and short-term strategic goals and come up with a distinctive brand image for both domestic and international markets.

Havas Media Hong Kong ropes in SEO agency First Page, to ramp up their individual performance marketing services in paid and social media offerings. The strategic alliance will aim for a broader understanding of audience behaviours in search and content preferences, leading to more evidence-based actions and optimal outcomes.

Nicholas Worley of Bain & Company has joined Hines, a global real estate and investment management as director of PR, Asia Pacific. A professional with over fourteen years of PR, communications, and events management experience, Worley will be based in Hong Kong.

Mango Communications Melbourne has been appointed as the PR agency of record for hospitality-driven entertainment company Funlab, following a competitive pitch process. As part of their remit, Mango will provide media relations support for new venue launches, seasonal projects and manage their influencer and ambassador program.