Digital happenings this week from Ogilvy, XM, ESPN and more

JWT digital division XM Asia has announced an agreement to acquire a stake in Indonesian digital shop PT Magnivate Group. Magnivate has 95 employees and clients include Danone, Frisian Flag, Samsung and Unilever. The agency's unaudited revenue for 2011 was approximately US$1.78 million.

Edge Marketing has appointed Aryah Sternberg as its new chief integration architect. Sternberg joins the agency specialising in digital, data and direct response from Group M Interaction. He has 10 years' experience in Southeast Asia's digital industry. Edge has offices in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Don Anderson has been named to take charge of ESPN Star Sports' integrated ad sales. Anderson joins from CNNGo in Hong Kong and will be based in Singapore, reporting to vice president of integrated sales Vineet Puri. In his new role, Anderson will be responsible for strengthening ESS' digital offerings, including on-air, online and mobile.

Following China media regulator SARFT's ruling prohibiting commercial breaks during dramas, advertisers in the mainland have been forced to make hurried revisions to their media plans, creating TV rate card inflation in the double digits. The move sees advertisers looking at alternative ways to reach consumers and a subsequent anticipated growth in internet advertising in 2012.

GroupM and Joule have partnered to acquire mobile marketing agency Wisereach in China. The agency's name will change to MJoule as it takes over all of GroupM's mobile marketing activities in the mainland. Joule hopes the move will help it break into China and Asia.

Tesco Homeplus has expanded its trial of virtual stores to bus stop displays in Seoul. Consumers can now scan images of a selection of products and organise home delivery of their purchase on the same day. The app that makes it possible is the most popular of its variety in Korea and has seen over 900,000 downloads since April 2011.

Leo Burnett Indonesia has named Venke Sharma as executive director, head of digital for the agency. Sharma joins from his position in charge of LB's marketing services arm Arc Worldwide in India. The move is said to reflect the agency's ambition to be a leading force in digital. 

Human resources firm Bricoleur Consulting has launched a website offering junior staffers the opportunity to connect with seasoned veterans over a confidential Skype chat asking for career advice. The website, which will run throughout March, is designed to help agency people grapple with rapid change.

Indonesian tobacco company Djarum has handed the digital duties for its LA Lights brand to local shop Ajita Group. The agency, which has already developed a portal for the brand at LA-lights.com, wil take charge of its digital investment, production and strategy in 2012.

A new study titled 'Loved up' by Effective Measures has highlighted the online marketing opportunities rooted in romance, particularly Valentine's Day. According to the report, 49.2 per cent of internet users in Southeast Asia are either married or in a live-in relationship. The first week in February saw a 0.8 per cent increase in unique browsers across the region.

Ogilvy has launched an international practice connecting its social media experts called 'Social@Ogilvy'. The cross-discipline social media practice will be led by global MD John Bell and Hong Kong-based Thomas Crampton is also part of the leadership group. Headquartered in New York, the practice consists of 550 experts with further access to 4,000 digital marketing specialists for clients. 

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has released ad-size guidelines and a compliance program in the shape of an Universal Mobile Ad Package 2.0. The program is designed to make it easier to create, sell and buy ads for mobile devices. The guidelines recommend just six ad-units as opposed to the 60 currently in use. The document is available on the MMA's website.

Tribal DDB Hong Kong has appointed Georgy Strakhov as digital strategist and Charlie Wang as technical director. Strakhov joins from the agency's Moscow office and will work on the McDonalds and Manulife accounts. Wang joins from previous posts at Deloitte in the US and Bizom Consulting in Beijing. 

In more appointment news, New Digital Noise (NDN) has named Paula Yang its new general manager in Hong Kong. Yang has 12 years' experience and joins from Dentsu Media. She will lead a team of 40 overseeing the agency's various advertising platforms. 

In an effort to improve the country's brand image, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry has launched an online platform Mazer inviting people to submit what they think are national and social issues that need to be addressed. A subsequent 'idea auction' then invites companies interested in developing a solution. The crowdsourcing concept can be seen as a positive step in a country notorious for its bureaucracy.