Move and win roundup: Ogilvy, Blood UTD, Dentsu, Isobar, more

PEOPLE MOVES

Facebook has appointed John Wagner as head of Thailand. Wagner was previously at Boston Consulting Group and has lived in Thailand since the mid '90s. At Facebook, he will focus on supporting businesses in sectors including ecommerce, technology, consumer goods, telecommunications and financial services. 

Ogilvy Public Relations Shanghai hired Samuel Leung as director of interactive integration. His career includes stints as an art director at DraftFCB and as director of the digital team at Edelman, where he worked with clients including Procter & Gamble, GE, BSH and Bosch Powertool.

David Smith, who has run Nike and EA Sports at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam for several years, is returning to Australia to set up Blood UTD, a specialist agency focused on sport and eSport. The agency will be based in Melbourne but will look to work across the region, and Smith promises it will “get under the skin of sport and gaming” and “speak like an insider and not like an ad guy”.

Experience design agency Imagination appointed Lee Liversedge to the newly created position of head of brand Australia. He joins from independent brand and design agency LiversedgeWeir, which he co-founded in 2014, and will report to ECD Michelle Schuberg.

FleishmanHillard appointed Suki Zhao as vice president to head up the agency’s Brand/Lifestyle team in Shanghai with responsibility for managing communications in China for some of its largest global clients. While Miranda Cai, FleishmanHillard Shanghai’s general manager, is leaving to pursue other opportunities. Lichi Hsueh, managing director of client services in China, will assume responsibility for heading the Shanghai office, supported deputy general manager Yisi Liu.

Brisbane-based communications agency, KDPR, has made a new appointment to its senior leadership team with Andrea Dickson taking on the role of chief of staff and account manager. In the role, Dickson will oversee the delivery of client campaigns across the agency and development of the KDPR team. Prior to joining KDPR, she worked with the Brisbane Festival and News Limited.

Smoke & Mirrors (S&M) Bangkok appointed Paolo Moscatelli as visual effects supervisor to head up its growing computer graphics department. He joins S&M from Finito where he spent six years carving out his reputation in visual effects.

Wallace Kwan has a new job as associate creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi Hong Kong. Previously, he was a creative content lead designer at  Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong for two years for clients including Starwood, Huawei, Standard Chartered and Cadbury.

Terry Pan is the new head of creative at Verystar - Linked by Isobar, moving on and up from his former role as senior creative director at Dentsu Shanghai where he served the Master Kong Beverage and FamilyMart accounts.

WINS AND DEALS

Dentsu Singapore was appointed as agency of record for Malaysia Dairy Industries’ Marigold Peel Fresh, with a remit covering TV, print,OOH, in-store, and digital and social content.

Australian-based specialist healthcare agency Hammond & Thackeray (H&T) announced an affiliation with Hong Kong-based creative agency, Kymechow. The partnership will enable H&T to offer service to its existing clients it currently serves from outside of the Hong Kong market, while capitalising on Kymechow's in-market knowledge and creative reputation.

KDPR recently welcomed three new clients: Arts and entertainment venue The Brisbane Powerhouse, technology startup Five Good Friends and event Brisbane Open House have appointed the agency to manage its strategic and creative communications.

Taptica has been awarded a Facebook Marketing Partner (FMP) badge in the e-commerce and gaming industries in Korea and China, making it one of 58 total Facebook Marketing Partners within the Ad Technology specialty.

After a two-month pitch against Isobar China and Jung von Matt China, Cheil Greater China won Nissan’s Infiniti Motors account and is also named the brand’s digital IMC agency for the year of 2016–2017. This marks Cheil’s first high-end automobile client.

Ogilvy & Mather Singapore has been appointed as digital agency of record for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) in Singapore. The renewed engagement follows a competitive pitch, and will run until end August 2017. The agency will be responsible for conceptualizing and driving integrated digital communications to advance MCCY’s vision in building a more cohesive and vibrant society, and to deepen Singaporeans’ sense of identity and belonging.