PHD recruits Twitter’s country head for Indonesia MD job

PHD has hired former Twitter country head Roy Simangunsong to take up the newly created post of managing director for PHD Indonesia. In his new role, Simangunsong will lead PHD across all business functions, reporting to Rajat Basra, CEO of Omnicom Media Group Indonesia.

The hire is part of the agency’s intent to further strengthen its Indonesian operations. Susana Tsui, CEO of PHD APAC, added “PHD markets in SEA have been gathering strong momentum over the past few months. Indonesia is a high-growth market that has been a part of key recent wins. Roy’s appointment is an acknowledgement of PHD’s ongoing commitment to grow our capabilities across all markets in SEA by incorporating a strong leadership team.”

Simangunsong brings 20 years of experience in technology-related businesses to the job. Before joining Twitter, he was the CEO of PT Linktone, an MNC Group Company. Prior to this, he was the country manager of Yahoo Indonesia.

When asked about his move from a technology platform—where he was responsible for revenue, growth and product adoption—to the agency side, Simangunsong said, “In my previous roles at Twitter, MNC and Yahoo, I have been working very closely with many agencies to understand their clients’ business requirements and how technology in its many forms may solve these problems. Technology has become an integral part of the advertising business and my background in technology seems to be a natural fit within this eco-system.”

Basra called Simangunsong a "unique talent with capabilities spanning all corners of our business".