The top 5 executive appointments of 2017

In the last couple weeks before the holidays, we're taking a look back at 2017—listicle style. Today, the year's top 5 appointments.

1. Dentsu appoints new president and CEO

Shortly following the resignation of Tadashi Ishii in December, Dentsu appointed Toshihiro Yamamoto as its new president and CEO. The agency experienced a 13 percent decline in net profit from the previous year, blaming it on the increase in costs incurred for rectifying the culture of overwork. For the nine months through September, Dentsu reported a net profit of 44.5 billion yen ($390 million).

2. Vincent Digonnet named APAC CEO for MullenLowe Group

The former Razorfish head was named APAC CEO at MullenLowe Profero in March, had North Asia CEO for MullenLowe Group added to his business card in May, and then ascended to APAC CEO for MullenLowe Group in August. He told Campaign Asia-Pacific he intends to deploy resources in each market to make MullenLowe "more digital at its core" while moving MullenLowe Profero from digital communications to business transformation.

3. Vice Media names Hosi Simon APAC CEO

Announcing its official entry into the APAC market, Vice Media named Hosi Simon it's APAC CEO. With business operations set to commence in January 2018, the media company will rely on the Singapore team to handle full-service content and commercial operations, including documentaries, film content product, local editorial content and creative services through Vice’s creative agency Virtue Worldwide

4. Y&R names Chris Foster as Asia president

The longtime Publicis veteran and former APAC head of Saatchi & Saatchi returned to the region to take up the position vacated by Matthew Godfrey. Godfrey left Y&R in October after announcing his departure in April. He has joined Nutrition Innovation, a Singapore-based food science startup, as CEO.  

5. OMG names new OMD and PHD CEOs in China, new CEO in Southeast Asia/India

In March, Omnicom Media Group (OMG) China announced that Aaron Wild, then CEO of PHD China, would move over to the same role at OMD China, while Anna Chitty, then MD of PHD China, would be promoted to take over from Wild as PHD's China CEO. In April, OMG named Torie Henderson CEO for Southeast Asia and India, as Jasmin Sohrabji moved to a global role. The longtime chair for Campaign's MediaWorks programme, Henderson was previously president, global account management, for OMG Asia Pacific.