Move and win roundup: Week of August 17, 2020

TikTok has awarded its global media planning and buying account to Zenith after a competitive pitch, ending its relationship with PHD (and Hearts & Science in the UK) after a year. TikTok declined to comment.

Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) appointed Clemenger BBDO Sydney to handle its creative account following a pitch. This is the first time the industry association has moved to establish itself as a brand. The agency will develop the brand and launch a creative platform as part of a AU$4 million marketing campaign to encourage consumers to eat more Australian seafood. The campaign has been funded by a government grant and aims to deliver a boost to the industry, which was hit hard by the pandemic.

Samba TV announced its entry into Australia and appointed Yasmin Sanders as managing director for the market, based in Sydney. Sanders has nearly 20 years of experience in the advertising technology and media industry She joins from her own consultancy business and previously held senior roles at companies including Verizon Media and ViacomCBS-owned Network 10. The company bills itself as a leader in global cross-screen television insights and analytics. It gathers viewership data from tens of millions of Smart TVs globally using a proprietary and privacy-compliant ACR (automatic content recognition) technology.

Leo Burnett India has appointed Sujay Rachh as executive director. Sujay will be based in Mumbai office and provide leadership to multiple business groups. He will report to Dheeraj Sinha, the managing director & chief strategy officer of Leo Burnett South Asia. Rachh has spent several years at Lowe Lintas and has helped grow multiple brands. His last assignment was with the Times Group, where he worked with the leadership, heading the Brand Strategy team and worked within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Design Bridge announced the appointment of Alexandra Cerruti as the agency’s new managing director in Singapore. Stepping up from her previous role as Client Services Director, Alexandra will lead the Design Bridge's Singapore studio’s business and clients alongside Mark Budden, Design Bridge’s AsiaPac regional chairman, and the studio’s executive creative director, Tim Siro. As the managing director, Cerruti will be responsible for driving revenue growth within existing client relationships in APAC, as well as steering the new business strategy for the Singapore studio’s business.

M&C Saatchi Australia has appointed Emily Taylor as chief strategy officer. Taylor will partner with group managing director Russell Hopson and chief creative officer Cam Blackley. Taylor joins the group with over 19 years of experience gained in consulting, digital and creative agencies.  She’s worked with some of the world’s most innovative brands, including Samsung, Xbox, Expedia, Tourism NT, Sweat and most recently Spark in New Zealand.  

Singapore's state developer JTC Corporation (JTC), in charge of spearheading the country’s industrial landscape, has appointed Tribal Worldwide Singapore to strategise and implement customer experience strategy that will transform its digital presence, and provide a frictionless end-to-end customer experience for the government agency.

Taiwan-based AI marketing company iKala, has raised $17 million in a Series B round of funding led by Wistron Digital Technology, a Wistron Corporation’s wholly-owned subsidiary which focuses on digital technology industries and software application related investments. Previous investors Hotung Investment Holdings Limited and Pacific Venture Partners are also coming in, showing confidence in iKala's practical AI and digital solutions and Southeast Asia cross-border operational efficiency.

Singapore-based BandLab Technologies has launched music publication NME in Asia with Iliyas Ong as editorial lead. BandLab acquired the publication, which originated in the UK, in 2019. The publication will initially focus on Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines, but plans to rapidly expand. The publication, which has no immediate plans for a print edition, will celebrate both established and emerging homegrown musical talent. Ong is former editor of Time Out Singapore, and will work with Karen Gwee, former editor of Bandwagon and writer at NPR. The publication will have contributions from established music and pop-culture journalists across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines including Daniel Peters (SG), Hidzir Junaini (SG), Adrian Yap (MY), Edwin P. Sallan (PH), Aldus Santos (PH), and Chanun Poomsawai (TH). Look for an interview with the NME team in coming days.

TNG Digital, which operates the Touch ‘n Go eWallet, retained Zeno Group Malaysia for its PR remit, along with social media duties for Facebook, and retained digital creative agency LOKi to run its Instagram and YouTube channels. The appointments follow a competitive pitch for integrated communications among six agencies. 

Prenetics Group’s CircleDNA appointed Gusto Luxe as its retained strategic communications partner in Hong Kong. The agency is tasked with developing communications strategy for the brand in the city, driving earned media opportunities, developing consumer-facing campaigns and influencer outreach. Prenetics has recently been selected as the only Hong Kong-based testing laboratory for the Hong Kong Government-sponsored Covid-19 testing program, which will be helping to screen approximately 200,000 restaurant staff, Hospital Authority General Outpatient Clinics, foreign domestic helpers, and more.

Digital Collective by Honeycombers, a content-marketing agency, has launched. The company aims to help businesses at all levels grow through digital content strategies. It will offer ROI-focused strategic marketing advice and business coaching, with services including high-performance email funnel design, content creation services, SEO support and direct-response copywriting. The team includes Chris Edwards, who founded Honeycombers in 2008. Sophie Cullen, based in Hong Kong, will lead content strategy, Louise Newsham, based in Bali, will lead the social media and digital marketing strategy, and Edward Tan joins as digital marketing manager. 

In India, BornGood partnered with performance-based digital marketing agency DigiDarts. The agency will manage BornGood’s media buying, strategic and creative execution of organic and paid digital marketing. The client provides plant- and science-backed home care products.

Prashant Kumar, Entropia founder and senior partner, was appointed as honorary advisor to the International Advertising Association (IAA) of Malaysia. John Chacko, president of IAA Malaysia, said Kumar is instrumental in providing independent advice and "filling the vacuum of global shared experiences in the local industry".

Earlier this year, Prashant was awarded the IAA ‘Champion’ Compass Award, and as the only honoree from the Asia-Pacific region, he joins four other luminaries from around the world, namely, Maruisz Jan Demner (Founder-CEO, Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann, Austria), Joel Nettey (CEO, The Ninani Group, Ghana), Walid Kanafani (Managing Partner, Beyond Consulting Services, Kuwait), and Tom Doctoroff (Global Senior Advisor, Prophet, United States).

Over the period 2019-2020, IAA Malaysia delivered on its mandate to the industry, with strategically themed events, and members gaining from regular IAA Global updates on viewpoints, findings and experiences from around the world. 

DDB Group Singapore has promoted Jeff Cheong to deputy CEO. In his new role, Cheong will lead the agency group’s marketing technology solutions, including advancing Tribal Worldwide’s Total Experience (TX) digital transformation practice. He will report to David Tang, DDB CEO for Asia and Singapore. In addition to his current role as head of Tribal Worldwide in Asia and Singapore, Cheong has also been named on the DDB Worldwide Executive Leadership Team. Since its launch in 2018, TX has gained clients including Hong Kong Tourism Board, JTC, Gov.sg and iShopChangi by Changi Airport. 

Adtech company Cartelux has appointed Raoul Picello to the newly created role of global industry lead for automotive. Based in Hong Kong, he will focus on scaling Cartelux's adoption by automotive brands across APAC, EMEA and the Americas. He will also influence new product development of bespoke Cartelux solutions for the industry. Picello joins Cartelux from his position as managing director of Infiniti Motor Company, Asia and Oceania. 

Sony Music India has appointed Mairu Gupta as director, digital business. Gupta will lead the company’s digital business with its streaming partners in India and will collaborate with Sony Music’s global teams to drive and enhance digital revenue and market share. His most recent stint was at the NBA, where he led the content and media distribution business for the league for over 3.5 years. 

Independent creative agency Special Group has appointed Abigail Dawson to the newly created role of brand director. In her role Dawson will oversee the agency’s business development and PR strategy and management. She will report to CEO Lindsey Evans and work alongside the agency’s senior leadership team. Prior to joining Special Group, Dawson spent the last four years as a journalist at Mumbrella. 

Eyeota, an audience technology platform, has expanded its data onboarding partnership with GfK, a provider of data analytics. Leveraging the Eyeota Onboarding solution, GfK can activate its offline data as digital audience profiles in New Zealand and Switzerland, enabling this process in a total of 17 countries. Eyeota Onboarding helps transform offline data into scalable online audiences.

Reebelo, an online platform for electronics, has appointed R/GA as its new brand innovation partner. R/GA will work with Reebelo’s founders to evolve the company’s purpose and redesign the Reebelo brand.