Move and win roundup: Week of August 30, 2021

M&C Saatchi Indonesia has appointed Adri Zainuddin as a creative director. Zainuddin was previously creative director at Iris in Jakarta, and prior to that, spent a short period at Ogilvy & Mather as a senior copywriter. M&C Saatchi has also hired Eva Luntungan as business director, Rachmat Rionaldi as digital lead, Muhammad Yusuf Syafriansyah as digital creative group head, Yunendra Adi Putra as creative group head, and Femmy Fabiola Caroline as group integration director. 

Born Group, an agency that combines creative design, content production and ecommerce services, is expanding into the Philippines. The office in Metro Manila will aim to support large-scale ecommerce implementations globally, and will also house a training hub for APAC along with research and development capabilities for inoovations in commerce. Programme director Billy Favis will lead the centre. The agecy is also seeking technical talent in the Philippines to scale the practice to a 500-strong team over the next three years. 

Manulife Malaysia has hired finance veteran Mohamed Adam Wee Abdullah as its chief marketing officer. Wee was most recently the group CMO of CIMB, a role he left late last year after more than five years. He has held advisory board member positions at Insider and Sunway University Business School since. Prior to CIMB, Wee was group CMO of Maybank, CMO of Sunrise Berhad, and led brand management at Astro.

Snap has appointed Danny Bass as its director of business solutions for Australia and New Zealand. Based in Sydney, Bass will report to Kathryn Carter, in her new expanded role as general manager, APAC. The company is looking to build out its team in the wider APAC region including key roles in content and carrier partnerships, marketing, recruitment, sales, communications and operations teams across Singapore, Korea, Japan and India. Bass will lead revenue in ANZ working with advertisers to leverage Snapchat for business growth and reaching Gen Z audiences. Bass brings over 20 years of experience in the digital space with senior roles at News Corp Australia and GroupM, most recently serving as CEO of IPG Mediabrands.

Publicis Media China has appointed Christina Lu as chief client officer of Zenith and Spark Foundry China in Shanghai reporting directly to CEO Vivian Zhu. Her newly created role will focus on new client-centric solutions combining business intelligence and digital to help key clients grow and will further integrate the Groupe’s media, talent and technology resources. Previously, Lu held several senior management positions including chief strategy officer of Wavemaker China and client partner of Isobar China Group. 

Ogilvy is launching Ogilvy PR in New Zealand under the direction of Laura Platts in Auckland, working closely with Ogilvy PR in Australia. Platts started within the WPP fold earlier this year. Prior to this, she was managing the PR and activations team at FCB New Zealand working across a range of clients including LEGO and Audi. New Zealand will be Ogilvy PR’s fourth office in the region after Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Last month Ogilvy PR re-organised around a consultancy structure, aligning its branding to the global Ogilvy PR brand.

DDB Group Melbourne has added Group executive creative director Psembi Kinstan and head of planning Matt Pearce to its leadership team, beginning September 6th. Kinstan joins from McCann Melbourne, where he was executive creative director, while Pearce was most recently a director at Fiftyfive5 Melbourne. Kinstan’s career began in Melbourne and featured a seven-year stint in London where he was the youngest creative director in the histories of VMLY&R London and BBH London. Pearce returns to creative agencies having previously spent seven years as planning director at Clemenger BBDO.

Fred & Farid Shanghai has launched new consultancy label Flawed, under the management of head of strategy Karen Ge, who will lead this entity as managing partner alongside agency CEO Feng Huang. The consultancy aims to help brands confront their flaws and turn imperfections into strategic elements of business growth. It aspires to partner with "immature brands" on market research, brand strategy, communication strategy, and experience strategy. To mark the launch they are offering 24-hour complimentary strategic service to charity/social movement/public well-being brands.

Rice Communications has been appointed by Audi Singapore as its new public relations (PR) agency partner for the next three years, after a competitive pitch. The three-year retainer will see Rice supporting Audi Singapore in strategy and planning, media relations and activations, as well as content development. 

KRDS Digital has been appointed by The Singapore International Foundation (SIF) as its social media agency of record for a 12 month term, following a competitive pitch with at least three other participating agencies. The mandate involves promoting a positive perception of Singapore and Singaporeans as responsible global citizens. The agency has also been re-appointed by Wildlife Reserves Singapore for social media duties for the fifth time, for another 12 month period to June 2022.  The agency will continue to provide digital & social media strategy, content creation, media management and consultation across WRS' four parks: Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and Singapore Zoo. 

Havas Group India has appointed Pritha Dasgupta as its chief marketing officer, responsible for driving the marketing and communications function of the group and all the network companies. Her appointment is effective immediately, and she will be based in Mumbai and report to Rana Barua, group CEO of Havas Group India. She takes over from Priyanka Mehra, who left in July after nearly three years with the company. Dasgupta joins from IPG Mediabrands where she has led the network's marketing and communications function for more than five years. She has a background in journalism working for a range of business publications including Afaqs, Financial Express, CNBC-TV 18 Storyboard, Campaign India and The Economic Times.

MyRepublic has hired Deborah Woollard as its chief people officer (CPO), responsible for developing and implementing the company's people and culture strategy across the group to support its expansion plans. Woollard joins from Cisco where she has led global leadership and team development for nearly three years. Prior to Cisco, she held senior roles at Unilever, InterContinental Hotels, and Abbott Laboratories.

New Zealand bank ASB appointed The Monkeys and Accenture Interactive as its new agency of record following a pitch. The agency will work along with existing media and search-agency partners to deliver services including creative, strategy, digital experience and innovation. ASB becomes the agecncy's foundational client in Auckland following its launch there in May. The company acknowledged incumbent agency Dentsu Creative (WiTH Collective) for its support over the past four years. The new contract takes effect September 1.

Following a pitch, Interpublic Group agency Golin was appointed by Harley-Davidson to maintain its corporate reputation in China. The agency will implement a scaled, earned media strategy throughout China, supporting the brand's growth by managing product launches, brand campaigns, dealer communications, brand partnerships and consumer activations. Golin will also be responsible for helping Harley-Davidson redefine its iconic brand to appeal to biking enthusiasts and inspire a new generation of riders.

Salesforce appointed Bernard Solomon as regional vice president for Malaysia and Vietnam, Kittipong (Kit) Asawapichayon as managing director in Thailand and Latika Minocha as vice president of alliances, partners and channels for ASEAN. Solomon was most recently the ASEAN country manager at WalkMeand has held leadership positions at SAP, Oracle and NGA. Asawapichayon was most recently responsible for IBM Asia Pacific’s security software ecosystem and channels business. Minocha joins from SAP and Qualtrics.

Tarun Deo, former MD of Golin and Fleishman Hillard Singapore and Southeast Asia/India, has launched Progressive Communications, his own public relations and communications agency. The agency has a data-driven, earned-first public relations and communications philosophy, Deo says. It has raised S$500,000 from external investors at a S$3 million valuation. The new agency already has a retainer with Dole Sunshine Company, providing services in PR strategy, planning, executive profiling, and counsel across Asia.

Dentsu Malaysia has been selected as telecom services company Axiata's creative agency of record effective December 2021, tasked with building Axiata's brand equity aligned to its strategic purpose of Advancing Asia. This will involve a targeted mix of campaigns focused on technology and innovation thought leadership, employer branding, good governance, credibility, sustainability, diversity, nation-building, and digital inclusion. 

Beverage company Lion has consolidated with Thinkerbell as its sole creative partner following a review led by Trinity P3. The agency had been on the company's agency roster for two years. Thinkerbell's Sydney and Melbourne offices will split the work.

Ben Welsh, chief creative officer of DDB Australia for the past five years, announced he will step down at the end of September. He joined in 2016 from M&C Saatchi where he had spend nearly 20 years as ECD and then creative chair. A replacement will be announced soon, the agency said.

MediaCom China appointed Vivi Xu as head of data, reporting to Mandy Hou, chief digital officer. Xu was previously at Kantar Consulting where she helped clients adjust their strategies on product development and brand positioning based on big data. She will be responsible for media data modeling and analysis and establishing a private customer analysis platform. She will also help clients improve their media strategies and marketing performance through MediaCom and WPP's data products.

In Australia, Havas Media Group appointed Carolyn Keegan as ad operations director, a newly created role focusing on best practices across data and ad operational capabilities for all Havas Media clients. She joins from Nine, where she spent two years as team lead for campaign pperations, responsible for premium campaigns and performance activity via 9Optimum.

FTI Consulting appointed Renfeng Zhao and Angela Yu as Beijing-based managing directors in its strategic communications segment. Zhao has nearly 25 years of experience in journalism and communications. He was previously a senior journalist with China Daily and is a visiting professor at the School of International Affairs of Renmin University. Yu was previously executive director and spokesperson at Goldman Sachs China for 15 years. She has experience in media relations, media strategy planning, crisis communications, media events, branding and executing on company strategy. Before Goldman Sachs, she helped establish Citigate Dewe Rogerson’s offices in Beijing and Shanghai. 

Cummins&Partners hired Andy Copeland as chief data and technology officer. He was previously with IPG Mediabrands’ Reprise for almost four years, most recently as head of ecommerce.

Pakistan's Z2C appointed Sumaiyya Raza as the group head of legal and corporate affairs, Hasan Raza as director of programmatic and Mohsin Rasool Khan as a media buyer for Brainchild Communications Pakistan.

Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney promoted Michael Demosthenous to executive producer and head of TV/content. He has 15 years of production experience and was previously senior producer. Before joining Saatchi & Saatchi in 2010, via the Communications Council graduate programme, Demosthenous worked in breakfast television and news production. 

Lowe Lintas, the creative agency of MullenLowe Lintas Group, has promoted Anaheeta Goenka to be its chief operating officer for Unilever, South Asia and chief growth officer. See full story. 

The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) has appointed Reprise as its social media content agency following a competitive media pitch which concluded last month. IPG Mediabrands’ global performance marketing agency will lead the strategic social content development for GovTech across its digital platforms. The appointment is effective immediately.

Bohemia Group, part of the M&C Saatchi Group AUNZ, has promoted Jimmy Dau to national partnerships director from his former role as group investment director. Dau joined Bohemia in February from Carat where he was Melbourne head of investment. He has previously held roles at UM Australia and Mindshare Sydney. In his new role, Dau's goal is to develop new and grow existing relationships with media and platform partners. He will also be working closer with Bohemia’s client leads to provide thought leadership around media investment, quality and performance.

AIA Singapore has appointed Chin Chung Wen to become its chief distribution officer, with effect from October 1, 2021. Chung Wen has served with AIA for close to 30 years and is currently regional chief agency officer of AIA Group Agency Distribution. Chung Wen will succeed Ho Lee Yen, who leaves the company after serving 10 years with AIA Singapore in various positions including chief partnership officer, chief customer and marketing officer. In his new role, Chung Wen will report to Singapore CEO Wong Sze Keed.

Integral Ad Science (IAS) has bolstered its senior team in Australia and New Zealand, promoting Clem Birdsall to the role of strategic partnerships director and hiring Grace Parker as the commercial lead in ANZ. Birdsall was previously a sales director, supporting publishers across Northern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Prior to that, he held several commercial roles at News Corp. In his new role he will lead IAS’s publisher and programmatic business in the region. Parker joins from Bench Media where she was a strategic partnership manager. Prior to this she was a sales manager at Blis for more than three years.

R/GA Singapore has appointed Sing Ling Koh as executive director of finance and operations for Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore. Koh joins R/GA’s executive leadership team, reporting to global chief financial officer Tania Secor. She brings 19 years of experience to R/GA, joining from Dentsu International in Singapore, where she served as chief financial officer.