Move and win roundup: Week of December 4, 2023

Independent brand and digital agency Archibald Williams has been appointed to lead the NBA account across the APAC region. Effective immediately, the agency will work across all digital, activation, and fan engagement comms to encourage people to watch, wear and play the game.

Publicis Groupe has promoted Imogen Hewitt to the new position of chief media officer for the group in Australia and New Zealand. Hewitt who has over 20 years of experience, has been CEO of Spark Foundry Australia for the past four years and expanded her remit to include Spark Foundry New Zealand last year. In support of Spark Foundry Australia’s continued growth, Matt Turl, currently chief operating officer of the agency will be elevated to the role of CEO. Along with Spark Foundry New Zealand MD, Nicky Greville, they will continue to report into Hewitt. 

TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the bespoke agency for Apple, has appointed Lu Borges as its new chief communications officer. Based at the agency's Los Angeles headquarters, Borges will assume a global role overseeing all communication touchpoints for the agency's seven hubs worldwide. Reporting directly to CEO Katrien De Bauw, she will lead teams responsible for internal and external communications. Borges was previously the head of brand and communications at MullenLowe US. 

Precious Communications has unveiled Precious Impact, a strategic initiative to strengthen its content, digital marketing and social media capabilities. The agency has appointed Pauline Yoong as the Precious Impact regional head to spearhead this. Yoong has held senior roles in Strategic DigitaLab and Godfrey Q, providing strategic leadership in the marketing, execution, and optimisation of several brands across Asia-Pacific and Japan. Precious Impact will help brands navigate the complex landscape through campaigns leveraging digital strategy and marketing, social media management, content strategy, and thought leadership, along with executive branding and profiling. The existing content, strategy, and insights team will become part of Precious Impact, reinforcing Precious Communications’ commitment to a unified and synergistic approach. 

Creative agency Amplify has created three new senior roles in their Australian team. Karina Munoz will step into the new role of general manager having been head of clients since 2022 and joining the agency in 2020. Munoz previously worked in New York for six years at MKG-Experiential Marketing. As GM, Munoz will oversee all agency operations, finance, and client relationships. Claire Hewitt will become head of production. Having spent eight years with Amplify working in both the London and Sydney offices, Hewitt has led production for global clients including NIKE, Airbnb, PlayStation, and Google. Hewitt will lead and oversee all production output for the agency as it expands its client offering. Paige Lewis is re-joining Amplify as head of brand and growth for APAC. Lewis worked for the agency in both London and Sydney as a business director before leaving for two years to launch United Entertainment Group’s APAC office as client services director. Lewis will be responsible for leading the agency’s brand vision, regional growth strategy, marketing, and reputation, in addition to business development efforts. 

Communications agency Sling & Stone has been selected by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited to lead public relations and influencer marketing in Australia. Tātaki Auckland Unlimited is Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s economic and cultural agency committed to making the Auckland region a desirable place to live, work, visit, invest and do business. Sling & Stone will support its Destination Partnership Programme—an initiative designed to support close to 130 tourism-related businesses including local tourism operators and attractions, accommodation providers, retailers and venues.

Icon Agency has appointed Michael Knox as executive creative director, as part of its ongoing commitment to creativity and refreshed brand positioning. In this newly created position, Knox will oversee the creative output across the whole agency. Knox was most recently ECD at Think HQ and prior to that, helped build News Corp Australia’s creative agency, Roller. Knox brings a wealth of experience leading creative agencies and in-house teams, having also served as chief creative officer of Grey Greater China, where he was also a member of Grey’s global creative board. He has judged and won at major award shows, including D&AD, Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia and Effies.  

India’s content and storytelling platform Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT) has announced the appointment of Jitin Babu as vice president of operations. Babu was the co-founder and CEO of Curateus, a marketplace dedicated to human-curated content. Curateus was acquired by a Delaware based content publishing company earlier this year. In his new role, Babu will play a pivotal part in shaping and executing TTT’s operational strategies. 

Digital Refresh Networks (DRN), a content solutions company, has won the digital mandate for Hari:Bol, a dairy and satvik products brand. DRN will spearhead the creative communication for the brand, reinforcing their digital presence. 

Aalap Desai, the former chief creative officer of Dentsu Creative West and Dentsu Creative Experience India has announced the launch of TGTHR (Together), a creative agency. Desai’s journey at Dentsu included being the national creative director at Dentsu McGarry Bowen India and co-heading the creative team at Dentsu Webchutney Mumbai. Read the full story here.

Ooh!media has announced the appointment of Lisa Green as chief people and culture officer, overseeing the out-of-home advertising company’s values and DEI objectives. Green joins from ASX Group where she was head of human resources. She will lead the delivery of Ooh!’s strategy across its team of 900. 

Design agency Designworks (part of the Ogilvy NZ network) has strengthened its senior leadership, appointing Joanne Reid as managing partner. Reid joined Designworks from TRA where she was head of client service. 

Vishal Mega Mart, an India-based fashion hypermarket with over 580 stores across India, has selected Cheil as its creative agency partner with a mandate to focus on integrated advertising and marketing solutions.

Izea Worldwide, an influencer marketing agency has acquired Hoozu, an Australian influencer marketing company headquartered in Sydney. The company serves brands including Bunnings, Emma Sleep, Super Cheap Auto, and Ryobi. Hoozu’s talent management division, Huume, represents Australian market creators. Hoozu will operate as a stand-alone and wholly owned subsidiary of IZEA Worldwide. Commercial details haven't been released.

IPG Mediabrands’ media agency Mediahub is launching in New Zealand as it looks to expand its reach. With offices in both Auckland and Christchurch, Mediahub NZ will utilise global Mediahub and Mediabrands proprietary tools, technology and processes, teamed with local expertise across AI, data, content, performance and digital. The agency will be founded with an NZ-based team of around 25 media and digital experts drawn from Attivo Group’s full-service agencies Farrimond in Auckland, and Harvey Cameron in Christchurch. Attivo is a Mediahub partner in ANZ. Overseen by CEO Mediahub ANZ Sue Squillace (based in Sydney), Mediahub NZ will be led by Cushla Baggott, current managing partner of Harvey Cameron Media, and supported by Hugo Winter, general manager media (Auckland), Nicole Earnshaw, newly appointed general manager, Media (Christchurch), and James Duggan, general manager digital. 

VMLY&R has been appointed to handle TikTok Shop’s 12.12 finale. The agency received the mandate in August 2023, following a competitive pitch to deliver the 11.11 and 12.12 campaigns covering Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. VMLY&R has been tasked with delivering TikTok Shop’s unique ‘shoppertainment’ proposition, bringing shopping and entertainment together. Assets include video, key visuals, and offline and digital activation ideas on the same creative platform across the markets. 

Digital consultancy G Squared has made a number of senior appointments to further strengthen its paid media and search offerings. Steph Hasouros has joined as head of paid media overseeing the  team and its growth. She will also manage all client strategy and work closely with G Squared’s paid media consultants. Having previously worked at Mindshare and ReachLocal, Hasouros was most recently at independent digital media advertising agency, Inc Digital, where she was head of digital media. Also joining G Squared is Ishita Sehdev as manager of the SEO consulting team. Sehdev was the former head of SEO at Reef Digital for more than six years and has also worked at Glasshat and Search Academy. She will oversee a team of SEO managers and their clients’ strategies.  

Avis Budget Group has retained Havas Media Network and Havas Red. The Avis account, which includes brands such as Avis, Budget and Apex, was up for grabs after the agency held it for five years. The pitch, which included media and PR, involved a mix of indie and global agencies. 

Media company Venetian Media Group (VMG) has today announced the acquisition of web and digital strategy company, Digital Native. The company is aiming to expand its long-term digital strategy with the new business, which complements its existing marketing and advertising offerings including OOH specialist Revolution360, marketing agency Yakkazoo, media agency Frontier Media and local marketing specialist Captive Vision Outdoor. 

Electriclime has added New Zealand filmmaker Sam Templeton to their director roster for representation in APAC and MENA on a freelance basis. With a background in fine arts, Templeton is a self-taught filmmaker who also has experience in visual and special effects work throughout feature films produced in his home country. 

3M has promoted Garima Mamgain to global segment marketing manager, automotive electrification in the advanced materials division. She was most recently the company’s integrated marketing manager. 

Mindshare Australia has retained the media account of Australian pay television company, Foxtel, for another three years. Mindshare was first awarded the account in 2014. The account is thought to be valued in the region of AUD$65 million and encompasses Foxtel Group’s media strategy, connections planning and media buying for all offline channels across Foxtel Group’s portfolio of entertainment and sports brands.   

Tara Ford of The Monkeys has taken on the role of chief creative officer of Accenture Song for Growth Markets, effective immediately. Ford, will be retaining her position as chief creative officer of The Monkeys Sydney, and now will also be responsible for overseeing all creative output from the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions (the Growth Markets). The regional role will require her to work closely with Accenture Song global chief creative officer Neil Heymann. Read more details here.

Social Indigenous Enterprise We Are Warriors (WAW), supported by creative innovation studio RGA Australia, has been selected to produce the City of Sydney's New Year's Eve Calling Country live performance as part of the 9pm firework show. Sydney's New Year's Eve, produced by the City of Sydney and on Sydney Harbour is one of the first major cities to celebrate the New Year, drawing a massive crowd and reaching a global audience of over 425 million through TV broadcast.