Move and win roundup: Week of January 13, 2020

Dean Carroll, former general manager at the now-ceased Mumbrella Asia, has joined theAsianparent to lead its events and intellectual property (IP) division in Southeast Asia. TheAsianparent, owned by tech and digital publishing company Tickled Media, regularly puts on events and experiential activations for clients including its Baby Bashes and Chief Household Officer (CHO) Mums conferences. 

PR agency The Mavericks India has won the national mandate of Italian coffee brand Lavazza. On the appointment, Rachna Anbumani, VP of Lavazza India, said: “We are extremely delighted to bring a young agency such as The Mavericks on board to manage the brand’s reputation in India. The creative ideas they’ve been able to bring to the table is going to help us target our B2B and B2C audiences differently.”

Universal Music Japan (UMJ) appointed Ichiro Tamaki as corporate executive responsible for digital strategy, data analytics and platform partnerships, effective February 15. He joins from Spotify, where he has served as general manager and president of Spotify Japan since 2016. Prior to that he was VP at Amazon, responsible for its hardware and Kindle content businesses in Japan. As a core member of Universal Music Japan’s executive team, he will oversee the data & analytics and platform partnerships teams. He will be based in Tokyo and report to Naoshi Fujikara, CEO.

Filipino multinational fast-food chain Jollibee Food Corporation has awarded a global mandate to BBH Singapore. The agency has been charged with extending the brand and communications strategy of the chain, and taking charge of its execution across international market projects. Jollibee's global brand CMO Francis Flores promised some "exciting times ahead".

Havas Group Indonesia has appointed Fariz Azlan as executive creative director effective immediately. In this role, Azlan will lead the creative team reporting to chairman Agus Sudradjat.  Azlan has worked for various agencies with his work recognised by Cannes Lions, Effies, Clio, D&AD and AdFest. His appointment follows the departure of Roy Sagala after five years with the agency. 

IPG Mediabrands media agency Initiative has appointed Abby Wong as chief strategy officer of Greater China. In this role she will focus on strengthening the brand’s strategic offerings, and offering holistic solutions to clients across the region. Wong has spent the past eight years in China, most recently with Ogilvy where she created the connections planning team that aims to bring creativity and media together.

Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) has appointed creative agency Tribal Worldwide for a six-month long brand campaign that seeks to engage Singaporeans and explain more about the energy industry. The creative partnership kicks off with a brand film titled Life 24/7, followed by a content series published on EMA’s Facebook and Instagram pages explaining the role of EMA, what it does and how its work impacts Singaporeans. The content plan also includes tips on how the public can do their part to be energy efficient.

Ogilvy Sydney appointed Peter Galmes, most recently creative director at We Are Social, as lead social creative, partnered with Alex Watts, head of social. The agency also added four new creatives to its Agile Team: Maria Torres as art director, Deb Rothschild as senior copywriter, SoJung Lee as senior designer and Jingyi Hu as junior designer.

Fashion brand Pomelo has appointed Anders Heikenfeldt to the new role of chief retail officer. Heikenfeldt joins Pomelo from H&M to lead the company’s retail expansion plans across Southeast Asia. He will be responsible for further developing the company’s omnichannel strategy, and establishing seamless experiences across Pomelo’s retail network and online platform. Heikenfeldt has over 10 years experience developing retail strategies across various fashion brands, including H&M, 6ixty 8ight and Cos.

Nissan appointed Blanca Garcia as vice president of communications for Asia and Oceania, effective Wednesday (January 15). She will be based in Bangkok, reporting to Yutaka Sanada, MC chairman and head of Nissan in Asia and Oceania. Garcia has 25 years of experience and was most recently in charge of Nissan’s communications in Latin America. She replaces Lavanya Wadgaonkar, who was previously announced as general manager and head of global corporate communications.

Sydney-based experience design agency Sense has promoted Karen Arkell to head of projects after leading the team as an executive producer for 11 months. Arkell has previously led projects such as The Night Reimagined at Vivid 2018 and The Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience. Since January 2019, she’s worked on key accounts for Sense such as Google and Youtube. Meanwhile, Steph Brady, formerly design director at Imagination Australia, was hired as creative director. She has led big projects in the past such as the new Range Rover Evoque Launch for Jaguar Land Rover and New Year’s Eve for the city of Sydney. 

W Communications has won the Johnnie Walker account in Singapore. W will be offering media and influencer relations, event support and conceptualisation, and strategic counsel. Work will span across the client’s entire whisky portfolio including Johnnie Walker Gold, Blue, Black and Red Label, as well as John Walker & Sons XR 21.

Design, animation and visual effects house Heckler appointed Flame artist Pedro Santos in Singapore. He has been a digital compositor in the VFX industry for more than eight years and joins from content, production and VFX house Piranha Bar in Ireland.

iNova Pharmaceuticals has awarded the creative account for Demazin to Clemenger BBDO Sydney after a competitive pitch. The agency will work on the relaunch of the cold and flu brand to restore it to its "former glory", according to a release. iNova recently acquired the brand from Bayer.

WATConsult, a Dentsu Aegis Network hybrid digital agency based in Mumbai, appointed Heeru Dingra as CEO effective February 1 as Rajiv Dingra, the current CEO, moves to the role of chief mentor and advisor. Heeru Dingra is currently CHRO and CFO and has been with WATConsult for nine years. She will continue to report to Dentsu Aegis Network India CEO, Anand Bhadkamkar.

Town Square appointed Alison Ray, formerly director of The Brand Agency Melbourne, as general manager. She has more than 16 years of experience, and will be responsible business development in addition to overseeing digital strategy and digital and social campaign activity. Ray was with WPP-owned The Brand Agency for nine years in roles including head of strategy and planning in Perth and client services director in Melbourne. She also worked as head of digital and direct at Draftfcb for more than four years and has held roles at CHE Proximity and George Patterson Y&R.

Lowe Lintas appointed Sonali Khanna as head of Lowe Lintas South. She was executive director and has spent 15 years with Lowe Lintas in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, prior to which she spent time at Grey. The appointment is effective immediately.

New Zealand winery Villa Maria Estate awarded its creative account to VMLY&R Auckland following a pitch. The remit includes creating a new global platform to increase awareness and penetration in key international markets while also translating to the local market.

Happiness Saigon appointed Marc Richard Vander Heyden as creative director. Vander Heyden worked at Happiness previously as a 'concept provider' before spending several years in Brussels with Publicis and then FamousGrey. He will handle creative management, innovation and talent alongside ECD Gregory Titeca and Alan Cerutti, the co-founder, CEO and strategic director of the Saigon branch.

Australia's Hatchet Agency has been rebranded to MakerStreet. The agency, launched 12 months ago, has nine staffers across studios in Brisbane and Melbourne, servicing clients across Australia, UK and Asia, with clients like Hygain Feeds, Life Brands (Snap Fitness/9Round Kickboxing) and Brisbane Airport Corporation. 

Redd+E, the eSports subsidiary of Reddentes Sports Marketing, and Riot Games are partnering to distribute the broadcast rights for the Leage of Legends (LoL) 2020 Pacific Championship Series (PCS) in South-East Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. The PCS will kick off on 8 February 2020 with broadcasts available in English, Mandarin and Thai.