Move and win roundup: Week of January 8, 2024

Dentsu Creative India has appointed Publicis' Nikhil Kumar as managing partner, West. Kumar will be responsible for leading the West region, with a focus on growth and creative excellence and will be reporting to Indrajeet Mookherjee, president of Dentsu Creative India. Kumar joins Dentsu Creative from Publicis Groupe, where he was an EVP and business head for a few key mandates. He has over 16 years of experience within the M&A industry and boasts of a varied CV. Prior to Publicis, his stints were for The Economic Times, Bosch & Siemens Home Appliances, MullenLowe Litas and Jet Airways.

Bloomingdale Public Relations Pte Ltd. has won the PR mandate for Bel Group in Southeast Asia. Following a successful collaboration with the company in India, the firm will now take charge of all public relations activities for Bel Group in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. As part of the remit, Bloomingdale PR will manage all earned corporate and consumer media relations for Bel Group in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Location:live (LL), a live media and locations agency in the UK and Europe, has announced its  expansion into Australia. The agency has integrated Venue Advantage Pty Ltd to expand its  proposition throughout the entire APAC region. As a result, Venue Advantage Pty Ltd will be rebranded to Location:live Australia and provide the full range of location services complete with all prime brand capable activation spaces throughout Australia. The business plan is to widen the inventory to New Zealand, Japan and Singapore later this year. 

Gusto Collective, brand technology group, has appointed Gillian Gu as general manager for its fashion. Gu will lead the strategic operations and expansion of Gusto Collective's fashion business in Greater China. She brings close to twenty years’ experience in luxury fashion marketing and technology and will report to managing director Shashin Surti in Shanghai. 

Prophet, growth and transformation consultancy is appointing Patrick Eastwood as partner in the Hong Kong office. Eastwood brings close to three decades of experience across growth strategy, brand building, campaigns and creative, working with clients such as AIA, Alibaba, Didi, Hong Kong Jockey Club and HSBC. Before joining Prophet, Eastwood was a partner and the Asia Creative lead at critical issues firm, Brunswick. Prior to his tenure at Brunswick, Eastwood held several senior roles at Omnicom-owned firms.

80/20, marketing and branding specialists and CS Marketing & Sales Solutions have entered into a collaborative alliance to accompany global brands in their expansion, growth and innovation strategies. Spearheaded by Vietnamese strategist Quynh Nguyen and German entrepreneur Corinna Seidel, the partners leverage their extensive expertise from corporate and advertising realms to enhance visibility and growth for those who are navigating the dynamic markets between Asia and Europe.

Location Media Xchange (LMX), a leading enterprise software provider for Out-of-Home (OOH) media owners and part of the Moving Walls Group, has announced a partnership with Up Media, the elevator DOOH (Digital Out of Home) media owner in Thailand. This strategic alliance adds more than 700 screens to LMX's programmatic DOOH reach in Thailand, further establishing the group’s position as the largest DOOH marketplace in Asia.

Toyota Motor Asia-Pacific has appointed Virtue APAC, the creative agency powered by Vice, to create a regional integrated brand campaign. Virtue was selected following a four-way pitch. As the lead agency, Virtue will manage strategy, creative, production and distribution of the campaign, which will span across launch activation, regional brand assets, and a cultural programme centred on social, content and communities. Toyota will launch the ‘Move Your World’ campaign in the first half of 2024 across Asian markets. 

Publicis Groupe has appointed Dan Tintner as the new managing director for Razorfish Australia. Tintner will join the agency from Deloitte Digital Australia, where he worked for over seven years, most recently as partner for the marketing, data and technology team. He brings over 20 years of experience in technology and marketing consulting to Razorfish, including co-founding a digital agency acquired by Deloitte. He will report to Publicis Groupe ANZ chief media officer Imogen Hewitt. Tinter will start the new job in late January to replace Rebecca Zemunik, who took the position last March and will depart to explore new opportunities.

Virtue Worldwide has appointed Abhishek Malik as associate creative director for Virtue India. Malik's journey in the advertising industry began in 2017 at DigitalLB Delhi, working on clients such as Canon, Tinder, Fortis, Comedy Central, and MTV Beats. Taking a break from advertising in 2018, he embarked on a storytelling tour across 20 cities with Foundonallfours, an artist collective. Returning to advertising in 2019 with Schbang, he started as a senior creative strategist and swiftly rose to become a group creative manager in 2022, working on brands such as Fevicol, Ashok Leyland, Amazon Prime, Castrol India, and Dabur.

APRW, a Singaporean integrated communications agency, has been appointed for the development and execution of publicity and engagement strategies focused on Total Defence (TD) and National Education (NE) related campaigns and initiatives, following a competitive pitch. APRW will be handling all public relations and media management aspects for NE and TD-related campaigns and initiatives, including actively pitching key engagement efforts and ad-hoc stories to the media. The team is led by Cho Pei Lin, managing director of APRW. The year-long appointment was awarded by So Drama! Entertainment, a local media company owned by SAFRA National Service Association. 

Complex officially named Verdy as the artistic director, who will host the inaugural ComplexCon Hong Kong in 2024. Globally, Verdy is well known for being the artist-in-residence for Coachella’s 2023 festival and overseeing Blackpink’s Born Pink World tour as the artistic director. Established in 2016, ComplexCon has been reputably known as the "Festival of International Pop Culture” for its expert-led curatorial approach, defining the culture of the moment and being the launch pad of what’s coming next in fashion, art, music, and technology. ComplexCon Hong Kong is scheduled to set the stage in Hong Kong from 22 to 24 March 2024 at AsiaWorld Expo.

M&C Saatchi Performance has announced key changes to its global leadership team to further drive its growth and innovation. 

• Guillaume Lelait has been promoted to the role of chief growth officer. Lelait has worked at M&C Saatchi Performance for three years In his expanded role, he will remain managing director for the U.S. region while taking a more active role in integrating sales and marketing teams internationally to further expand their global client portfolio.
• Roshat Adnani, previously managing partner APAC, has been promoted to managing director APAC. With over six years of tenure at the agency, in this new role, Adnani will oversee the P&L for the entire APAC market and continue to steer global partnerships.
• Lavinea Morris, previously the head of planning EMEA, has been promoted to the role of managing director EMEA. Morris joined in 2017. In her new role, she will oversee the EMEA region, focusing on client retention and driving growth across new business whilst leading the team based in London. 
• Dane Buchanan, formerly global director of data, analytics & tech, has been promoted to chief data & analytics officer. Buchanan joined in 2021, in this new role, he will be at the forefront of tech and product development, helping clients to navigate privacy changes, better attribute the success of campaigns and drive efficiency through new tools leveraging AI and third-party technology.

South China Morning Post (SCMP) has appointed Anthony Wong as its head of people to lead the Group’s people-focused strategies and to build a dynamic and diverse work environment, effective from 8 January. He brings over 25 years of people leadership experience across the consumer, retail and logistics sectors. Prior to joining SCMP, he was vice president of HR at DHL Express Hong Kong and HR Director at DFI Retail Group. Additionally, he also held senior HR roles at a number of other global organisations including Nestlé, RedMart and Sony.

TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Apple's bespoke global creative agency, has appointed Terence Leong as its new executive creative director for the Southeast Asia region. In a newly created role, he will report to Brent Anderson, chief creative officer of TBWA\Media Arts Lab, working in partnership with Michaela Futcher, managing director/head of strategy of TBWA\Media Arts Lab Asia-Pacific. Leong joined from AKQA Tokyo. Having worked for agencies such as Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai, JWT, and RGA, collaborating with clients like Nike, Google and Sony, after 21 years, he has made his way back home to Singapore.

The Lego Group has appointed Claus Kristensen as its new senior vice president for APAC. In his new role, Kristensen will oversee the APAC region and its newly reshuffled business units, aligned to growth priorities and its evolving landscape. After an almost 20-year tenure at the Group, Eric Maugein will be stepping down and transitioning to a new chapter in his career. He will hand the reins over to Kristensen, who joined Lego 11 years ago, having previously worked in the region as vice president of marketing and B2B ecommerce and vice president and general manager of Australia & New Zealand (ANZ), as well as head of executive strategy at Lego’s headquarters. Meanwhile, Uma Ramanan, previously the regional brand director of the Lego Group, will be taking over as the new APAC head of marketing. Ramana joined the Group in 2014 from the UK as a senior brand manager and later moved to Shanghai and Singapore. The Lego Group has introduced two new business units, India & Emerging Asia (IEA) and Singapore, Malaysia and Travel Retail (SMTR).

Saatchi & Saatchi Australia has appointed Avish Gordhan and Mandie van der Merwe as duo chief creative officers. Before joining Saatchi & Saatchi, they both worked for Dentsu Creative Australia as CCOs, as well as M&C Saatchi from 2019 to 2022. In their early careers, they worked at Cummins & Partners and TBWA.

Sisca Margaretta has announced in a LinkedIn post that she has joined Visa as senior vice president, head of corporate communications—Asia Pacific. Before Visa, Margaretta was chief marketing and communications officer of EMEA and APAC at Experian. She also worked for Standard Chartered Bank and ANZ Bank prior to joining Experian in 2016. Margaretta will replace Belinda Tan, who joined Visa last March from DHL and left the brand in November.

Ruder Finn Asia has elevated Charles Lankester to the newly created role of managing director, Greater Bay Area (GBA). This new role will be in addition to his existing roles of executive vice president, global reputation and managing director, Hong Kong. Lankester will be tasked with creating a unified client capability and resource for the fast-growing GBA, which consists of nine cities in Southern China, Macau and Hong Kong.

BBDO Guerrero has promoted Mica Dela Rosa to creative director. Dela Rosa joined BBDO Guerrero as a copywriter in 2019 and has worked on some of the agency’s most notable clients, such as the Department of Tourism, Cornetto, Chowking, and other award-winning campaigns. As one of the network’s promising creatives, she was selected as a participant in the London International Awards Creative LIAisons program. 

BurdaLuxury, one of Asia’s leading media companies, has appointed Christoph Pagel as chief operating officer, overseeing digital and print operations regionally, technology, product, as well as operations and strategy for a key brand license in the BurdaLuxury portfolio, Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Macau. With over 13 years of experience in leading specialised teams, growing premium brands, and leading editorial strategy, Pagel previously held the position of regional director of digital operations and strategy at BurdaLuxury for four years. Prior to this, he held leadership positions at BurdaForward and news platform Focus Online, and spearheaded the launch of The Huffington Post in Germany.

Carbon, creative studio in Hong Kong and Singapore, has appointed Jessica Triffitt as its new regional managing director. In her new role, Triffitt will work closely with Carbon's CEO, Damien Bell, to shape the agency's long-term strategic roadmap. With a 20-year career in the media, advertising, and creative services sector, she brings a wealth of experience, having held senior strategic positions at organisations such as Haymarket, Tag, and 90 Seconds.

The Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN) has elected its 11th executive committee. Sudip Thapa, with nearly three decades of experience, has been elected as the president of AAN. Ujaya Shakya, the Founder of Outreach, has been elected as the first vice president of the new executive committee. 

Ogilvy has appointed Julia Hou as group executive creative director, with a remit covering Beijing and South China. She will partner with Wei Fei and Thomas Zhu, both group executive creative directors at Ogilvy Shanghai, to lead the agency's overall creative product outputs and reputation. Before joining Ogilvy, Hou led global creative and brand content development at Vivo for the last four years. Prior to that, she was ECD at Publicis Advertising Shanghai, overseeing work on clients such as Heineken, OPPO, Johnny Walker and Pepsi. She worked for Ogilvy Beijing between 2016 and 2018. Before moving to Asia, Hou worked in the US at TBWA\Media Arts Lab and Nike.

Hill & Knowlton has appointed two senior roles to strengthen its regional capabilities in Asia. Both roles are key to the firm’s Asia Leadership Council.

• Kanpirom Ungpakorn has been appointed business strategy lead of Asia, overseeing growth in the region and charting the regional direction for the firm. With over 30 years of experience as a business leader in both agency and in-house arenas, Ungpakorn has been serving as H&K Thailand’s managing director for 23 years. 
• Wachiraporn Pornpitayalert will succeed Ungpakorn as managing director of Thailand. Pornpitayalert has over 15 years of market and cross-sector expertise and has been a key player in nurturing the firm’s Innovation & Creative (I+C) Hub in Asia.

Hill+Knowlton Strategies returned to its original name of Hill & Knowlton late last year, as it rebranded into Hill+Knowlton Strategies in 2011, a year after merging with public affairs agency Public Strategies. 

Koo Sok Hoon has announced in a LinkedIn post that she has left BMW but did not disclose her next position. She was most recently head of marketing communications for BMW Group, based in Singapore. Koo joined BMW over eight years ago as marketing communications manager in 2015. Prior to BMW, she worked for Gucci, Breitling and Swissôtel The Stamford. 

Mountains, China’s independent brand consulting agency, has announced two key appointments recently.

• Sun Tao, co-founder and chief creative officer of Mountains Consulting, will become chief executive officer and chief creative officer, leading overall operations and business development. Sun has more than 20 years of advertising experience, and has worked across local and international agencies with over 50 local and international brands in different fields.
• Zhou Jun, co-founder and executive creative director, has been promoted to chief creative officer. Zhou has 20 years of advertising experience and has worked for a number of 4A agencies, such as Ogilvy & Mather, Leo Burnett, FCB, and SG, and served clients both at home and abroad, including P&G, Bilibili, JD Books, Zhihu, Fotile, Siemens, Volvo, and Boeing. Sun and Zhou co-founded Mountains in 2022.