Move and win roundup: Week of July 25, 2022

Essence China, a data and measurement-driven media agency, part of WPP’s GroupM, has been selected by GAC Motor as the integrated media agency of record for international business growth. The agency’s scope of work will include brand strategy, integrated media planning and activation, creative development, and production, covering all of GAC Motor’s sedans, sport utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and new energy electric vehicles across its international business, including in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Imogen Bourke has been elevated to PHD’s regional strategy director, APAC from her current role of head of strategy for Hong Kong. Bourke’s new role comes into effect immediately, she will report to CEO of PHD APAC, James Hawkins, and will be responsible for the continuous development and elevation of the agency's strategic product and capability roadmap within the region.

Alexis Truscott has been named the new head of public relations for Porsche Cars Australia. She succeeds Chris Jordan who has become the new head of public relations for Porsche Middle East and Africa. Truscott’s appointment comes into effect from 1 August, meanwhile Jordan will be based out of Dubai for the new role w.e.f. 1 September.

Headhunting agency Uncommon People partners with two other similar recruitment agencies, Relish Global in London, and Searchlight in New York to open a Singapore office. The partnership will aid in global talent hunt as a single entity.

Relativ has promoted Christina Adriani has been promoted to managing partner of its Tokyo office. In this role, Adriani will oversee all agency teams and operations, provide senior client leadership and in partnership with Relativ’s founder and executive partner, Cairo Marsh, focus on expanding the agencies capabilities and client impact. She has been with Relativ since 2020. She joined as design director, and led the agency’s design department, which is accountable for all communications development for clients (including creative campaigns, digital platforms, UX/UI, and social media content). Prior to joining Relativ, she worked at Dentsu Creative (Formerly Isobar) and AKQA.

Mediabrands has appointed Joanne Tong as maanaging director for Hong Kong, Penny Chow to the position of managing director for Taiwan, and Man Leung to head of Reprise and Initiative Hong Kong. Promoted from her prior position as head of strategy Mediabrands Hong and Taiwan, Tong will be charged with the growth leadership of the Mediabrands Hong Kong agency network, drawing upon her 20 years specialized marketing and advertising industry experience. Adding to her previous remit leading Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS) Hong Kong and Taiwan, Chow will be extending her role to include managing director of the Mediabrands agency network in Taiwan. Responsible for countless award winning campaigns, in addition to agency and leadership accolades, Chow has a 20 year career in media and advertising. From his prior role as head of business development Hong Kong and Taiwan, Leung has been promoted to a broader leadership role as head of Reprise and Initiative Hong Kong, where he will utilise his 19+ years industry experience specialized in building digital infrastructure for data-driven marketing solutions.

Ogilvy Health has announced that Nadeem Amin has been named executive group director for Singapore. He started his career in Australia as a creative, then rapidly supported brands in their digital transformation, notably leading Kellogg’s digital acceleration across Southeast Asia. He moved to Hong Kong to work as head of digital for Danone Greater China and later lead HSBC’s performance, technology and innovation agenda across 13 markets in APAC as managing partner for PHD. He most recently served as regional managing partner at UM Worldwide. In his new role, he will be responsible for leading the Ogilvy Health team in Singapore, leveraging Ogilvy’s strong healthcare and technology expertise to support clients with their business growth across Asia. In addition, Gopika Balraj has joined from healthcare data science company IQVIA and Jessica Geli from Publicis, where she led regional consumer health accounts. Both will be based out of Singapore and work closely with Amin as business directors to support Ogilvy’s various pharmaceutical, medtech and healthcare clients in their digitalisation efforts.

Digital marketing agency Tug has appointed Darran Hong to lead SEO for its portfolio of clients in Southeast Asia.  Hong joins Tug as SEO director after more than three years as assistant SEO manager at FWD Group. He was also a senior SEO strategist at global performance marketing agency, Performics.

MSL India has hired Ajit Pai as vice president and lead for MSL Bengaluru. He joins MSL with over 17 years of experience in the PR domain. He will be leading MSL Bengaluru and will be responsible for strengthening client relations in the South. Prior to joining MSL, Palworked with leading PR consultancies such as Adfactors PR, Edelman, APCO Worldwide and BCW. Shreela Roy has joined MSL as vice president of Mumbai and lead of its FinCom practice. She has over 15 years of experience and knowledge in driving multi-stakeholder integrated communications campaigns across different industries. Prior to this, Roy was director for corporate and financial practice at Genesis BCW. Rajesh Narwankar has joined as vice president and head of talent & culture at MSL India. He has 15 years of experience in human resources and will lead resource management at MSL and enforce innovative talent movement processes to create a sustainable people infrastructure. This will be his second stint within the Publicis Groupe ecosystem, as he previously led the same role at Leo Burnett. He has also worked with other organizations including PwC, Edelman & BMR Advisors.

Meta has appointed Patrick Pan to the position of head of Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has more than 18 years of technology sector experience. Pan will oversee the company’s operations in both markets, and lead the team in building strategic relationships with brands, agencies and partners to sustain overall growth. He will also focus on driving economic impact by supporting businesses of all sizes, and cultivating growth through digital adoption. Pan was previously with Microsoft Taiwan, where he was general manager of Public Sector. 

Social Panga, a creative and digital marketing agency has been appointed as the social media marketing partner of Tally Solutions. This mandate will work towards fulfilling the brand's objective of establishing greater connect, and engagement across all customer and segment profiles, as a smart and relevant, trustworthy and expert brand that already has millions of fans across the world. Apart from India, Social Panga will also manage Tally's social media content and strategy across other geographies like - North America, Kenya, Indonesia, MENA, and Bangladesh.

Livewire has joined forces with on-demand delivery platform Uber Eats to help the brand authentically engage the gaming ecosystem. Livewire will ask thousands of Aussies about their gaming habits, rituals and tendencies as well as usage habits for on-demand delivery services, like Uber Eats. The findings will help fuel Uber Eats strategy as it looks to strengthen its reputation as a leader in engaging audiences through their passions. As part of the partnership Uber Eats will get access to Livewire's consumer gaming research, audience first integrated strategy, bespoke social campaigns, and the launch of the Livewire Creative Studios developing immersive experiences for brands.