Move and win roundup: Week of July 3, 2023

Havas Group has promoted Romain Devisme to president of Havas Events China. Devisme will be leading Havas Events with event innovation, team leadership and industry insight to create meaningful difference to brands, business and people. Joined Havas China in 2011, he started his career and grew up on the ground at Havas. After over a decade of leading the Havas Sports & Entertainment team, he established the Havas Events team and continued to expand the business scale and build a valuable reputation for Havas Events in China. During the pandemic, Devisme and his team have been sparing no effort to expand their business presence in the luxury lifestyle, fashion and automotive arenas, winning new clients  

Amazon has promoted Minari Shah to director of international for Amazon’s owned content & channels team for EMEA, APAC and LATAM. Shah was director of corporate communications in APAC. She joined Amazon in 2016 as director of PR for India. Before Amazon, she worked for Tata Motors, HSBC and Dell in India. 

Inalife, a global digital legacy platform, has launched, providing families with a secure, safe and easy method of connecting with loved ones on an interactive family tree, preserving their most cherished memories on personal profiles and recording what they want future generations to know about them. Inalife’s platform was developed to make it simple, secure and fun for families to connect and select what they want loved ones to know about them now and in the future. 

GreyNJ United Bangkok has appointed Sompat Trisadikun as chief creative officer, effective immediately. In his new role, Trisadikun will develop innovation-driven creative solutions, combining the power of data, technology and creativity to deliver effective work for clients. Prior to GreyNJ United, he was CCO at Leo Burnett Group Thailand and worked for Publicis Group Thailand for over two decades. Trisadikun has won over 800 international and national awards, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio Awards, and the London International Awards, among others. In addition, he has been invited to judge at several global advertising award shows and participated three times as a Cannes Lions Jury member. Jureeporn Thaidumrong was the former CCO of GreyNJ United Bangkok. She will remain a co-founder and creative chairperson of the agency and focus her creative expertise on talent development and empowerment, as well as lead social development projects such as reforestation.

Carat India has appointed Sanchayeeta Verma as chief executive officer. She will report to Anita Kotwani, CEO Media, South Asia, Dentsu. Verma will be based in Bangalore and responsible for boosting the agency's growth trajectory through strategic leadership. With 27 years of experience in the advertising, media & marketing industries. Before joining Dentsu, Verma held varied senior management positions at GroupM's Mindshare and Wavemaker. Her expertise has also been instrumental at companies such as Lintas Media Group, JWT, Kiwi TTK, etc. Throughout her career span, she has worked across diverse categories, including FMCG, durables, telecom, finance, retail, e-commerce, fashion, and lifestyle, servicing renowned brands like ITC, Titan Company Ltd, Google, Tata Global Beverages, Myntra, Wipro Consumer Care, Nestle, GSK, Motorola, Kellogg’s, Ford, ICICI, Castrol, DTC, Nike, PepsiCo, etc. Campaign India has more details. 

Australian business planning consultancy 24HR Business Plan (24HRBP) has opened its new office in Singapore as it looks to further increase its footprint across the APAC region. 24HRBP has also appointed Tobias Wilson, Michel Goedegebuure and James Layard as senior advisors and inaugural members of 24HRBP’s Singapore Team.

Behavioural insights practice Canvas8 has made three staff hires in their new Philippines office. Therese Reyes joins Canvas8 as lead editor for the APAC region, Gershom Mabaquiao comes on board as junior editor, and Dren Pavia as junior sub-editor. Reyes will work with experts, journalists, and analysts to identify insights for clients. She was previously an editor with Vice Asia. Mabaquiao will support Reyes in driving APAC-specific cultural insights content. Pavia formerly spent three years as a creative associate and story writer for one of the largest film production companies in the Philippines, Star Cinema, before working for the Chinese streaming service WeTV and then US-based media company, Koreaboo, focusing mainly on K-Pop-related news. 

Marketing transformation consultancy Lution is launching a dedicated martech practice headed up by new partner Satya Upadhyaya. He will take up the newly created role of chief martech officer. Upadhyaya joins from Citibank Australia and he has worked across multiple industry sectors, with brands including NAB, Bankwest, HSBC, NRMA, The Star and Accenture.

Iris Singapore has been appointed as the agency of record (AOR) for the creative and customer relationship management (CRM) mandates of GoTyme Bank. GoTyme Bank is a multi-cultural banking group owned by one of the Philippines’ leading conglomerates, the Gokongwei Group and Tyme Bank. Over the next few months, Iris Singapore will launch the brand positioning for the brand, followed by the bank’s first integrated campaign across multiple touchpoints in the Philippines. 

Ogilvy has elevated James Curtis to head of consumer PR and influence, Sydney. Curtis was head of earned media before the promotion. He joined the agency in 2016 as account director. Prior to Ogilvy, he worked for Frank PR Australia, Weber Shandwick, Max, Champion Communications (London), and Hill & Knowlton. He has been working in the field of digital strategy, social content, CSR, crisis communications, media relations, and corporate communications for over 16 years.

Rochester, London-based PR Group, has won two new clients in the past month, continuing to expand its presence in the APAC region, including Red Shoots, a New Zealand FMCG brand incubator that uses good ingredients to make great products, and New Zealand’s number one plant-based food brand, Angel Food. For Red Shoots, Rochester has been briefed to focus on one of the key brands in their portfolio, Daily Good, a range of all-natural, health-enhancing, immunity shots, helping to leverage consumer awareness of the brand in New Zealand and Australia. For Angel Food, Rochester is providing media relations support to drive consumer awareness of key product launches and helping to secure profile opportunities and achieve coverage for company news.

Sharon Lee, former head of corporate affairs, brand and marketing in Singapore has left Standard Chartered Bank after working for over 12 years. Lee shared the news in a LinkedIn post and chose to be "out on my own" for “the rest of 2023”. Lee joined the bank in 2011 as regional head of brand and sponsorships. Before  Standard Chartered Bank, she worked for Freedman International, Forbes Asia and Gosh Advertising.

Uber has appointed Bec Morton as its new global agency lead,  effectively immediately. Morton has been the APAC agency lead for the past three years. She will remain based in Sydney and work across Uber’s four key regions, APAC, Latin America, Europe/Middle East/Asia, and the US and Canada. Before Uber, Morton worked almost nine years at BMF, two at The Hallway, and four at Leo Burnett.

Intender, Australian sustainability-focused performance marketing agency, has appointed Jonathan Peach as general manager. Peach joins Intender from OMD, where he led media and digital transformation initiatives with clients as Transformation Director. Prior to that, he was head of data and personalisation at Mars, responsible for leading first-party data and digital marketing projects across 12 brands in the Mars Petcare Australia portfolio. His previous roles also include digital marketing manager ANZ for Specsavers, client service manager - programmatic for Dentsu Aegis’ Amnet Group, and digital strategist on Carat’s global team.

Engaging.io, a Sydney-based independent agency, has opened US office and appointed Ben Whitehead as its first local appointment to manage US client growth. Based in Salt Lake City, Whitehead joins the new Engaging US office from multinational software company Hyland and Netsmart, which develops technology and software services for the healthcare industry. He will help clients address business problems by working alongside the Engaging team and Hubspot to identify the best solutions for them.

Berger Paints, a paint major in India and among the frontrunners in the paints & coatings industry globally, has awarded its media mandate to Dentsu X following a multi-agency pitch. Berger Paints currently has media spending of around 200 crores (24.42 million USD). The account will be serviced from the agency’s Kolkata office. Dentsu X India will collaborate to develop cutting-edge strategies that improve the brand's commercial success. The agency will oversee media strategy, planning, buying, and execution to increase brand equity through offline media, including print, television, and radio, nationally.

BMW China has named TBWA China as its lead agency. TBWA China used to be the luxury auto brand's lead creative agency but has now extended its mandate to lead agency, working across BMW’s various marketing functions and agency partners on overall brand experience. TBWA retained BMW China in a five-way competitive pitch as the previous contract period ended in June. The new contract extends the partnership from July 2023 to June 2028 with a 3+2-year option. The agency has partnered with BMW since winning the creative portfolio in July 2018. Its creative work has been recognised both by local and global awards, including the Greater China Effies, Cannes Lions and One Show. TBWA Juice Beijing and TBWA Bolt Shanghai will serve the BMW China account. 

Publicis Groupe has appointed Ajit Ramaswami as a strategic advisor and corporate practice head for MSL in the Asia-Pacific region, in addition to his current role as CEO of MSL Middle East. With 27 years of experience in the Middle East and India, he joined MSL ME and Publicis Groupe in 2004 and was appointed CEO in 2008. Ramaswami was instrumental in securing prestigious accounts for the agency, including DU, Samsung, key P&G brands and TAMM for the Groupe.  

Google has appointed Karen Tan as vice president, Android partnerships APAC. Before joining Google, Tan had been working for Meta for over nine years. Her most recent position was vice president, global business group, SMBs, APAC at Meta. Prior to Meta, Tan worked for Microsoft for five years, as senior account manager (global partner & 3rd party publishing) and SEA product marketing manager for Xbox.

Via, a new agency specialising in strategic reputation advisory, news and content, is founded by Tala Booker and Dan Fitzpatrick, two executive corporate affairs veterans from HSBC. With HSBC as its anchor client, including being appointed the lead global communications firm for further building the profile of “HSBC Innovation Banking”, Via will work for the portfolio such as brand building, reputation and content across the UK, Hong Kong, Israel and the US. Via will also support the finance ecosystem - including banks, venture capital, private equity, insurers and asset managers - with their cross-border communications and brand-building needs in both Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Booker was managing director and global head of communications for commercial banking for HSBC Holdings plc. Fitzpatrick was head of communications for HSBC Singapore and, more recently, Australia.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has appointed Raymond Chan as general manager, events & product development, effective 1 July 2023. Chan was regional director of Southeast Asia and will be relocating back to Hong Kong. Martin Gwee will succeed Chan as director of Southeast Asia to lead the development and implementation of HKTB’s marketing strategies in Southeast Asian markets. Chan joined the HKTB in 2012, having held a number of key marketing and public affairs positions in Southeast Asian and other markets. He was promoted to the position of regional director of Southeast Asia in 2018. Gwee joined the HKTB in 2016. He was director of marketing for Southeast Asia before the promotion.     

Vans has appointed Drieke Leenknegt as its new global marketing chief, effective July 5. Leenknegt will report to Kevin Bailey, global brand president at Vans, and will be a key thought leader for Vans’ growth and strategic direction. Parent company VF Corp. made the announcement via its LinkedIn page, welcoming the former Nike employee to the Vans brand after her three-year stint at VF's sister brand, Timberland, as chief marketing officer. Leenknegt was global vice president, influencing marketing and collaborations at Nike. She worked for the brand for over 21 years, including five years in Greater China, when she served as senior brand director, Nike sportswear and general manager, Nike women/women’s training in Shanghai.