Move and win roundup: Week of June 24, 2019

Changi Airport Group (CAG) reappointed Havas Media Singapore as its media agency of record after a competitive pitch. The win is effective immediately for a two-year period and includes traditional media planning and buying, as well as support for the brand’s digital media strategy. Havas Media has been CAG’s media AOR since July 2015.

Interpublic Group PR agency Weber Shandwick promoted Campbell Hanley to general manager for Japan and Juny Lee and Seikyu Hong to joint general managers for Korea. Hanley is a former journalist with around 20 years’ experience in Japan, who has also worked at BBDO. Lee founded a digital agency that merged with Weber Shandwick in 2012, and Hong has spent around 10 years at the agency in Seoul. They report to Tyler Kim, North Asia managing director.

Geometry Hong Kong appointed Lisa Glasgow as ECD. She was previously regional CD at MullenLowe Singapore for 'Dirt is good'.

Publicis Communications India promoted Vandana Verma to COO of Arc Worldwide, India. She will continue to report to Saurabh Varma, CEO of Publicis Communications South Asia. Verma joined Publicis Groupe in 2012 and was made executive director of Arc Worldwide India in 2017. She also leads the Arc Worldwide Singapore agency.

Ada announced several new additions to its leadership team. The company, backed by the Axiata Group and Sumitomo Corporation, reports it has doubled its headcount to close to 400 across the region, where it now has operations in nine countries. 

• Adrian Burton is promoted to MD in Malaysia. He joined in April 2018 to build a new business line, Ada’s Acquisitions unit.
• Faraz Khan is promoted to head of the regional acquisitions team. He has held previous roles with Maxus and Mediacom and joined the acquisitions team in 2018 as Burton's deputy.
• Kirill Mankovski joins as MD in Indonesia effective 1 July. He was most recently chief enterprise officer at PT XL Axiata.
• Mahesh Neelakantan, until recently country director of Malaysia and Singapore, takes on a newly created role as head of regional agency partnerships.
• Mayi Baviera, who joined in March 2019 and has been acting country director of the Philippines, willl now formally assume that role. She has held previous roles at Cheil Worldwide and Digital FCB Manila.
• Summer Choo, who has been with Ada since 2018 as client leadership director, now takes on the role of country director in Singapore.

Edelman hired Fon Mathuros Chantanayingyong as APAC chief media officer. She brings more than 20 years' experience working at the World Economic Forum, where she was most recently head of media. At Edelman, Mathuros will drive the agency's media strategy, provide senior counsel for media relations and train CEOs. She will also lead Edelman's own WEF offering for clients and seek new business opportunities through her extensive network.

Abi Sekimitsu has joined McKinsey & Company as head of communications for Japan after just over four years at Ogilvy. A former Reuters journalist, Sekimitsu was head of communications and content for Ogilvy, where she worked on large scale projects for clients such as IBM. She did not give further details as to what her role at McKinsey would entail. Prior to Ogilvy, Sekimitsu worked as a consultant to Tepco, which suffered severe reputational damage in the wake of the 3/11 earthquake, and as an editor for Microsoft.

Independent digital agency Switch Digital was appointed to handle Taiwan Tourism across Australia and New Zealand and last week launched a new tourism information centre in Sydney. In addition to hosting the centre, Switch will also co-ordinate PR, trade shows and travel industry education. Switch Digital recently established an Auckland office.

Entropia CBR in the Philippines hired Nelissa Capila-Alcanzare as its first principal for business and brand development, effective 1 July. She joined from Unilever where she spent 12 years, most recently as regional digital and search manager based in Singapore. 

Indosat Ooredoo appointed PHD Indonesia as its agency of record following a multi-agency pitch. The agency takes on the full media brief for the country's second largest telco, which has over 53 million subscribers. The pitch began in Q1 and had agencies from all the major holding groups in Indonesia taking part, with three making it to the final round, according to PHD. The appointment is effective immediately and spans two years, with the option to renew for an additional year.