Move and win roundup: Week of March 11, 2019

R/GA Singapore announced a new partnership with the country's Economic Development Board to establish a smart design and technology centre of excellence. The centre will focus on putting design and technology at the centre of business strategy, and train and hire Singaporeans talent in positions such as experience design, creative technology and data science. R/GA Singapoe's senior technology director, Laurent Thevenet, and group creative director, Tim Cripps, and creative director of experience design, Mark Law, will co-lead the centre. 

PRecious Communications made several senior appointments. Danielle Chow is deputy practice head for PRecious Life, which handles sectors including luxury, hospitality and lifestyle; Rajiv Menon arrived as B2B client services director at PRecious Communications; Wendy Tan is director of integrated communications; and Gopal Kishore is senior manager, content. PRecious also intends to open a Malaysia office later this year. 

Indian mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League hired Lowe Lintas as its creative agency, following a five-way pitch. Low Lintas is tasked with launching the brand, which has already signed up cricket megastar Virat Kohli as brand ambassador. 

Lion & Lion won digital marketing duties for Impossible Foods in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau. The agency will handle all paid media on Facebook, YouTube and search, as Impossible Foods launches in Singapore and looks to grow its presence in Hong Kong.  

Paris-based ad tech startup Scibids opened in Asia-Pacific through its new Singapore regional headquarters. Rahul Vasudev, formerly APAC MD of MediaMath, was named Scibids APAC chief. Scibids offer is centred around an AI-based intelligence layer in the media buying process, which it says acts as a 'virtual trader' on to of DSPs such as Google DV360, The Trade Desk, AppNexus and MediaMath. 

Digitas announced it won a competitive pitch for business from German appliance manufacturer Miele in mainland China. The agency will focus on improving customer experience and engagement through social media.

Digital sports streaming brand DAZN Group rebranded its global media partnerships unit DAZN Media, from Perform Media. DAZN Media also launched off-platform solution DAZN+, a data and analytics platform that aggregates media and marketing data from DAZN's owned platforms including Goal, Sporting News and DAZN Player, which was formely sports VOD platform ePlayer. DAZN Player aggregates select premium sports content form DAZN, and distributes across premium publishers including, in Southeast Asia, Rappler, ABS-CBN and Thairath.

OMD Sydney appointed dual heads of investment: Jane Combes, previously investment lead on Telstra, and Marelle Salib, currently Sydney head of investment. The change is a result of significant client growth over the past 12 months, including wins of Suncorp, Activision and The Fork, according to the agency, which added that the dual approach reflects a commitment to deliver a sustainable structure that provides the right level of coverage and leadership for clients. Both women will report to OMD’s national chief investment officer, Melissa Hey.

Ultimate Asset, which bills itself as a digital media and tech talent sourcing firm, appointed Lee Smith, former digital CEO at Omnicom Media Group, as CEO for its executive search business. He had previously been working as an adviser to the company. James Lyon, APAC CEO and co-founder, has recently relocated to the EMEA HQ in London after five years in Singapore, where he launched the company in APAC in 2014. Earlier this month, UA's Singapore team added Carol Chua, formerly with Aspire, as executive consultant and Juan Diego Bermúdez Mesquita, formerly Singapore GM with MCG&Co, as associate director. In the US, the company has appointed Katie Holmes, former APAC regional director for Aspire, as VP America, where she joins UA’s former head of ad tech recruitment in APAC, Amira Mattar, who is already based in New York.

Vice has a new head of client services in APAC, Joanna Jones. Jones, who is based in Singapore, will be tasked with driving the media brand's commercial account and will work with Aaron Pearce, MD of Vice's creative agency, Virtue, and Serene Lee, head of sales and partnerships. She joins Vice from Edelman, where she was regional media operations director for APAC. 

VMLY&R is the new creative AOR for Australian pharmacy brand TerryWhite Chemmart, which owns some 450 pharmacies across the country. 

Jack Morton promoted Lucille Essey from ECD in Hong Kong to Greater China ECD, a newly created role overseeing creative in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai and reporting to Natalie Ackerman, EVP of Greater China. The company also promoted Jeremy To to creative director in Hong Kong, from his former position as senior associate creative director. (Read more)

M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment will be the official creative communications agency for the Australian Olympic Committee’s Tokyo 2020 campaign. The agency will create the overarching communications platform and an integrated campaign that will run in the lead-up to and throughout the Tokyo Games. This will include TV, out-of-home, print and online.

Members of PROI Worldwide launched PROI ASEAN, a new strategic partnership between agencies in the region to collaborate on new business development. The members are: Echo Myanmar Communications, Huntington Communications (Singapore), Imogen Indonesia, M2.0 Communications (Philippines), Midas Communication (Thailand & Vietnam) and Priority Communications (Malaysia). 

Pizza Hut Singapore appointed BLKJ as its creative agency of record, following a three-way pitch. BLKJ will manage all upcoming campaigns and seek to refresh the Pizza Hut brand, beginning with its new brand campaign this month.

WE Buchan hired Nat Bradford as head of technology and general manager. He brings more than 20 years' experience, running his own consultancy in Adelaide and holding senior roles at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Dec PR and PPR. As general manager, Bradford will support operations in WE Buchan's Sydney & Melbourne offices. 

Media gaming platform Arcade X launched in Australia, and hired Simon Ingleson as strategic marketing consultant. He spent 15 years with News Corp as advertising director. He will handle Arcade X's commercial rollout across the country.

McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific appointed Chris Galea as regional business director on Mastercard. He joins from TBWA, where he was global brand leader on Standard Chartered Bank for the past 14 years, and succeeds Alex Baker, who is moving within McCann Worldgroup to another role based in London. Charles Cadell, president of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific said Galea's significant experience with the financial services sector and knowledge of Asia will help deliver Mastercard’s ambitious growth agenda across the region.

Bloomberg Television appointed Emily Yamamoto as head of TV for Asia-Pacific, effective immediately. Both Yamamoto and another new appointment, Rachel Wehrspann, head of TV for the US, in reporting to Al Mayers, Global Head of Television and Radio. Based in Hong Kong, Yamamoto will oversee editorial in APAC. She was most recently executive producer for Asia TV and has produced First Up, Trending Business, Asia Edge, Bloomberg Daybreak, Bloomberg Markets and High Flyers. She has been with Bloomberg since 2006.

Telling Stories, DDB’s film and content division, added two former journalists as content producers for its new editorial arm. Benjamin Lim was previously contributing editor at pop culture website Rice Media. Multimedia journalist Edward Teo was at The Straits Times Video. They join Natasha Ann Zachariah, senior writer from Tribal Worldwide Singapore, who was previously with The Straits Times Life, and art director Nigel Tan.

Dentsu Aegis Network announced the appointment of Silvia Leiva as APAC regional insights and business growth director for B2B International, the business-to-business market research company, which is part of gyro. She was previously insights and strategy director for APAC at Carat. The role is based in Singapore but covers other APAC markets, including Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Leiva will report to B2B International CEO Matthew Harrison, business development director Conor Wilcock, and senior research manager and head of Asia Pacific Stephanie Teow.

PHD China appointed Nancy Yang as group strategy director and Jordan Heathfield as strategy director for digital solutions. Yang brings over 11 years of experience in digital marketing and strategic media planning at agencies such as DDB, Isobar, Publicis 133 and 180 Shanghai. Heathfield has worked in technology and media in Greater China for over eight years. Both Yang and Heathfield will report to Ian Dolan, the agency’s head of strategy and planning, who transferred to PHD China from the network’s Dubai office last year.

PRCO, a global luxury integrated communications group, has opened new offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Gary Yu, associate director, who formerly oversaw GHC Asia’s expansion into China, has been appointed to lead the new division. Gary will oversee the delivery of integrated communications solutions to companies in the travel, real estate and luxury lifestyle sectors. Clients include McArthurGlen, Chelsea Barracks and One Wall Street.

Zeno Group named Allanjit Singh as managing director, to oversee the agency’s Singapore office, drive growth, and scale the agency’s local and regional presence. He was previously MD at Red Agency, part of Havas Group, which followed a stint as head of digital and communications director for Golin in Singapore.

VMLY&R was appointed creative agency of record in Singapore by telco brand Circles.Life. The agency will work to continue building the brand through developing and executing campaigns for one year, as well as providing strategic counsel.

A collaboration between Singaporean agency Dynamic PR & Events and Thailand-based Shine PR won an account launching Norway-based tours company, Up Norway to travellers in Australia, Southeast Asia and the UK. Shine PR will concentrate on the UK market while Dynamic PR will cover Southeast Asia and Australia.