Move and win roundup: Week of May 20, 2024

Madison Media Alpha, a unit of Madison World, has recently won the media AOR of Sun Neo Hindi GEC. This is an expanded remit as the agency has been working for the regional Indian entities Sun Bangla and Sun Marathi channels under the same network. 

TBWA Singapore has appointed Shawn Shantilal as its new data analytics and martech director. In this new role, Shantilal will be based in Singapore and will work with Singapore Airlines and Chanel. He will support the team on global accounts. Before joining TBWA, Shantilal served as data analytics manager at EssenceMediacom and at Huge as data analyst.

G Squared has expanded its strategic offering with the launch of a performance media creative division and has appointed Chris Murphy, former general manager of The Hallway, to lead the new team. As head of creative, Murphy will lead the new service pillar, working alongside G Squared’s consultants and clients to deliver impactful creative campaigns across digital channels. With more than a decade at creative agencies in the UK and Australia, including Wunderman Thompson, BWM Dentsu, Saatchi and Saatchi London and Grey London, Murphy joins after more than four years working for The Hallway.

Virtue Worldwide has appointed Sumbul Khan as business lead for the India market. With this strategic move, Virtue underscores its commitment to expand its presence and impact in the Indian advertising landscape. Khanl brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Virtue Worldwide, with over 19 years of experience. Prior to joining Virtue Worldwide, she held key roles at renowned agencies such as JWT, McCann, Leo Burnett, Mindshare, Wunderman International, and Lowe Lintas. She was most recently senior VP of account management at MullenLowe Group India.

Alt/shift/ has won Tinder’s Australian PR account, following a competitive pitch process. The incumbent agency, Thrive PR, has been working with Tinder since 2021.

TheSmallBigIdea, an independent full-service digital agency, has secured the digital communications mandate for DHL Express' association with Mumbai Indians. The agency supports DHL Express’ digital communications strategy and brand campaigns for the DHL x Mumbai Indians partnership in 2024, to craft captivating campaigns ‘ThatsMyGame’ and ‘DilSeIndianSpiritSeMumbaiIndians'.

Global NGO Creatives for Climate has announced a global executive board and advisory to expand the development of its programme to facilitate climate action within the communications industry. The NGO’s rapidly growing community of 40,000 includes agencies and marketers across disciplines ranging from communications to advertising to design. It was founded by CEO Lucy von Sturmer following a Creatives for Climate Summit in 2019. The group formalised as an NGO in 2022. New creatives for climate executive board members:

• Sandra Gonza, secretary: senior sustainability strategist, Quantis International
• Nadine Koszler, treasurer: chief experience officer, Eurail B.V.
• Duncan Money, board chair: chief of staff, Rapha

Honda Australia has adopted a hybrid in-house and external agency model, appointing Howatson+Company to handle media and creative across its automobile, motorcycles and power equipment businesses. The full-service indy will work with Lution to create a new in-house agency to “optimise efficiency and creativity. As part of the move, incumbents, including Zenith Media, Leo Burnett, Wavemaker and TRP, will no longer work with Honda.

VML Australia has announced that Jake Barrow will move to Prague in Czech Republic and take on a CCO role after working 13 years at the agency down under. Barrow was most recently group executive creative director of Melbourne and Sydney. He started as an art director at what was then George PattersonY&R and took on the role of creative director in 2015 and ECD in 2017. He will continue working on key clients, such as Defence Force Recruiting, Monash and Haleon and will relocate later in the year.

Bastion has appointed Samantha Hansen as its new partnerships marketing director. Hansen brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, previously leading leverage strategies for brands including Coca-Cola, Mount Franklin, Powerade, and Chupa Chups. Her new role spans the commercial, experience, and creative sectors, with core responsibilities including working with key clients to develop integrated sponsorship and strategic partnership leveraging campaigns.

DDB Melbourne has elevated two new senior creative roles at the agency. Creative partner Giles Watson has been promoted to deputy executive creative director, while creative partner James Cowie has been promoted to creative partner, head of copy, effective immediately. Both joined the agency in 2021. Watson served various creative roles at Howatson+Company, BMW Dentsu and Clemenger BBDO before joining DDB. Cowie moved back from New York to Australia after working for Deutsch NY, in New York City for almost ten years.

ShopBack, an online cashback portal, promoted Otilia Chan to head of marketing for Hong Kong, effective May 2024. She reports to Arthur Wan, general manager of ShopBack Hong Kong and Taiwan. Chan has served as marketing lead for ShopBack Hong Kong since October 2022. Before joining ShopBack, Chan was associate marketing director at Ant Group Hong Kong. Before joining Ant Group, she worked at Uber and Fonterra.

Mat Baxter, the former global CEO of IPG agencies like Initiative and Huge, has relocated from New York to Australia to join marketing investment analytics company Mutinex as APAC CEO. Mutinex, run by global CEO Henry Innis from New York, started as Mutiny Group, based in Australia, with former OMG APAC CEO Cheuk Chiang at the time. 

Mother has appointed Pamela Chen to lead its Shanghai office and work alongside executive creative directors and partners Winson Woo and Wanshi Lu. Most recently, Chen was director of business development at AKQA in San Francisco and has held WPP leadership roles and global positions in digital marketing, media strategy, and brand communications at Ventures, Mindshare, Ogilvy, Possible and Grey.

RGA has named Krishnan Menon as its new managing director of Southeast Asia, overseeing offices in Singapore and Indonesia, reporting to Michael Titshall, CEO of APAC. Read the full story here. 

Alyce Gillis has joined Today the Brave as head of strategy, set to lead the agency’s strategic function across creative, planning, and business development. Joining from Havas Host, Gillis has experience leading integrated agencies and spearheading award-winning brand, creative, PR, social, and influencer campaigns.

DDB Mudra Group has promoted Menaka Menon from national strategy head to president and managing partner of growth & strategy at DDB Mudra South. In her new role based in the Bengaluru office, Menon will oversee client operations and strategic initiatives. She succeeds Ranji Cherian, who has led the south office for over 16 years and will now focus on client excellence at the group level. Menon, who joined DDB in January 2023, brings over 23 years of diverse experience in advertising, broadcast media, and strategic consulting. Her advertising career includes significant FCB, VML, and Leo Burnett roles.

UM, a leading media agency, appointed Matt Evans as managing partner to head the Optus account immediately. Operating from Sydney, Evans will refine UM’s strategic media planning for Optus to enhance value, innovation, and sustainable growth. He reports to Ben McCallum, UM's managing director in Sydney. Previously, Evans was the head of client partnerships at Carat Australia, where he developed a robust track record in client relations and strategic alliances.

Zitcha, the unified retail media platform, has welcomed Josh Forsyth as the new APAC sales lead. Reporting to Nick Hinsley, Zitcha’s chief revenue officer, Forsyth brings over eight years of experience in senior roles within major adtech companies such as Yahoo, The Trade Desk, and Vistar Media. He will focus on expanding Zitcha’s presence in Australia and New Zealand while spearheading growth initiatives across Asia. His efforts will concentrate on enabling retailers to effectively monetise their diverse media assets, including websites, social media, and in-store displays.

Teneo, a global CEO advisory firm, has announced the appointment of May Knight as vice chair of Asia Pacific. Based in Hong Kong SAR, Knight will contribute across Teneo's multiple business segments, providing senior counsel to tackle complex client challenges. Her responsibilities will cover Teneo's offices in Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, and Sydney. Knight joins from Korn Ferry, where she was a senior partner in global financial services. She has extensive leadership experience, previously serving as president of Korn Ferry advisory Asia Pacific, managing director and insurance industry sector leader at Accenture, and partner at Ernst & Young.