Move and win roundup: Week of November 7, 2022

Ogilvy Thailand has appointed Gumpon Laksanajinda its new chief creative officer, starting from this November onwards. Laksanajinda became executive creative director at Ogilvy in 2020 and is the creative force behind consistent award wins during the past few decades making Ogilvy the only Thai agency ranked in the top 3 of Cannes Lions Creativity Report of the Decade.

Digital marketing agency Tug Sydney has been appointed by National Dental Care, one of the largest providers of dental services in Australia, to drive customer engagement across its network. Tug will manage search engine optimisation with the objective of increasing organic visibility and driving greater awareness of its more than 70 nationwide practices.  

WFA appoints Gary Lim as new WFA director for Asia-Pacific. The former APAC marketing communications director at Johnson & Johnson replaces outgoing Ranji David in the new role. The appointment cements Lim's long association with WFA; from 2010 to 2016 he was the APAC chairperson of WFA's Integrated Marketing Communications Forum. In his current role, he will be based in Singapore and focus on bringing APAC marketers together in line with the WFA’s peer-to-peer approach and grow the network in the region. Lim will work closely with WFA’s Asia-Pacific leadership team of senior marketers. Meanwhile, Campaign understands that WFA will soon make an announcement regarding Rupen Desai's role at the association following his departure at Dole. 

Jamie Francis has joined Howatson+Company as head of people and culture in a newly created role as the agency reaches 112 people across its ‘one agency, two campuses’ model. Francis joins from AKQA where she was most recently talent acquisition lead. Prior to this, she's held senior talent positions at WPP and Clemenger Group in Australia, and across several agencies in London and Auckland.

Following a competitive pitch, sustainability recruiter and search firm Acre has appointed Cognito as its first global retained communications agency. Cognito will bolster brand awareness across UK, US, EMEA and APAC and lead Acre’s external communications.

Publicis Groupe Indonesia has appointed four senior hires across its creative and digital agencies to focus on client growth and impact:

• Yusdina Fibriyanti comes on board as general manager, Leo Burnett. Fibriyanti was earlier the country lead for Interpublic Group of Companies.
• Nilakshi Medhi is the new head of strategic planning for Publicis Communications agencies. Nilakshi has 15 years of brand strategy and business experience.
• Tushar Sawant from DDB Mudra India joins as senior creative director. He will support Ravi Shanker by working on Mondelez brands for Southeast Asia.
• Netra Natrajan is the new associate creative director at Leo Burnett Indonesia. Natrajan was previously at 22 Feet Tribal India and will work on clients including Kraft Heinz and McDonald’s.

Sacombank, one of the largest banks in Vietnam with over 15 million customers, has selected Temenos Infinity to elevate its digital banking and deliver a seamless omnichannel experience to retail and business customers.

After nearly four years with Dole Sunshine, Rupen Desai has stepped down from his role as global CMO, as part of The Shed/28 (TS/28) consultancy work for the fruit company. However, following the move, his TS/28 colleagues Ranjit Jathanna and Srija Chatterjee continue as Dole Sunshine chief communications officer and marketing director (fresh produce group), respectively. Prior to the TS/28, Desai spent more than two decades at Lowe Lintas, followed by two years as Asia-Pacific vice chair for Edelman.

VCCP Singapore has hired Megha Ramesh as associate creative director. Prior to this, Ramesh was in a similar role at The Secret Little Agency (TSLA) where she worked on different a range of accounts including DBS, Marriott Bonvoy, OLLY, National Heritage board, KFC and Mandai for nearly four years. 

The Hallway, independent advertising agency in Australia has been appointed by Nova Entertainment to work on key brand strategy and creative projects for the Nova Network and Smooth FM Network. The account win adds to The Hallway’s growth and momentum this year, having broken new business records and most recently winning Independent Agency of the Year and Ad Campaign of the Year at the B&T Awards.

Edelman Hong Kong has added Andy Chan and Richard Poon to its creative team. Chan brings over a decade of design experience across UK and Hong Kong design firms as he joins as the new design director. Meanwhile Poon brings over eight years of experience comes to his role of producer and production manager. He has an animation and design background having mostly worked as a producer in the broadcast industry with brands such as Disney, FOX and National Geographic.

Allison+Partners has made a series of leadership promotions. Allanjit Singh joins the agency’s APAC team in a dual role: managing director in the agency’s technology practice and head of digital for the region. Singh joins the agency on the back of the launch of two technology research studies. Meanwhile, Jeremy Seow has been promoted to regional chief operating officer and head of client experience for APAC. Previously the firm’s APAC director of growth and innovation, Seow is now tasked to spearhead the company’s expansion in the region as well as manage partnerships with client leaders across APAC. Finally, Adeline Goh has expanded her current remit of general manager for Singapore to include leadership of the region’s corporate practice. Goh will work closely with Singh to further embed digital and data into the firm’s practice. 

Mutant has promoted Abraham Christopher and Bethany Bloch to director and managing editor, respectively. In his new role, Christopher will lead the PR and social teams, focusing on reputation and issues management, crisis communications, media training, and integrated communications. Prior to this, he helped build Mutant’s social-media offering and contributed in winning key clients for the agency including Shopee, Logitech, Bumble, and Subway. Meanwhile, Bloch’s new role will involve overseeing the agency’s key editorial accounts through the development of content strategies, sales enablement, and througt leadership. 

ADA has appointed Anthony Chan as head of growth. He will build the firm’s marketing technology sales team across APAC. Chan and his team will oversee ADA's sales transformation and help deliver on the organisation's growth plans. Chan brings with him 25 years of experience, most recently as enterprise sales leader of Merkle APAC. 

BBDO Indonesia has appointed Yogi Tapanati Simbolon aka Tigor as its new creative lead.  Tigor began his career as a reporter for a tourism website before moving into advertising. He has more than 70 creative awards to his name. 

Colenso BBDO strengthens its leadership with the addition of industry-veteran Matt Swinburne who joins the agency as group creative director. Swinburne has worked at some of leading agencies, managing some of the world’s biggest brands. He spent the first few years of his career plying the trade in Auckland at Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, and then in Sydney at Leo Burnett where, as a young creative, he won gold in Cannes in the Young Lions competition. Read the full story here.

Valerie Madon, formerly chief creative officer for Asia at VMLY&R, joins Meta as the director of Creative Shop, Southeast Asia and emerging markets. Madon brings over two decades of experience in a range of creative, digital and leadership roles to the table and has worked with major brands like Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Singapore Airlines, HSBC, Burger King, VISA, Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport, Central Provident Fund, Shell and GSK among others.

Sydney-based indie agency, Apparent, appoints Matt Olanda as client services director. Olanda brings over 17 years of experience in London and Sydney agencies—as client service lead across CX and digital—and comes on board the Apparent team, which now stands at more than 130 full-time employees. Previously, he was at 303 MullenLowe for over two years where he was the client services director.

Marketing transformation solutions agency GrowthOps appoints Shakira Pathmarajah as the talent acquisition head to manage recruitment across the agency’s Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, as well as the India offices.