Move and win roundup: Week of September 11, 2017

PEOPLE MOVES

Customer experience agency MercerBell announced the opening of a Melbourne office. Founding partner and CEO Nick Mercer will move to the city to oversee the setup and transition. The MercerBell Melbourne staff will report into the national MercerBell management team of Julie Dormand, David Bell, Paul Henderson and Annette Barwell. 

BBDO Indonesia appointed Vaishali Sarkar as CEO. She joins from Ogilvy, where she has worked in OgilvyOne, Soho Square and most recently Ogilvy Advertising. Intan Mokhnar has left the agency after 15 years.

Weber Shandwick appointed Tim Sutton, currently chairman of the agency's EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions, as CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa, starting in January.

Michael McComb, formerly Asia Pacific director of brand at Prudential Corporation Asia, joined SAP Greater China as vice president of brand communication, based in Hong Kong. Earlier in his career, McComb served as strategy lead for WPP's Bank of America Merrill Lynch team and was the international managing director of TBWA's Disruption Consultancy.

Rice Communications opened an office in Hong Kong, to be led by recently appointed account director Phoebe Sou. Joel Lah, senior account manager, has relocated to Hong Kong after four years with Rice in Singapore.

Girish Balachandran, previously managing partner at Avian Media, has launched a new communications consultancy, On Purpose, which will focus on social change in India. Balachandran has also held senior roles with WE and Ketchum in London. The new company is based in New Delhi with a presence in Bengaluru.

J Walter Thompson is launching JWT Innovation, the network’s global trend and insight offering, in Asia and has appointed journalist Chen May Yee to lead it as Asia Pacific director. The unit produces thought leadership, consumer insight and sector innovation content, and offers consultancy services. Part of the JWT Intelligence market research group, JWT Innovation already has hubs in New York, the Middle East and London. Chen has two decades of reporting and editing experience covering business, health and consumer issues with Agence France-Presse, the Wall Street Journal, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Singapore Straits Times, among others. She will report to JWT Asia Pacific CEO John Gutteridge, as well as Lucie Greene, worldwide director of the JWT Innovation Group.

Y&R promoted Annie Boo to chief executive officer for its China operations, covering its offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou (Read more)

Weber Shandwick opened an office in Shenzhen and appointed Leo Tang to lead it. He has held roles at brands including Huawei, TCL and Nubia. He will report to Rocky Wang, Head of Southern China, Weber Shandwick.

R/GA Shanghai appointed Sook Ping Chow as managing director and Terence Leong as executive creative director. (Read more)

Adrian Sng joined MullenLowe Malaysia as managing director. He was previously CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia, and has also worked at Ogilvy, Leo Burnett and BBDO in his more than 20-year career. Sng replaced Mazuin Zin, who stepped down to pursue other opportunities in the industry. 

BUSINESS WINS

Airbnb named Wieden+Kennedy as global agency of record to lead its roster of agencies following a pitch against DDB. The agency replaces TBWA\Chiat|Day LA, which was not invited to the pitch. (Read more)

McDonald's Philippines is consolidating its media business with OMD Philippines, in alignment with its global partnership with the agency, effective January 1, 2018.  OMD has already been working with McDonald’s on family marketing and breakfast campaigns. 

Following a review, Goodyear appointed Performics’ Singapore office as its SEO agency in 11 APAC markets: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Pakistan-based Engro, which is involved in the food, fertilizer, energy and chemicals markets, has appointed Bond Advertising as its new agency following a pitch. (Read more)

Vision Personal Training appointed WPP AUNZ digital agency Webling as its digital agency of record. The agency will deliver UX and communications improvements to the brand's website and develop new recruitment websites to help grow Vision’s team of personal trainers and franchisees. The fitness company plans to nearly double the number of studios to 100 by 2020.

Far East Hospitality appointed Lewis to handle end-to-end social media and influencer engagement for two of the company's brands, Rendezvous and Oasia. Extending a partnership that started in 2016, Lewis will develop a social-media strategy for each brandand provide a range of social-media and digital-marketing services, including day-to-day community management, paid advertising and analytics.

OTHERS DEALS AND NEWS

Accenture launched its Accenture Digital Hub in Singapore. Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, the facility aims to enable invention and co-creation of "disruptive solutions" alongside clients. Features include a "rumble room for ideating and collaborating", a "maker room" and another room for an "immersive, connected analytics experience".

ESPN Australia obtained Australia and New Zealand live-broadcast rights for the Laver Cup for the next three years. The event is a men’s tennis competition between a 'superstar' team from Europe and a team comprised of the best players from the rest of the world. The inaugural event takes place September 22 through 24 in Prague.

Turner Australia and Marquee Studios have partnered to host original content on YouTube and other online platforms under the umbrella brand Mega Awesome Wow. They will launch a digital studio and create content for initially six YouTube channels targeting families with preschoolers and kids.

BBC Worldwide Asia announced that BBC World News, BBC Earth and CBeebies will be available in Laos via Laosat DTH.