Move and win roundup: Week of August 7, 2023

Tourplan, a software solutions for tour operators and Destination Management Companies (DMCs), has selected Trippant to lead its PR and engagement campaigns across LATAM, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Trippant will spearhead Tourplan’s ambition to skyrocket its global brand presence among Tour Operators and DMCs worldwide. By leveraging Trippant's network and expertise, Tourplan aims to reach new audiences and strengthen relationships with existing clients.

Grand Hyatt Singapore has appointed both GHC Asia and Accela Communications as part of its marketing strategy, to elevate the hotel’s luxury positioning. Both agencies will share the mandate to reposition the newly transformed Grand Hyatt Singapore. The hotel welcomed its first guest in 1971, when it was opened as the Singapore Hyatt Hotel, subsequently renamed as Hyatt Regency Singapore in 1979. In 1998, the hotel was rebranded to Grand Hyatt Singapore after an extensive upgrade.

Bastion Reputation has promoted Jeremy Arnold to the new role of associate principal consultant, as he join Reputation’s senior leadership group. Andrea Robertson has been elevated to the newly-created role of director of client operations and will oversee all aspects of client experience. Georgie Patterson has been promoted to group client director and new role will support Robertson, while also working as a senior strategist, and senior trainer within the firm’s Training and Capability practice area.

Jerker Fagerström, former managing partner of Tinkerbell’s Sydney office, has announced his exit in a LinkedIn post, eight months after he joined the agency. He mentioned in the post, “It was a new role to the agency and it simply did not work out”, and expressed his gratitude for getting “to know some awesome people, amazing clients and great partners”. Before joining Tinkerbell,  Fagerström was chief creative officer of Nordic at Publicis Groupe. Prior to that, he worked for McCann Worldgroup as executive creative director in Sydney.

Lemma has appointed Salil Shanker as the regional head (South Asia). This newly created role will further solidify and accelerate Lemma’s position as a preferred SSP within agencies. Shanker brings more than 18 years of digital marketing experience to this omnichannel supply side platform as a specialist in emerging marketing technologies, encompassing programmatic, data and analytics. Before Lemma, he was VP and later chief operating officer for Amnet of Dentsu Aegis Network in India. He also worked at Isolar as director of search. Prior to Dentsu, Shanker began his early career at Group M.

Social Panga has appointed Rohit Singh as creative director. Singh brings with him a cumulative experience of over 12 years. He will be based in Bangalore. Prior to Social Panga, he worked with Publicis and Ogilvy, wherein he looked into some key accounts, including Vodafone, Canon, Taco Bell, Philips and Dabur. His new role at Social Panga involves overlooking creative mandates involving ATL/BTL, digital production with an integrated approach. Social Panga is an integrated creative and digital marketing agency founded by Himanshu Arora and Gaurav Arora, with offices in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi.

The Murray Hong Kong, a Niccolo Hotel, has appointed Mavis Ko as director of communications. Ko brings over 15 years of experience in marketing and PR from the F&B to hospitality industries.  Before The Murray, she was director of marketing communications for Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in Hong Kong. Prior to Shangri-La, she worked for Cordis, Langham Hospitality Group. Ambrosia Cuisines Group and Maxim's Group in Hong Kong.

The 30% Club has appointed TBWA Malaysia to carry out creative and campaign efforts. The 30% Club Malaysian Chapter was launched in May 2015 as part of a global business-led campaign to promote diversity, equity and inclusion with a focus on gender balance on boards and C-suites. The organisation is now celebrating a big win for gender diversity In corporate Malaysia as women now hold 30.6% of board seats of the top 100 publicly listed companies. Further, close to 25% of seats of all publicly listed on Bursa Malaysia. The achievement is seen as the first step for meaningful gender diversity on Malaysia’s boards. It was achieved by 1 June 2023, six months ahead of the 30% Club’s target date of 31 December 2023.

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has elevated Derek Yip from chief investment officer (CIO) to chief operating officer (COO) of OMG Hong Kong, effective immediately. Yip will be in charge of OMD and PHD in Hong Kong and OMG's specialist business units across search, content, programmatic and analytics. In the new role, he will report to Tony Harradine, chief executive officer of OMG, Asia Pacific. Yip will oversee the network’s business operations, manage talent, and lead strategic initiatives to build upon the growth momentum of OMD and PHD in Hong Kong. Read more details here. 

Marriott International has elevated John Toomey to chief sales and marketing officer, Asia Pacific (excluding China or APEC). A 27-year veteran with the group, Toomey has been promoted from the role of vice president for sales and marketing. Based in Singapore, the marketer will report to the APEC president Rajeev Menon. His remit includes overseeing consumer strategy for the brand in the region, including brand management, marketing, sales, distribution, revenue management, loyalty, customer experience, digital and communications. In another significant move, Bart Buiring, chief sales and marketing officer for Asia-Pacific and also Campaign’s Power List member in 2022 is now moving to a new management role within the group. Buiring is the MD for the hotel’s fast-growing Luxury sector for the Greater China region.

Other appointments at Marriott International include:

• Christina Chan as chief financial officer, Asia Pacific (excluding China)
• Andrew Newmark as chief human resources officer, Asia Pacific (excluding China)
• Oriol Montal as managing director, Luxury, Asia Pacific (excluding China)
• Karen Kim as vice president, Global Design, Asia Pacific (excluding China) 

Murmur, multi-channel media agency, has been re-appointed to lead the media strategy, planning and buying account for Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City Football Club, effective immediately. Murmur has been media agency of record for the Wanderers since 2019 and will lead the account for a further three years; its contract with Melbourne City FC has been extended for two more years, and the partnership began in 2018. 

Dentsu Creative has appointed Aneesh Jaisinghani as senior group executive creative director. Jaisinghani moves from Cheil, where he was senior ECD. He will report to Joy Mohanty, chief creative officer - North, Dentsu Creative India. Campaign India has more on this story.

Edelman has appointed Nelson Ren and Delicia Tan to co-CEOs of Greater China, Pully Chau left the agency earlier this year. Ren has been leading the mainland China team after Chau’s exit. As CEO of Edelman China and co-CEO of Greater China, he will oversee the firm's operations in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Tan retains her existing title and responsibilities across Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Greater Bay Area. Ren joined Edelman China in 2021 as Shanghai MD and head of corporate. Tan has been with the agency for 17 years. Edelman promoted Tan to CEO of its Hong Kong outpost and the Greater Bay Area in 2022.

Innocean will establish a joint venture, STUDIO abit, specialising in content and creative production, in partnership with Imaginus, a content production company. STUDIO abit will be led by producer Hwang Ji-young as CEO, who recently left MBC. Hwang Hwang led MBC's flagship entertainment show, "I Live Alone", from 2017 to 2021. The TV series division will be led by director Kim Hee-won, who directed "Little Women" and "Vincenzo." 

P&O Cruises Australia, a cruise line company, has appointed Bread Agency as its social media partner following a competitive pitch. Bread Agency will work closely with the P&O team across their social efforts, including social strategy, content creation, community engagement and influencer marketing. Bread will join the agency village working on the launch of P&O’s new brand platform.

Organic Pacific, Havas Group’s specialist entertainment communications and PR agency, has strengthened its line-up with four new hires.

• Nathan Dann, as head of entertainment heads up and runs the newly won Netflix account in the region, joining Organic Universal Pictures International.
• Emily Macgroarty and Lauren Patterson join the agency as account managers.
• Alexander Hon joins as new account coordinator as a recent PR graduate.

Think HQ, a Melbourne-founded social change agency, has opened its Sydney office with a team of four.

• Blake Mason, group account director, joins Think HQ from Herd MSL, bringing more than 12 year’s marketing and communications expertise
• Tom Hines, account director, joins from Bite Communications with creative skills across content, editorial and digital publishing.
• Nickie Flambouras, account director, joins from Multicultural NSW with diverse background in for-purpose work. And she is also an impact producer for Think Films.
• Evie McCullough, account manager, has spent four years working in communications and event management roles in the NFP sector.

Bondee has appointed Fei Yu as CEO based out of its Singapore headquarters. Having held several key senior roles in leading tech firms over the past two decades, including Meta, Google and Microsoft, Yu brings a wealth of expertise to Bondee with an extensive background in the technology industry. She is also a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, with a focus on growing female leadership in business and society. Bondee was launched in October 2022 as a next-generation social platform. Yu will oversee the platform's key operations and business development.

Michael (Mike) Forster, the managing director of M&C Saatchi Shopex has quit the role after roughly a year of being in the position. For now, he has updated his LinkedIn with a marketing communications consultant role at The Eighth Day. Prior to coming on board at Shopex, Forster was the CEO of Geometry Global Korea. He's helmed various regional and global roles at WPP agencies for over 19 years, out of which 12 were in APAC markets specialising in brand building, client relationships, with a focus on brand activation and shopper marketing.

Wunderman Thompson Australia has appointed Edge ECD Stu Turner as national executive creative director as chief creative officer João Braga, quits for other opportunities after nearly three years in the role. Braga was previously CCO at Wunderman Thompson Thailand and led the strong creative department until relocating to Australia.