Tag: Appointments

Singapore – Full-service global communications agency Redhill has appointed Diana Pong as its new managing director for Redhill Australia. She will be based in Australia and will work closely with Redhill’s leadership team.

In her new role, Pong will focus on driving local market expertise and cross-market collaboration to devise broader capabilities for the agency’s clients in Australia and across the Asia Pacific region.

Pong is a veteran leader with over two decades of experience in communications and stakeholder management across APAC. She will be bringing her experience in leading and developing multi-channel communications strategies and managing campaigns across the B2B and B2C technology, consumer, healthcare, F&B, and property sectors in the new role.

She has also built and led teams at agencies such as Thrive PR in Australia, BCW (formerly Cohn & Wolfe), WE, Edelman, and Text100 in Hong Kong to name a few. Prior to joining Redhill, Pong also served as APAC communications lead at Thrive PR, where she was responsible for expanding Thrive’s footprint in Asia. 

Speaking about her new role, Pong said, “I am delighted to join Redhill at a time when the company is rapidly growing in Australia and internationally.”

She added that she will be assisting Redhill’s local clients with strategic integrated communication solutions and will be developing innovative offerings to grow their businesses and enter new markets.

Jacob Puthenparambil, founder and CEO of Redhill, also commented, “I am very pleased that Diana has joined us to lead our Australia operation. Diana’s extensive communications experience and business development expertise will help Redhill strengthen our channel partnerships, develop strategic alliances, and accelerate business growth in this market.”

He added, “We believe her strong leadership and business acumen will be invaluable as we continue our ambitious plan to grow and expand our portfolio of solutions for our clients.”

Pong’s appointment will be effective immediately.

This follows Manisha Seewal’s appointment at Redhill as its senior international advisor. 

Singapore – Yahoo Advertising, Yahoo’s adtech division, has unveiled its new team that will lead its Australia and Southeast Asia operations. The announcement comes with a remit to support the business’ refreshed focus as a media solutions partner for premium clients.

The new appointments include John McNerney stepping into the new role of managing director for Australia and Southeast Asia. In his new role, he will oversee the newly formed integrated teams across all of Yahoo Advertising’s disciplines. 

Yahoo Advertising will focus on helping partners deliver future-forward, full-funnel digital media solutions. These solutions will be delivered through Yahoo’s industry-leading DSP, allowing advertisers to effectively target audiences across a diverse set of channels including Advanced TV, mobile, display, video and digital out-of-home. 

McNerney explains, “For the past few years our Yahoo team in the region has been taking an increasingly educational and consultative role with partners to help them navigate the increasingly complex digital marketing ecosystem. This move is a natural evolution of that work, and allows our team to focus on helping our partners do more with their marketing budgets.”

Supporting this focus is an experienced management team across APAC:

  • Matt Farrington, APAC head of partnerships & investment, will continue to drive global and local partnership strategy across the region, working closely with commercial and platform delivery teams.
  • Julia Edwards is promoted to commercial director AUSEA, overseeing the commercial development team, focused on profitable revenue growth for new Yahoo Advertising and growing partnerships with key clients and agencies.
  • Andrew Gilbert is promoted to director of platforms AUSEA, driving DSP strategy across the region to help clients better leverage Yahoo’s market-leading omnichannel technology solutions.
  • Kenneth Koh as the head of DSP for SEA will lead the SEA enterprise solutions team in Singapore and help clients grow their business through Yahoo’s buying solutions.
  • Dan Richardson will continue as head of data, APAC, and will also take on oversight of the insights and measurement teams, with an emphasis on supporting the sales team and clients with pre-sales support for targeting, insights, and measurement;
  • Zoe Cocker will continue to inspire partners with solutions with innovation at their core, adding premium sales to her current role leading Yahoo Creative Studios. Here she will help clients harness new technology including Web3 and immersive creative solutions, and harness the power of omnichannel marketing to drive greater results.

Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, chief revenue officer at Yahoo, commented on the new appointments, “We’re thrilled to unveil the new Yahoo Advertising with John McNerney at the helm of the new team and sharpened focus across the region. In his new role as MD of Australia and Southeast Asia John’s leadership qualities, deep product knowledge and extensive connection to the industry mean he has all the attributes to take Yahoo Advertising forward under our new strategy.”

McNerney added, “I’m extremely proud and excited to work alongside such a talented group of experts. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many of them for several years, and cannot wait to see how they unleash the potential of their teams to drive even more impact for our advertising partners.”

Under the new structure, Yahoo will continue to operate its market-leading DSP, allowing partners to seamlessly create true omnichannel campaigns across channels including digital out-of-home, connected TV, native, display, and Yahoo’s powerhouse owned and operated channels including Yahoo Search, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Sport, Yahoo Lifestyle and Yahoo Finance.

This follows Yahoo’s key appointments for its APAC team last year to bolster its adtech business in the region.

Sydney, Australia – Marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson has announced the promotion of Gavin Bain, previously national managing director of the agency’s Australian operations, to chief executive officer. The change comes as outgoing Australia CEO, Matt Parry, moves to Hong Kong as WPP team Helix Business Lead for HSBC in Asia-Pacific.

In the new role, Bain will spearhead the continued evolution of the agency’s Australian business through creativity, consulting, and technology capabilities to drive broader organisational impact for clients. 

Bain will also bring with him over 30 years of experience in the marketing and advertising industry to the role, having worked in senior client roles at Bankwest and Adelaide Bank, as well as executive agency roles at Marketforce and independent agency Meerkats, where he was CEO for over 10 years. 

Speaking about his new appointment, Bain commented, “I’m thrilled to be taking on this new role and lead such a talented team as we continue to drive further growth and greater impact for our clients.”

He added, “The strong brand and communications approach we’re known for has been strengthened with key capabilities, including business transformation, EX, CX, strategic design, technology, data, and commerce, all connected to help grow the ambitious brands we partner with.”

He likewise wished for Parry’s success in moving into the new role. 

Meanwhile, Parry will lead WPP’s team Helix for HSBC APAC, one of the group’s key global clients, and will relocate to be based in Hong Kong. Before his move to Sydney, Parry was managing director of Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong, growing the agency to be one of the strongest in the market. 

“Wunderman Thompson will continue to grow from strength to strength under Gavin’s brilliant leadership and the team of outstanding individuals that make up the business in Australia. I’m proud of what this group has already achieved, and what is sure to come for them,” said Parry on the new appointments. 

Bain and Parry’s new roles will be effective immediately.

This follows Wunderman Thompson’s leadership appointment spree, including Shailesh Iyer’s appointment to the agency as chief strategy officer for Singapore.

Manila, Philippines – B2B ordering and store solution platform Growsari Enterprise has announced the launch of its two new business units, SariMart and SariPay, along with new leadership appointments to independently run these business units. 

Maimai Madrid-Punzalan, currently Growsari’s chief growth and marketing officer, will take the position of general manager for SariMart, which is the B2B e-commerce business arm of the platform. 

SariMart will have the mandate to be the country’s largest B2B e-commerce wholesaler for neighbourhood MSMEs and will operate independently from Growsari’s platform, including partnering with other offline and online players.

Speaking on her new appointment, Punzalan shared, “I am thrilled for this opportunity to continue serving the needs of sari-sari stores and other small retailers beyond Growsari’s current network to provide them convenient access to a broader range of products at affordable wholesale prices so they can maximize their earning potential.”

Meanwhile, Sandeep Bhalla will be taking on the role of general manager of SariPay, which is the independently run financial services company that aims to support the MSME network with working capital loans, cash management, remittances and similar products.

“Small stores have been left out of basic financial services by mainstream banks and companies. At SariPay, we want to continue building a financial ecosystem which is inclusive and easy to understand for the millions of MSMEs in the country,” said Bhalla on his new appointment.

Both Punzalan and Bhalla bring more than 20 years of commercial leadership from different large multinational companies, with Punzalan formerly working as a regional senior director of P&G and J&J Asia, and Bhalla being a former senior adviser at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and former managing director of Citibank Asia.

Growsari’s co-founder ER Rollan also shared his excitement over the new business units and appointments. “With MaiMai and Sandeep’s deep expertise coupled with the license to operate independently, we will be able to unlock faster growth via external partnerships. The platform in the meantime will continue to bring as many products and services to the small stores as possible,” he said. 

Last year, Growsari has also secured US$77.5m as part of its Series C funding, which accelerated GrowSari’s expansion in the country.

Sydney, Australia – To strengthen its strategy offering, Australia-based brand strategy and design agency Houston has announced the appointment of Daye Moffitt as its executive strategy director for Sydney and the promotion of Cara Meade as executive strategy director for Melbourne.

On the new appointments, Founder and CEO Stu O’Brien explained, “Our investment in top-tier strategic talent will pioneer a new era in the business’ go-to-market strategic execution as we continue to play a key role as a trusted strategic brand advisor for iconic brands such as Lendlease, Ampol and Macquarie Bank.”

Moffitt brings with her two decades of local and global experience in brand strategy. Prior to joining Houston, she was executive strategy director for Landor and Fitch Australia and has worked at Designworks Ltd., Principals, and Moon Communications Group.

Speaking about her new role, Moffitt said, “I can’t wait to get going at Houston, to help shape the offering that some of Australia’s largest and most progressive clients are asking for, and that Houston has the unique ability to deliver. These are exciting times and I have no doubt as a team we can deliver some truly extraordinary work together.”

O’Brien also shared his thoughts on Moffitt’s appointment, referring to her as “arguably one of Australia’s foremost strategic leaders.”

“Her role is critical to integrate our national offering across brand, design and creative, delivering growth and strategy for clients at the speed and efficiency demanded by today’s market,” he added.

Meanwhile, Meade has experience leading Toyota Australia and Toyota Asia Pacific’s brand transformation projects over the last 6 years. She likewise led projects for leading universities such as UTS, CSU, and UniSQ, as well as iconic brands including Qantas, Lendlease, NRMA, Origin Energy, Ampol and a range of not-for-profit organisations.

“After 8.5 years at Houston, it’s exciting to be stepping into this leadership role, working alongside Daye. Creating work that has the power to drive positive change is my passion and I’m looking forward to building our business and supporting our talented team in Melbourne and Sydney. I look forward to what 2023 has ahead,” she said. 

O’Brien also expressed his excitement over Meade’s promotion.

“Promoting Cara to a leadership role after many years with us is a natural next step to take our national strategic capability to the next level. Cara brings a level of care and respect to each project she works on – always looking to understand parts of complex systems, and then shaping simple, impactful strategies that deliver tangible results,” he said.

Both will be reporting directly to O’Brien and will immediately commence their new roles.

Manila, Philippines – Advertising, marketing, and public relations agency Ogilvy in the Philippines has appointed Chino Jayme as its new executive creative director and Eileen Borromeo as its strategy director. 

In his new role, Jayme will push the creative agenda for all of Ogilvy’s disciplines and will look after the creative output of the agency’s largest client businesses.

Prior to joining Ogilvy, Jayme was TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno’s creative director and cluster head. His campaigns also gained recognition from Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, New York Festivals, CLIO Awards, Webbys, Spikes, Adfest, Ad Stars, Kidlat, Adobo Design Awards, and Tambuli.

Meanwhile, Borromeo rejoins Ogilvy to help lead the Ogilvy Strategy team in pushing modern non-linear strategic solutions anchored on business, brand, and culture for creative and effective campaigns.

Before her new appointment, Borromeo held the head of strategy and governance role at Kroma Entertainment. She is also co-founder and CMO of app-based pet health and wellness service Life by Petto and had a two-year run as head of marketing for South East Asia and Pakistan for Payoneer.

Ogilvy PH’s CEO Elly Puyat shared her excitement over the new appointments, stating, “We are excited to welcome Chino, a well-respected and multi-awarded creative leader, and to welcome Eileen who we have always admired for her experience and capability back to Ogilvy.”

She also added, “The most successful campaigns that were both creative and effective in achieving clients’ business objectives are always founded on sound thinking that can result in game-changing creative executions.” 

Recently, Ogilvy has also named former chief client officer for Merkle and dentsu CXM APAC Krishnan Menon as its president of experience for Ogilvy Asia.

Queensland, Australia – Strategic brand and commercial agency Bastion Experience has announced its entrance into the Queensland market. The expansion comes with the appointment of Rohan Sawyer, who will be leading the new team as managing director for Queensland. 

In the new role, Sawyer will lead the Bastion Experience team in Queensland while providing clients with access to the full suite of integrated communications services under Bastion’s ‘Think Wide’ model. This will bring together ‘best-in-class’ offerings and experts across research and insights through brand and creative, and advertising, amongst others.

Prior to joining Bastion, Sawyer was Queensland Rugby League’s CEO and chief operating officer for five years. He is also an experienced sports, entertainment, and finance industry executive.

On his appointment, Sawyer said, “I am thrilled to join a market leader and innovator in the industry, with a proven track record of delivering on brands and rights holders’ needs to drive commercial growth. I look forward to contributing my expertise and working with the talented team to deliver significant benefits to brands and their customers.”

Jack Watts, Bastion’s CEO, also expressed his excitement towards the new initiatives.

“Firstly, we love Queensland. It has been a long held ambition to build our fully integrated, independent agency model in Queensland. We started last year with the acquisition of Queensland PR and Social Agency Promedia, now Bastion Amplify, and continue our investment in the state with Rohan and the launch of Bastion Experience,” he said.

He also said that Sawyer is an ‘ideal candidate’ to lead Bastion Experience’s drive into a market set for significant long-term growth.

“We believe our long held reputation and work in Sport and Lifestyle will be critical to our growth in the State, and I don’t believe there is any better executive in Sport than Rohan Sawyer. We’re thrilled to have him on board to lead our commercial, sponsorship and experiential services in Queensland,” Watts added. 

The expansion follows the launch of Bastion Amplify’s entrance into the Queensland market with the acquisition of Gold Coast-based, full-service PR firm Promedia in November 2022.

Singapore – Global communications firm WE Communications has appointed Troy Lee as its senior director and head of sectors and Ayden Ong as its director and head of digital, experience, and Technology (DXT), and strategy.

The appointments are targeted at enhancing the firm’s Singapore leadership team, delivering value to clients, and steering the next phase of growth for the agency while strengthening its strategic integrated communications offerings.

In the new role, Lee brings with him over two decades of experience in strategic communications, reputation management, C-suite positioning, and crisis management. He is also a seasoned practitioner with experience in crisis and issues management at Temasek.

He will also play a lead role on the Singapore Tourism Board account and will provide senior counsel for WE Communications’ clients such as Capgemini, Johnson & Johnson, Honeywell, and Adobe.

Meanwhile, Ong was elevated from being the firm’s Associate Director of DXT. He has been with WE Communications for over two years and has played a key role in developing and growing its DXT team.

Ong will also lead the Singapore team’s integrated marketing, digital, and data capabilities for the agency’s clients, including its predictive data intelligence, content, creative, social, digital marketing and production teams. 

“His ability to blend communications, digital platforms, data, creative and strategy together, has made him an invaluable partner to clients and brands that are transforming the way they communicate,” said Daryl Ho, managing director at WE Singapore.

Ho also added that Lee and Ong have extensive experience and diverse knowledge and believes that the two will be great leaders to the teams and incredibly valuable partners to their clients.

“Our industry has been in an extended transformative season, pre, during and post-COVID. The ability to make communications and marketing valuable again is truly a mix of art and science. It is no longer just about great storytelling, but how you blend the science in data and utilize technology to be extremely agile and efficient in building a brand,” he added.

Recently, WE Communications has also announced two new regional executive promotions for its APAC and EMEA businesses.

Singapore – Global digital payments company Visa has made two senior leadership changes for its Asia-Pacific operations, with Chris Clark being promoted from regional president to chairman of APAC and Stephen Karpin being appointed as his successor as regional president of APAC. 

As its new chairman, Clark will support Visa’s regional and global initiatives, including strategic engagements with government and industry stakeholders, driving Visa’s market expansion strategy, and resuming his role as a non-executive director of the Visa Europe Board.

Clark also shared his excitement over taking on the new role.

“Over the last ten years as Regional President for Visa Asia Pacific, I have been committed to expanding the reach of electronic payments and growing our business by forging strong client and partner relationships, driving digital innovation in the regional payments ecosystem and building new partnerships with established and start-up fintechs, all supported by an amazing team of great payments professionals,” he said.

Meanwhile, Karpin will be responsible for Visa’s full business operations, client management, and go-to-market plans for the region and will be based in Visa’s Regional Headquarters in Singapore.

Karpin will also be bringing with him his extensive experience in the payments industry and knowledge of Asia Pacific markets.

“In addition to his expansive business aptitude, Chris is known for his deep commitment to our clients and teams across our markets. I look forward to following the path he has set, continuing to work closely with our clients and partners, expanding our relationships and ensuring that Visa Asia Pacific remains among the best places to work and achieve,” said Karpin.

Both appointments will be effective on April 1 this year.

Last September, Visa also appointed Jeff Navarro as its country manager for the Philippines and Guam.

Sydney, Australia – Creative agency M&C Saatchi has announced the appointment of its Australia Group CEO Justin Graham as its first global head of advertising network. The announcement is part of its Moving Forward transformation program to be presented at the Capital Markets Day today, 8 February.

In the newly created role, Graham will be responsible for defining and leading a unified global advertising proposition for M&C Saatchi and building its core capabilities within key regional hubs as well as helping drive the global client base.

He will also be working closely with Moray MacLennan, CEO of M&C Saatchi PLC and Chief Growth Officer of M&C Saatchi Group Wendy Dixon.

Speaking about his new role, Graham said, “Leading a world-famous creative brand into its next exciting chapter of growth is an incredible opportunity. It’s never been a more interesting time to look at the role that technology, storytelling, and creativity can play in driving meaningful change for brands and society.”

MacLennan also commented that Graham’s focus will be on delivering the agency’s ambition of creating a ‘frictionless’ global advertising network.

“Agile. Seamless. Borderless. Justin has been at the forefront of creating not only Australia’s leading creative agency, but one of the leading agencies in the world. His focus will now be on delivering on our ambition,” he said.

Last November, M&C Saatchi also appointed Michael McEwan as its CEO for AUNZ market.