Tag: Leadership

Singapore – To set its growth path, digital agency ADK Connect announces the appointment of Rie Otsuka who will simultaneously work as its chief executive officer for Singapore and emerging countries and chief growth officer for ADK Global.

In her new role, Otsuka will be responsible for unlocking the value of the markets in Australia, India, Singapore, and other emerging markets while maintaining the network’s continued success.

Her appointments are also a part of the agency’s commitment to address the post-pandemic communication landscape and prepare itself as a future-ready communications partner. 

Otsuka brings with her an experience in CRM, digital, and global marketing. Before joining ADK, she led the digital and CRM practices at McCann Worldgroup, particularly the global teams for Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi, and Panasonic. 

Yasuyuki Katagi, chief executive officer at ADK Global, said that they need a leader who will oversee the transformation and structure the change management processes to make it possible.

“With Rie Otsuka’s pedigree in agency leadership and her rich experiences in digital, her dual appointment makes perfect sense. Singapore remains a prime market for many clients as a regional hub,” he added.

Meanwhile, Otsuka added, “Teamwork is a crucial strength of the ADK network. It may not be a new buzzword, but it is an old adage that is challenging to upkeep. We must focus on fostering and empowering great talent to move forward in our highly competitive marketing industry.”

ADK Connect specialises in digital, creative and performance media. It partners with clients in solving marketing challenges by providing innovative solutions.

Singapore – Global digital agency DEPT has appointed Diphaa Nair as its director of strategic alliances for APAC. As part of her remit, Nair will be working closely with India-based Tekno Point/DEPT team to expand the agency’s Adobe Practice globally. 

Nair comes from a strong technology background and was more recently with Adobe where she spent more than six years as the head of partners for South Asia. Prior to this, she worked with CA Technologies as a channel director and spent four years with MphasiS, an HP company.

Based out of Melbourne, she will report jointly to Vishnu Mohan, partner and chief growth officer at DEPT APAC and Evan Davey, founding partner of Two Bulls/DEPT to drive the commercial development across its set of offerings both in Australia as well as other parts of APAC region.

Commenting on her appointment, Nair said, “I am happy to join DEPT with its pioneering spirit and boutique culture. Both Two Bulls/DEPT and Tekno Point/DEPT have exciting, cutting-edge offerings with great potential in the industry. I look forward to working with Vishnu, James, Evan and the Tekno Point/DEPT leadership team to manage their Strategic Alliance proposition in APAC.”

Mohan also commented, stating, “Diphaa is joining the team at exactly the right time as we’re growing the APAC region and its full-service offering.”

He also added that Nair’s over two decades of experience in digital technologies, customer experience, and business transformation will help the company provide the tools businesses need to deliver pioneering digital solutions.

The appointment follows DEPT’s recent acquisition of the 500-strong Adobe DX specialist firm Tekno Point.

India – Advertising company DDB Mudra has announced the appointment of Saad Khan as its president and managing partner for growth and strategy to lead the business whilst building on strategic capabilities for its operations in the West region.

Khan brings with him an experience in building strategies for brands. He previously worked as chief strategy officer at agency FCB Ulka, where he oversaw strategies in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

He has also worked with food and beverage brands such as Coca-Cola, ITC foods and Amul; consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser; automotive manufacturers Tata Motors, Honda and Volvo Cars; and industrial paint company Nerolac.

Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer at DDB Mudra Group, said that the company believes that its core to be great in creativity is built on strong thinking, and Khan will help in strengthening this belief.

This year, DDB Mudra has also appointed Menaka Menon as national strategy head and Nitin Pradhan as creative head for South.

Singapore – Global social media monitoring and competitive intelligence company Digimind has appointed Josh Drasta as its new general manager, APAC. 

In the new role, Drasta will be working on growing Digimind’s team and clients in the APAC region with best-in-class social media intelligence and monitoring solutions for the company’s APAC clientele.

In an interview with MARKETECH APAC, Drasta shared his excitement over the new role. “Be it an SDR role, closing the deals, managing accounts, caring for customers’ success, generating insights out of data, or proposing new marketing strategies – I have touched pretty much every side of the roles of our team. This makes me very excited to be hands-on across these areas, get a feel for the business, and find avenues to expand our activities,” he said.

Prior to joining Digimind, Drasta held the sales lead role at Google, where he helped increase its advertising business and product adoption growth by educating, and promoting solutions to its customers, amongst other responsibilities.

Talking about his experience at Google, he shared that the role gave him the chance to work alongside incredibly talented people and on challenging projects such as working with Google’s highest potential agencies and their C-suite, as well as with business owners of the EMEA region’s most promising businesses.

He added, “At the same time, I was very intrigued about the opportunity to help to grow Digimind and Onclusive in the APAC region at a very special time, given the integration and the future product roadmap. The size and operations of Google and Digimind & Onclusive cannot be compared, but fundamentally, the goal is the same – delight the customers, push the limits of what’s possible to deliver with our products, and grow the team. This is exactly what is close to my heart, and I am very excited to make this my [day-to-day] activity.”

Moreover, he said that the experience at Google gave him the opportunity to learn, adapt, A/B test, and execute a plethora of projects, which he will be bringing forth to his new team at Digimind.

Drasta was also previously a sales director for APAC at consumer insights platform Linkfluence. He also has a wide experience in business development and marketing from companies such as Isentia, Socialbakers, and Groupe PSA.

Last year, Digimind onboarded media monitoring company Onclusive with the goal of delivering a complete suite of market-leading global media monitoring, measurement, and management solutions to PR and communications teams.

Singapore – Adtech firm PubMatic has appointed Sandro Catanzaro, former head of publisher media strategy at Roku, as the company’s new vice president of product management, CTV, and video. He will be responsible for the product vision and roadmap for the company’s growing CTV and video businesses.

In his new role, Catanzaro will lead a team of seasoned product managers to further develop and execute product plans, ensuring that the company continues to drive innovation for an increasingly sophisticated and diverse CTV and video market.

During his stint at Roku, he led the company’s product team by providing automated solutions for publishers, including self-service header bidding. Previously, he was the founder and chief innovation officer at software company DataXu, which was acquired by Roku. Prior to his tenure at DataXu, Catanzaro was a consultant at Bain & Company.

Speaking of his new role, Catanzaro said, “PubMatic has a legacy of industry-first innovation and technology that puts us in prime position as leaders in CTV and video. I look forward to working with our incredible engineering and product teams, along with our global customers, to deliver solutions that are meaningful and rewarding for publishers, advertisers, and consumers.”

Meanwhile, Nishant Khatri, SVP of product management at PubMatic, commented, “We are thrilled to have an esteemed product innovator like Sandro join PubMatic. With his guidance, we will build on our leadership position in the high-growth video and CTV formats, and enhance the value we bring our global publisher and advertiser customers across the open internet.”

PubMatic recently announced the promotion of APAC marketing director Emily Yri to the role of vice president of international marketing.

Bangkok, Thailand – Nissan has announced the promotion of Isao Sekiguchi as president of Nissan in the ASEAN region. The appointment is targeted to transform Nissan’s business in the region in accordance with its long-term vision, Nissan Ambition 2030.

Currently, Sekiguchi holds the regional vice president of marketing and sales, for Nissan’s ASEAN region and president of Nissan Motor Thailand roles. In the new role, he will oversee Nissan’s operations in the ASEAN region while continuing his current role at Nissan Motor Thailand.

Sekiguchi will likewise oversee the Japanese automaker’s business performance and brand development in 22 markets, including the ten ASEAN member states, and manage all functions in ASEAN. This includes manufacturing, purchasing, supply chain management, research and development, marketing, sales, and other supporting functions. 

He will also be responsible for driving Nissan’s ASEAN growth strategy, which includes positioning Nissan as a leader in the era of electrified mobility.

Sekiguchi brings with him more than 20 years of diverse international experience in the automotive sector. He joined Nissan in 2014 as managing director for Nissan North Africa and Egypt and has served as president director of Nissan Motor Indonesia since 2018. 

Prior to Nissan, he worked with a major Japanese trading house, Sumitomo Corporation, with experience in leading and managing automotive companies based in the US, Germany, and Slovakia.

“We are confident that Sekiguchi-san will lead our ASEAN business to sustainable and profitable growth with his deep understanding of the ASEAN markets and his proven leadership. Nissan aims to continue providing value beyond mobility to customers and society in this region, as well as to lay a solid foundation for long-term growth,” said Junichi Endo, senior vice president of marketing and sales, Japan-ASEAN, at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Sekiguchi’s appointment will be effective on April 1, 2023.

Hong Kong – The Hong Kong-headquartered global news company South China Morning Post has announced the appointment of Sophia Yu as the new managing director of its magazine division, SCMP Hearst. 

Yu currently serves as senior vice president and publisher of SCMP Hearst, overseeing the brand development, business strategy and editorial direction of all of the division’s lifestyle media brands. She first joined SCMP in 2011 as director of advertising and marketing solutions and moved to SCMP Hearst in 2013 as general manager and publisher. 

Prior to SCMP, she previously held both in-house and agency positions at different companies, having acquired more than 15 years of APAC strategy, sales, marketing and advertising experience across Hong Kong, Greater China, and other Asia markets.

“Sophia is one of Hong Kong’s most experienced and knowledgeable leaders in women’s magazines and lifestyle brands today. I am confident that her strong strategic planning, management, and people leadership skills will take our magazine brands to new heights,” said Catherine So, chief executive officer of SCMP Group.

Yu succeeds Josephine Chan, who led SCMP Hearst for the past 35 years. Under Chan’s leadership, SCMP Hearst has grown to operate five renowned lifestyle media brands in Hong Kong, including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s BAZAAR, Esquire, and ELLE Men.

“Josephine is a well-respected leader in Hong Kong’s lifestyle media industry. We are grateful for her leadership and commitment to SCMP Hearst over the past 35 years. We appreciate the role she has played in driving our magazine business forward and wish her a well-deserved retirement,” said So.

Previously, SCMP has also appointed Kevin Huang, formerly the managing director for Hong Kong at Carousell, as its chief operating officer.

Singapore – foodpanda has appointed Anna Znamenskaya as its new chief marketing officer, where she will be leading the brand, performance marketing and growth teams for the company in 11 markets across Asia-Pacific. 

Znamenskaya was previously the chief growth officer at game developing company King/Activision Blizzard, and prior to that being the chief marketing officer at Rakuten Viber where she oversaw global marketing, product growth, business development, public relations, and analytics functions to create consumer-inspired innovations.

Prior to that, she was also the country manager for Apple Services in Russia , responsible for driving business growth and local operations of the App Store, iTunes, Apple Music and iCloud. She also served as the chief digital officer for Eurasia region of VEON, a global telco company, and in Mindshare, a global media agency. 

In the past, Anna has also founded and grown several successful tech businesses including an online video streaming service, and a technology platform based on Big Data for retail banks.

Znamenskaya’s appointment follows the recent partnership of foodpanda and Colgate-Palmolive to expand the latter’s q-commerce capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Malaysia – Global brand experience agency VMLY&R Malaysia has appointed Didi Pirinyuang as its new chief creative officer. She will be reporting to Kenni Loh, chief executive officer at VMLY&R Malaysia.

In her new role, Pirinyuang will lead the agency’s creative team in delivering best-in-class solutions for its clients, sharpening its creative culture, and driving its strategy to boost the agency’s creative service offerings.

Pirinyuang brings with her extensive experience spanning a wide range of consumer segments and is expected to further strengthen VMLY&R’s regional operation. She also has an impressive client portfolio such as Pizza Hut, PUMA, and PETRONAS.

Prior to joining VMLY&R, she was executive creative director for Ensemble Global Malaysia and previously for MBCS Malaysia, for which she was a founding member, having played a key role in the growth of the business since 2017. 

Commenting on her appointment, Pirinyuang said, “Over the last two years, I have been closely following VMLY&R, and have been wowed by some of the campaigns – especially work like ‘Mengukir Malaysia’ – a fantastic campaign they did for Telekom Malaysia.”

She added, “It’s an honour and a privilege to join an agency as well-established as VMLY&R. The agency has entered a new era of creativity and I’m excited to be a part of this journey and upward trajectory. The sky will pose no limit as we combine our common ambitions of bringing creative commerce and creative excellence to the next level.” 

Loh also commented, “We are delighted to welcome Didi into the VMLY&R family in Malaysia. Her creative prowess preceded her, and with her input, we look forward to scaling our creative offering further, using brand and customer experience to deliver the most engaging and culturally relevant creative commerce experiences for our clients.”

Previously, the agency has also appointed Saurabh Saksena as its CEO for its India office.

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.