Tag: Leadership

Singapore – Carolyn Soh, previously from the Singapore Health Promotion Board, has moved to out-of-home (OOH) advertising company JCDecaux as its new marketing director. According to her LinkedIn, the appointment took effect in December this year.

She served for over seven years at the Singapore Health Promotion Board, where she was recently the senior marketing manager for preventive health topics. During this stint, she was responsible for marketing effectiveness and business operations in media and risk management. 

She also specialised in integrated marketing for B2C health campaigns and communication management, and brings with her experience in managing partnerships with HCPs and healthcare networks.

At the Health Promotion Board, she also helmed the marketing of division infant nutrition and food nutrition. Aside from the recent one, she’s held roles at Singtel and L’Oreal.

JCDecaux has been ramping up its services in the APAC region, recently partnering with foodpanda HK to be featured in JCDecaux’s OOH screens at the HKIA.

Australia – To support its continuous national growth, corporate affairs agency Bastion Reputation has appointed Andrea Robertson as its new group client director.

In her new role, Robertson will be delivering work and support for Bastion Reputation’s client roster across government, education, technology, financial services, mining, energy, resources, and sports sectors.

Robertson is an experienced multimedia and communications agency client service director and has over 20 years of experience with global and Australian multimedia companies and advertising agencies. 

She also specialises in client relationship engagement, client service strategy and workflow, customer experience, contractual agreements, and product strategy and development, amongst others.

Prior to joining Bastion Reputation, Robertson was the group account director at global advertising agency Now Screen. In the role, she managed client experience and process, as well as brand and advertising strategy and creative and production for all advertising channels.

“An exemplary client experience has always been central to how we work, and Andrea’s appointment is a key step as we continue our rapid growth to ensure we are delivering the high quality, high impact and values-based services the business is known for and our clients demand,” said Bastion Reputation Managing Director Clare Gleghorn.

She added, “Through Andrea’s experience in media organisations, as well as advertising agencies, she has led large client service and project management teams, as well as managing blue chip private sector clients, and government accounts.”

Bastion Reputation has been making appointments this year to amplify growth, including the appointment of Elliot Giakalis as principal consultant for media and public affairs and Jim Carden as principal consultant for campaigns and digital reputation.

Singapore – Real-time data platform Aerospike has named Sharon Koay as its new marketing director for the Asia Pacific region and Japan. 

According to her LinkedIn profile, Koay will be handling Aerospike’s marketing process and campaigns from research and planning to execution and analysis. She will also be managing the marketing budget and goals for APAC and Japan.

Moreover, she is expected to bring her skills in market planning, enterprise solutions, sales, channel management and go-to-market strategies to her new role. 

Koay has sales and marketing experience of about 20 years and has held managerial roles at technology company Dell and software development company One Identity.

Prior to joining Aerospike, she also worked as a marketing consultant for Silver Linings Consultancy. Her clients included Aerospike, Proofpoint, EnterprizID, DT Asia, and Hoonartek.

Aerospike is a data platform that enables organizations to act instantly across billions of transactions while reducing server footprint.

Singapore – Integral Ad Science (IAS) has appointed Khurrum Malik, the former head of global business marketing at Spotify, as its new chief marketing officer. In his new role, Malik will accelerate the market growth initiatives for IAS and lead its global marketing strategy.

During his previous stint at Spotify, he led the business marketing, creative, product marketing, measurement, and analytics teams within Spotify’s advertising business. He was also previously the CMO of Compass, a real estate technology platform, and was head of product marketing at Meta.

Speaking on his new role, he said, “IAS has set the global benchmark for trust and transparency in digital media quality. I look forward to working with the entire IAS team to ensure global marketers, publishers, and media platforms understand how best to leverage our technology and insights to activate brand-safe and ROI-driven campaigns.”

Meanwhile, Yannis Dosios, chief commercial officer at IAS, commented, “Khurrum’s impressive background and passion for technology and marketing will be instrumental to driving our go-to-market strategies and increasing awareness of our value proposition. We are excited for him to lead the marketing effort for IAS.”

Malik’s appointment comes a month after Integral Ad Science was tapped by streaming giant Netflix–alongside DoubleVerify–to verify the viewability and traffic validity of their ads starting in Q1 2023.

Sydney, Australia – Wunderman Thompson in Australia has promoted Melissa Radman to the role of national design director. In her long-time career, she has been promoting design and creativity especially for up-and-coming talent in the industry, as a guest lecturer and industry advisor, portfolio judge and mentor.

Since returning from maternity leave, she has donated her time to the Perth Advertising and Design Club committee, bringing events to the industry for mental health and indigenous creativity.

Radman and her team have delivered consistently with their wholistic approach to strategic brand design including recently for West Australian Ballet, Steel Blue Boots, HSBC and state government utilities and initiatives. 

They are also driven by purposeful ambition and take pride in all the agency’s brand design projects being an integrated extension of a client’s brand strategy and creative output. 

Speaking on her appointment, she said, “I’m honoured to be appointed as National Design Director, and excited to welcome Nikki to the team for her internship, and hopefully beyond. The opportunity to work across the national Wunderman Thompson client base and stretch the boundaries of our strategic design thinking is amazing for the team, and for me personally”.

Meanwhile, Wunderman Thompson CEO Matt Parry commented, “Mel and her team bring a huge level of experience and creativity to our design offer nationally. It was a natural decision to place her in this important national role. We’re also excited about adding Nikki to the team and looking forward to giving her career a great kick-start at WT”.

In addition, the design team will be bolstered by the addition of Nikki Singh, one of four recipients of the Helen Lansdowne Resor (HLR) Scholarship. The scholarship is an international opportunity that aims to amplify historically marginalised voices in the creative industry. It provides females and non-binary university students the opportunities and support they need to successfully join the advertising industry’s creative ranks.

Sydney, Australia – As part of its new national structure development, creative agency M&C Saatchi has announced the promotion of Michael McEwan as CEO for the AUNZ region. He will be reporting to Justin Graham, CEO of M&C Saatchi Group AUNZ.

Prior to his new role, McEwan was managing director of the AUNZ team. Previous experience also saw him holding a managing director role at Ogilvy Australia for more than a year.

McEwan will be bringing his 25 years of experience working with some of the world’s most progressive brands locally and internationally. His appointment will help enable greater client accessibility to the agency’s diverse talent pool.

Speaking on his elevation, McEwan said, “I’m excited about the opportunity to further help lead M&C Saatchi’s growth, bringing our diverse and specialised thinkers together to create more brilliant work and exceptional outcomes for our clients.”

He added, “Equally, our industry in partnership with our incredible clients provides a unique responsibility and platform to have a voice to drive positivity and progress. It’s what I believe those in our team care about and where they want to focus their talent and energy. Opportunities to make a difference and apply our creativity are all around us, it’s certainly an exciting time.”

Graham also commented, “Michael has gone from strength to strength within the M&C Saatchi Group. Now elevated to the CEO role, he will run at multiple new business opportunities with our borderless creative offering.”

The national restructure began earlier this year with the promotion of Emma Robbins to national executive creative director.

M&C Saatchi has also been making leadership appointments in other countries, including Nisha Devina Roy’s appointment as managing director for Kuala Lumpur and the new leadership team in Singapore.

Singapore – Omnichannel communications platform MessageBird has recently appointed Rohan Chandhok as its new head of marketing.

Chandhok will be bringing his years of experience in the fields of B2B marketing, data-driven digital marketing, and media relations, amongst others, to his new role.

Before joining MessageBird, Chandhok was previously director of marketing at the multinational computer technology corporation Oracle, serving the JAPAC region. He was responsible for creating actionable marketing plans for revenue generation through integrated digital marketing, content marketing, and field marketing.

He also held senior and leadership roles at the IT company Dimension Data and IDG Media Pvt. Ltd., amongst others.

MessageBird is a communication solutions provider that helps businesses streamline conversations through their customers’ preferred channels such as email, SMS, WhatsApp, WeChat, and more.

Gurgaon, India – Zoo Media’s full-funnel creative and performance digital agency FoxyMoron has appointed Alin Choubey as its business head for the agency’s North operations. 

Choubey brings with him to the new role an extensive experience in the digital marketing arena for over 8 years. He will be reporting directly to Prachi Bali, national head of client partnerships at FoxyMoron.

He joins FoxyMoron from Chimp&z Inc Worldwide where he served as associate vice president. In his previous stints, he has also served as partner at Herald Digital and digital head at Vermmillion Communications. He has worked with luxury brands such as Chopard, Tag Heuer, and media conglomerates like Warner Media India and Alt Balaji to name a few. 

He was also instrumental in the digital launch of international brands like Longines and Pogo TV on digital in India. Furthermore, he led several multi-leg campaigns, including the notable ‘Redraw Your World’ campaign for Cartoon Network in India.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “I’m excited to be here at FoxyMoron as the agency accelerates into an exciting future. With some of the finest brands as our partners the opportunities at the Zoo Media network, are limitless. While the mission is to continue to make FoxyMoron stand out as a market differentiator, the vision is to expand our ability to bolster our partner brands in attaining their goals.”

Meanwhile, Bali commented, “Alin is a formidable force who has an unwavering drive to propel FoxyMoron’s vision and mission forward. In him we see the acumen, experience and leadership qualities to lead the growing team in the North to create their best work. His diligence in understanding our client needs and doing what it takes to meet their business goals is an asset for our network and all our partners.”

Some of the accounts FoxyMoron nabbed include Kotex India, Organic Tattva, and Schwarzkopf Professional.

Australia – Insights consultancy company Bastion Insights has recently announced the appointment of Steven Howlett as its new managing director. 

He will be leading Bastion’s Melbourne and Sydney insights teams and is expected to bring his 20 years of industry experience to the role.

Prior to joining Bastion Insights, Howlett held the role of executive director of commercial excellence at data, insights, and consulting company Kantar. He was also a partner at the global brand consulting agency Hall & Partners.

“What appealed to me most about joining the business, is that Bastion Insights provides a great mix of commercial, social, government and cross-cultural insights,” said Howlett.

He added, “Providing expert and considered advice to help every sector of the Australian economy. Couple this with being a part of Australasia’s largest independent marketing and communications group, the Bastion Think Wide strategy is exciting and market leading.”

Jack Watts, CEO of Bastion, also said, “It is terrific to have someone of Steven’s calibre and experience come on board to lead our Insights consultancy offering.”

He further explained, “Steven has made an immediate impact with our team and clients, and I look forward to this continuing as we work to grow our capabilities across commercial and brand clients, cross-cultural insights as well as nation changing government and social behavioural change campaigns.”

Bastion has also previously appointed Simon Langley as its chief creative officer, as well as Elliot Giakalis as Bastion Reputation’s principal consultant for media and public affairs.

Auckland, New Zealand – Creative agency Colenso BBDO has announced the appointment of three new senior hires in its efforts to bolster its production and account service teams.

Joining Colenso are Jacqui Walker as director of creative production, Charlotte Glennon as EP and head of integrated production, and Keshvi Lal as senior business director.

Walker has previously worked as a senior integrated producer at TBWA\New Zealand and has worked alongside awarded creatives for the last 25 years across ANZ. She has also produced award-winning campaigns across brands such as McDonald’s, Panasonic, Volkswagen, Skoda, Westpac, AFL and more.

Speaking on her appointment, she said, “Working with Angela, Rob, Si and the incredible team at Colenso is definitely a pinch yourself moment. I’m excited to bring my creative production experience to the agency and continue to help create world-class work.”

Meanwhile, Glennon brings her years of experience as a producer for TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Mother London, Host Sydney, and DDB Aotearoa, amongst others. 

“I’m really excited to join the team at ColensoBBDO, who have the same creative ambition as the best agencies I’ve worked at. Selfishly I’m going to lean on the stellar creative department to help my gardening insta account (200ish followers) blow up, follow me for reels of Dahlias mixed to 90s R&B @charlotteinthegarden_ iykyk,” said Glennon.

Lal, on the other hand, will be leading Colenso’s Spark and Skinny accounts, amongst other responsibilities. She has also led work for iconic brands including McDonald’s, ANZ, 2degrees, and Instant Kiwi.

“I’ve long admired the work coming out of Colenso – it’s ambitious, meaningful and effective. I’m thrilled to join the whānau and work alongside the incredibly talented humans at 100 College Hill,” she said.

Angela Watson, managing director at Colenso BBDO, also commented, “Great senior people give everyone around them the momentum they need to succeed. It’s a wonderful thing. Jacqui, Charlotte and Keshvi are real talent who have already made a difference, and we’re lucky to have them.”

Colenso has also previously appointed Maria Devereux and Simon Vicars for creative leadership roles, as well as seven creative hires last June.