Research firm Ipsos announces new key leadership hires for APAC

Australia – Research company Ipsos has announced the appointment of its long-time global executive Hamish Munro as the new CEO for APAC, and current CEO for SEA Suresh Ramalingam as the new chief client officer for APAC. 

Munro moves into his new remit after three years as Ipsos’ global head of interactive devices. Since joining the company in 2013, he has also had stints as CEO of Australia and New Zealand (2013 – 2015), CEO of SEA (2016 – 2017), and CEO of APAC operations (2017 – 2019). 

In his new role, Munro is set to bring broad international operational and research management experience, along with more than two decades of diverse market research and leadership. He will also be replacing current Ipsos APAC CEO, Christophe Cambournac, who will move into a global role with the business. 

Meanwhile, Ramalingam moves into his new role after four years as CEO for Ipsos’ SEA markets. Prior to joining Ipsos, he spent more than 20 years at Nielsen, working across its emerging markets in various leadership roles, and the most recent one as managing director of consumer insights across LATAM, EMEA and South-East Asia, based in Dubai. 

In his new remit, Ramalingam will be leading the client organisation for Ipsos’ APAC region and will be based in Kuala Lumpur. 

Commenting on his new role, Munro said “I am excited to collaborate with my colleagues across Asia Pacific and continue to build on our strong client partnerships, building and strengthening our talent and deploying many of our new services to help our clients grow.”

Meanwhile, Ramalingam also said, “Our strong client organisation teams help drive engagement with our key clients in Asia Pacific collaborating across our services to provide the best possible research outcomes catering to their business needs. I am very excited to continue to focus on building client relationships across Asia Pacific.” 

Ben Page, Ipsos’ CEO, said that Munro and Ramalingam were set to bring a wealth of industry experience and corporate knowledge to their new roles. 

He further shared, “Hamish has been an integral part of the global Ipsos team since 2013, sharing his 25-plus years [of] experience in market research, marketing, communications and account management roles.”

“Suresh has already shown his ability to grow and manage client relationships across Southeast Asia, delivering on our long-term growth plans for the region. In his new role, I’m confident that his client and people-focused leadership style coupled with his extensive research and management experience will help in leading the client organisation successfully in our APAC region,” added Page.