Tag: agency

Australia – Media agency Initiative has announced the appointment of David Cook to the newly created national role of head of marketing and IQ. As the head of IQ, Initiative’s consulting division, Cook is tasked to deliver high-level strategic media recommendations to C-suite leaders. Within the role, he will also be leading the agency’s marketing program and supporting the agency’s focus on industry thought leadership and progression.

Prior to joining Initiative, Cook has previously held various strategic roles for different media outfits. In the past, he was a communication strategist for ZenithOptimedia and also assumed the strategy director position at Ikon Communications previously. In 2014, he became a strategy consultant for Match Media and was the strategy director of Bohemia Group for 2 years through 2016. 

It was in 2020 when Cook started handling marketing roles. Before officially joining Initiative, he was the head of trade marketing at broadcast media production Nine for 2 years. 

For the new role, Cook will be reporting directly to Initiative’s chief strategy & product officer Chris Colter and the agency’s national managing director, Sam Geer.

Commenting on Cook’s appointment, Colter said that Cook’s industry-wide reputation for sharp thinking and collaborative approach is essential for the growth agenda of the agency’s consulting division.

Colter added, “We are thrilled to have David join our team to expand Initiative’s IQ division which has experienced exponential growth since its launch in 2021.”

Meanwhile, Cook said that he is impressed with Initiative’s consulting proposition and its ambition to produce best-in-class client work. 

“I look forward to using my experience to date, and applying it through a slightly different lens. I can’t wait to get started,” he said.

Singapore – Committed to delivering marketing breakthroughs, Media investment company GroupM has officially launched its newest and largest agency EssenceMediaCom, which will provide modern integrated media solutions for brands. With pioneer agencies Essence and Mediacom joining forces, the breakthrough agency will deliver performance, data, analytics and creative technology DNA with scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise.

EssenceMediaCom comprises 10,000 people across 120 offices in 96 markets. The agency’s global roster includes Adidas, Bayer, Dell, Google, Mars, NBCUniversal, PlayStation, Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company and Uber.

Through EssenceMediacom’s Operating System (EMOS), the modular suite of tools and data will connect Essence, MediaCom and GroupM’s technology to make it available for the agency’s teams and clients across the globe.

GroupM, being the media investment management arm of WPP, will be able to access the richest data, most robust benchmarks and most advanced capabilities in the market. This will make the agency in providing comprehensive solutions for all marketing challenges.

Rupert McPetrie, CEO of EssenceMediacom’s APAC expressed his excitement about combining Essence and MediaCom. He also highlighted that they look forward to working together and continually push media possibilities with category-defining innovations.

Meanwhile, global CEO of EssenceMediacom Nick Lawson said, “What will underpin our groundbreaking agency is our people, and we will be steadfast in our commitment to provide an environment of continuous learning so they can grow and be the best they can be. Together, and with analytics, data and technology at our heart, I have no doubt we will deliver breakthroughs across our entire client base.”

Lastly, Christian Juhl, global CEO of GroupM added, “The fusion of Essence’s measurement and data-driven DNA with MediaCom’s scale and strategic expertise creates something truly unique in the marketplace.”

GroupM announced the agency merger of Essence and MediaCom with the integration of Mindshare and Neo back in 2022. This was made to help clients in adjusting to the evolving media landscape and provide them with performance solutions.

Sydney, Australia – Newly-launched agency It’s Friday has appointed Cate Mathers as its head of strategy. Said appointment follows the agency’s recent unveiling, spearheaded by its founders Pete Bosilkovski, Vince Lagana and Jeremy De Villiers, as well as signing its first client, Domino’s. 

Mathers was previously the head of strategy at The Works, where she spent eight years working with the agency. She brings in to It’s Friday over 20 years of experience gained in creative, digital, CX and media agencies, where she has worked with clients such as McDonald’s, Canadian Club, Jim Beam, Qantas, Subaru, Playstation, Pepsi International, Telstra, Optus, and P&G.

She has also held high profile roles including global planning director of Jim Beam, head of digital at Leo Burnett, communications strategist and national head of social at media agency OMD.

Speaking about her appointment, Mathers said that she liked the agency ethos around brand energy, adding that she thinks sometimes the industry is guilty of overcomplicating things.

“Our job is to move things; be it people into action, products off shelves or services out the door. Energy is the force that causes things to move. And having the power to move things is what excites me as a strategist. The team at It’s Friday is top-shelf, and we have an ambitious founding client to get started on. It feels like the perfect storm. I’m excited by this collective force and looking forward to creating some seriously big energy behind Domino’s and more brands to come,” Mathers said.

Meanwhile, Bosilkovski commented that when they met Mathers, they knew that she was the perfect addition to the team. He added that Mather’s positivity and optimism are infectious, and that she has a great passion for tackling the most complex business problems and beautifully breaking them down.

He further added that it has been quite a journey for the agency in finding the right strategic leader for us. For them, they were on the hunt for a thinker who has strong convictions and an unrelenting energy and drive for taking the least convenient path in solving business problems.

“For us, it was important that we brought in someone who can impact a Brand’s Energy in a connected way. Having worked in some of the leading media, digital, CX and brand agencies, and on some of the biggest brands, Cate will be a force in helping shape our clients’ brand experiences across owned, earned, and paid channels, with equal energy. We’re very excited to have Cate come on the journey with us,” Bosilkovski concluded.

Sydney, Australia – Social and influencer agency One Green Bean (OGB) has announced its newest leadership promotions within the agency, with Amber Abbott being promoted to general manager, while Mary Proulx becoming head of social and influence.

In their new roles, Abbott takes responsibility for leading the agency, including managing new business and client services across all OGB offerings, and driving agency culture and employee development. Meanwhile, Proulx will lead both the social team and the influencer marketing team at OGB, known as Co-maker. Her remit will be to build on the social and influencer offering with a focus on social strategy, cultural insights, content production and paid social.

Prior to her new role, Abbott was OGB’s head of client services. She began her career as a publicist at Torstar Communications a decade ago, before spending three years in account management roles at London’s The Clear Agency.

Proulx, on the other hand, started out her career as social media director at Red Havas in 2017, and was promoted to group account director in March this year. She joined the Havas Village from her role as social media director at Isentia Strategy & Content, formerly known as King Content, after beginning her agency career in Canada in account roles at PR and communications outfit North Strategic.

Simone Gupta, CEO Havas PR Australia, said, “One Green Bean is a business with creative ideas and a unique agency culture built into its DNA, so it is fantastic to promote from within two talented people who live these values.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Global advertising agency company Publicis Groupe in Malaysia has announced two new senior appointments namely Emir Shafri as chief creative officer and Andrew Michau as chief strategy officer. Both internal promotions will take effect immediately.

Shafri will drive the company’s creative ambition, while Michau enhances the company’s integrated, and data-led approach to connected solutions. Providing their expertise to clients in the region, both appointees will report to Neil Hudspeth, CEO at Publicis Groupe Malaysia and global client leader for APAC.

Shafri first joined the agency in 2019 as an executive creative director and has since been instrumental in elevating creative products and helping some big brands win in this platform world. As the new chief creative officer, he will develop and head creative communications, bringing together brand-building ideas with a modern approach. Prior to returning to Malaysia, he was previously Y&R Singapore’s head of digital.

Speaking about his promotion, he said, “It’s been a refreshing experience working alongside and learning from some of the most talented thinkers, storytellers, artists, digital tinkerers, customer experience builders as well as data and human insights detectives over the past few years. I’m excited to write our next chapter with this amazing team by bringing together their diverse skills to help businesses solve their most pressing problems with creativity.”

Regarding his appointment, Hudspeth said, “Emir’s passion, humankind, and commitment have enriched our most important asset – our people. He is driven by his love for understanding human behaviour, asking “what if” and crafting experiences with the alchemy of technology, creativity and humanity. I am confident that as my creative partner, we will continue to grow and succeed, not only business-wise, but also in terms of expanding our capabilities in CX and innovation to support our clients’ growth acceleration and creative ambitions.”

Meanwhile, Michau’s new role means he will drive diverse thinking and functional insights across teams, thereby promoting a culture that delivers extraordinary work. As the company evolves to better integrate a broader strategy and insights team, Andrew will continue to drive and lead strategy for clients, while maintaining close relationships with them.

Speaking on his new role, he said, “I am extremely proud to be asked to lead such a talented team of strategists, analysts and transformation specialists. I look forward to accelerating our strategic growth agenda with our clients and continuing to help our teams across our enviable portfolio to deliver world classwork.”

On Michau’s new role, Hudspeth said, “Andrew’s passion for crafting well-thought-through narratives with increasingly data-fuelled intelligence is highly valued and appropriate, and I am confident that working closely with the rest of the incredible talent we have in our Strategy & Insights team, our agency proposition will go from strength to strength.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Following the agency’s initial initiated transformation exercise in 2019 to adopt a more flexible and integrated approach for their business, digital marketing agency Lion & Lion has finally unveiled their new brand position and visual identity, focused on their new tagline ‘Made to Impact’.

The aforementioned tagline highlights the agency’s effect its work has on client brands, audiences and the industry as a whole.

Meanwhile, the new corporate colors of black and red evoke a sense of boldness that suggests the willingness to push boundaries and challenge conventions. These relate back to the Lion & Lion tagline, in which the agency aims to make a positive change in all of its activities, from elevating a client’s brand, to building an inclusive and supportive company culture.

Part of its brand repositioning revolves around the concept of them being an agency that emphasizes holistic strategic thinking, ideas-led solutions, and a flexible business model customized for the digital age.

Fredrik Gumpel, chief executive officer at Lion & Lion, explained that Lion & Lion’s decision to adopt a customizable service model and increase experience in managing regional scopes as well as capability investments, both people and technology, has given the agency a competitive edge that has led to a series of new client partnerships. 

“With technologies evolving at a fast pace, our role as a digital agency has ensured that we are in a position to take advantage of any developments in the communications industry. We have been getting more clients on a regional or global level over the past year, thanks to our expertise in navigating the digital and social space. Nevertheless, we maintain readiness for what the future may hold, especially in the fields of tech, commerce and communications, so we will always be at the forefront of the industry,” he said. 

The agency has recently won various accounts, including Minelab Electronics, L’Oreal Indonesia, KODAK Lens, Kellogg’s, and Carlsberg’s 1664 Blanc brand.

Lion & Lion said its new ‘creatively driven, digital-first’ value proposition as well as its delivery model has allowed the agency to broaden its client portfolio as well as secure a number of new wins both in their local markets, but even more across Southeast Asia, as several regional digital partnerships have been formed.

Meanwhile, Cheelip Ong, chief creative officer at Lion & Lion, commented that they are confident in their new service model and the trust their clients have placed in them. He added that their success drives them to push themselves even harder as they continue to evolve with the industry.

“Our way of working here at Lion & Lion allows clients the benefit of having a synergistic team of functional practice leads handling their business requirements across multiple channels and markets, with a digital-first framing. It also helps that we are experts in understanding the evolution of digital – from social, to e-commerce, to the potential opportunities brought forth by the metaverse, thereby giving us the knowledge to develop proactive and innovative strategies that are hyper-relevant for the present and future-ready,” Ong added.

Melbourne, Australia – eg+ worldwide, Omnicom‘s global implementation and production agency and part of the Clemenger Group in Australia, has appointed Simon Kitching as the agency’s new creative director.

Kitching will take responsibility for the agency’s burgeoning creative output for clients including NAB, L’Oreal, MLC/IOOF and numerous Television Broadcast clients. 

He joins the agency following nearly two decades running his own creative business, in addition to having launched an FMCG food brand. Furthermore, he has led creative output for clients including Honda, Myer, Telstra, Heinz, Holden and more. 

Speaking about his appointment, Kitching said, “I’m looking forward to joining the team at eg+. It’s a great opportunity to work with some wonderful people and blue-chip clients.”

Meanwhile, Ubaldo Merlino, managing director at eg+ worldwide, commented, “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Simon to the eg+ family as we continue the growth of our business and expansion of our offering for clients. We’ve no doubt he’ll make an incredible impact.”

The agency’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region includes Bangkok, Beijing, Dalian, Delhi, Melbourne, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Marketing agency TEAM LEWIS has recently won the account of the Malaysian arm of global mobile phone company HMD Global to be its agency partner to drive its social and public relations campaigns in Malaysia.

Through the appointment, TEAM LEWIS will provide brand, communications and issues consultancy, as well as media relations, content creation and monitoring for Nokia mobile within Malaysia. 

Furthermore, The agency will work alongside HMD Global’s marketing team to bring the brand’s vision to life and strengthen Nokia mobile’s presence within the community as the relationship of consumers with their smartphones and technology continues to evolve. 

HMD Global designs and markets a range of smartphones and feature phones and an expanding portfolio of innovative service offerings. HMD Global is known for the smartphone brand Nokia and targets to bolster its re-entry in the Malaysian market as Nokia mobile has been committed to bringing a range of sophisticated and future-proof devices. Along with the latest features in smartphone photography and entertainment, Nokia mobile’s impressive range of smartphones and feature phones will also boost its legacy in quality and durability. 

With the consumer technology industry continuing to evolve at a rapid pace, HMD Global is looking to build a positive brand reputation and increase focus on marketing efforts to further expand its footprint in Malaysia.

Goh Doh Hau, country manager at HMD Global Malaysia, said, “Moving ahead, we want to continue to delight our existing and future customers with operating system upgrades and highly secured products that are built to last. While building our technology, we also want to draw focus around our sustainable business practices. As such, we look forward to creating breakthrough campaigns with TEAM LEWIS that drive our key messages forward.”

Meanwhile, Liew Huey-Ling, head of marketing for Pan Asia at HMD Global, commented that as a leading player in this industry, they wanted to work with an agency partner who is able to offer deep industry insights, understand their marketing requirements and go beyond conventional tactics to deliver creative solutions that increase their brand penetration in the market.

“We were impressed with the consumer technology experience that TEAM LEWIS brings to the table. As such, we look forward to working with TEAM LEWIS to bring the brand to greater heights,” Huey-Ling stated.

Ann Chong, managing director at TEAM LEWIS Malaysia, meanwhile noted that the current status quo of consumer technology, including the smartphone industry, has seen a lot of innovation in the last couple of years. Chong added that the introduction of Nokia mobile’s latest portfolio of devices that consumers will be loved, trusted and wanted to keep embodies the brand’s spirit of innovation, along with delivering great customer experiences and durability.

“On that note, we are excited to have the opportunity to work with a progressive brand like Nokia mobile and look forward to effectively translating the brand’s vision into reality with our creative storytelling,” Chong said.

TEAM LEWIS had recently bagged this year the digital agency account of photography brand Nikon for APAC, as well as being the PR agency partner of FairPrice Group.

Singapore – Fresh from its announcement of closure just a week ago, local creative agency Water’s Edge has decided to become W/E + Partners, a team-up of its former creative partner, Andy Lee, and its client services director, Michelle Tee. 

Water’s Edge had been in operation for 28 years and broke the sad news a week ago when founder Tan Sin Kuan decided on the closure amid what had blown many businesses this pandemic – halted projects and weakened capabilities to sustain operations. In order to preserve the relationships it had built with long-term clients and to retain its team, Tee and Lee decided to put up the new W/E + Partners. 

Local SG agency Water’s Edge is now W/E + Partners
Creative Partner Andy Lee (Left) and Client Services Director Michelle Tee (Right)

Lee and tee carry a collective experience of 30 years managing clients that had been on the books of Water’s Edge for a long time, with some for more than 10 years. Long-term clients include insurance company AIA Singapore. 

Tee and Lee said the main purpose of starting W/E + Partners is to leverage the company ethos and culture that had been a legacy of their former agency. 

“It had been a privilege to have worked at Water’s Edge for the past 20 years as it was at the agency that I had forged very good long-term relationships with clients who had also become friends over the years. I am humbled by the support from clients and colleagues that enabled me to continue this journey to create meaningful work together,” said Lee. 

Meanwhile, Tee commented, “With W/E + Partners, we are excited to continue the same legacy with a fresher perspective. We are turning the leaf to this new chapter in a bid to create even more impactful work with our clients because we acknowledge that we need to be doing things differently in this challenging economic climate, but with the same passion and commitment that we had been delivering over the years.”

Out of its former team at Water’s Edge, 10 members will join the agency such as its creative director, Julius Sim. The new W/E + Partners aims to provide a more holistic offering beyond creative marketing services. It is a fully integrated creative agency that provides branding, advertising, and digital solutions, currently serving a wide spectrum of client accounts from financial services to real estate.

The agency said that as it continues the legacy of Water’s Edge, it will draw its strength and edge from its close-knitted and familial culture, with the pioneering team boasting of an almost decade-long working relationship.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Mimpikita, a local-based modest fashion label, has appointed martech company elfo in elevating its digital advertising and performance marketing initiatives.

Through the one-year partnership, elfo will be executing year-long bite-sized campaigns for Mimpikita to streamline and amplify its brand identity, as well as to align with the modest fashion label’s goals to be inclusive and provide meaningful experiences to its community known as #KitaGirls.

Furthermore, elfo will be running campaigns hand-in-hand with Mimpikita’s planned collections for the year. The campaigns, which will be deployed across all digital touchpoints – website, social media, email, conversational bot – are expected to build and uplift a Mimpikita community built on inclusivity, empowerment, and universal acceptance.

Mimpikita, originally founded by three sisters – Nurul, Amirah, and Syahira Zulkifli – has been in the fashion industry for more than 12 years, and has since then garnered a ‘local cult based on bespoke ready-to-wear pieces’, according to Rose Maria Bague, senior account manager at elfo.

“What we can bring to the table is our expertise in helping brands and businesses establish a solid brand identity and increase overall share of voice (SOV), by providing Mimpikita with brand consulting, performance optimization across all of its digital channels, and lead-generation campaigns,” Bague stated.

Meanwhile, Sri Yosephin, head at elfo, stated that their contribution to Mimpikita is part of the fashion brand’s aspiration to expand globally, as their fashion pieces have been prominently featured at the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week and had intimate collaborations with other local designers.

From left to right – Syahira, Nurul, Amirah Zulkifli, Co-Founders of Mimpikita

“Our service offerings for Mimpikita are part of a bigger plan for this modest fashion label to go global. Besides harnessing our digital marketing expertise, we are also utilizing elfo’s proprietary digital platforms such as elfoMAP (an email marketing automation platform), elfoA2P (an application-to-person messaging platform), and soon, elfoBOT (an intuitive chatbot), to complement and enable our strategic campaigns for Mimpikita,” Yosephin explained.

For one of the founders, Nurul Zulkifli, their recent partnership with elfo will center on keeping their values with the #KitaGirls community, regardless of progress and expansion.

“As we continue to evolve and expand with the help of elfo, designing carefully crafted pieces for the everyday woman will still be at the heart of Mimpikita. Our wish is to build an inclusive community, to inspire women all over the world with our casualwear,” she added.