Tag: Appointment

Australia – Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ), a regional marketing organisation, has appointed the independent creative agency Supermassive as its new partner for an upcoming global project.

TTNQ’s appointment of Supermassive is the creative agency’s latest business win following a competitive pitch. The creative agency will develop ideas focusing on sustainable tourism for global rollout in key markets.

The organisation is based in Tropical North Queensland and is working on bringing the industry and the community together to drive the value of the visitor economy through destination marketing.

Lani Strathearn, general manager of marketing at TTNQ, said, “As we reconnect with international markets, we are looking for innovative ways to cut through the competitive landscape and align with shifting consumer behaviour to ultimately drive greater sustainable travel. The team at Supermassive demonstrated that they understood the complexities of this challenge and presented us with standout ideas.”

Laura Aldington, Jon Austin, and Simone Gupta, co-founders at Supermassive, also shared, “We are beyond thrilled to be representing such a unique, important, and beautiful part of Australia. The team at TTNQ’s ambition to drive awareness and impact as an eco-travel destination through a combination of thoughtful strategy and non-traditional creativity aligns perfectly with our mission.”

Malaysia – Nadia Omer has been named as the new chief executive officer of Airasia MOVE, effective October 26, 2023. She succeeds Mohamad Hafidz Mohd Fadzil, who has been acting CEO of airasia MOVE since April of the same year. 

Omer has a track record in category conversion, consumer habit change, and ecosystem value creation, with her early career at P&G as well as roles at Nestle and PepsiCo. Prior to joining airasia MOVE, she was the chief business officer for Cars24 Southeast Asia. Her experience qualifies her to guide airasia MOVE toward its goal of becoming the region’s preferred travel platform that provides the best value. 

Speaking about the appointment, Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A and executive chairman of MOVE Digital, said, “We are excited for the future of airasia MOVE, as we welcome Nadia into what we will say is a pivotal moment for the organisation. I have been actively interacting with Nadia since the initial announcement of her appointment back in September and have no doubt that she will hit the ground running the moment she officially steps in.” 

He added, “As announced last month, we are entering into a new era of travel innovation, and I believe that Nadia’s multifaceted background has uniquely positioned her to lead airasia MOVE forward as Asean’s preferred one-stop travel platform. She will also be working closely with BigPay, led by Zubin Rada Krishnan to offer seamless access to travel and financial services on one single platform, with integrated financial features.” 

“I would also like to thank Mohamad Hafidz for his contributions as the acting CEO of airasia MOVE for the past six months, as he moves on to another role within the Capital A Group,” Fernandes remarked. 

Meanwhile, speaking about her appointment, Omer said, “It’s a privilege to take the helm of airasia MOVE, and I look forward to working with Allstars across the region to create the next growth curve in our journey. I’d like to thank Tony Fernandes for putting his trust in me and count on his continued mentorship to MOVE the business forward. 

She added, “My first priority and commitment is our airasia MOVE customers, always offering best-in-class value and industry-leading products to make travel that much easier, safer and fun. I count on our teams to make every trip a delightful one so that we can win our customers’ hearts to make airasia MOVE the travel app of choice in Asean.” 

London, United Kingdom – Global brand and design consultancy Landor & Fitch has announced its appointment of Liz Wilson as its new group chief integration officer.

Prior to joining Landor & Fitch, Wilson served as Managing Director, growth and integration for Accenture Song Europe, and previously as chief operating officer across Karmarama’s diverse group of capabilities, bringing over 25 years of expertise in advertising, branding, digital and customer experience and is a specialist in integrating these disciplines to drive growth.

In her new role, Wilson will be responsible for bringing together Landor & Fitch’s growing group of brand and design specialist agencies to create unique integrated client solutions.

Speaking on her appointment, Wilson said, “I’m thrilled to be joining Landor & Fitch in this exciting new role. I’m looking forward to bringing together everything I’ve learned in creative and professional service businesses elsewhere to help continue the rapid growth already being driven by the enhanced range of skills and capabilities.”

“I’m particularly looking forward to working with the talented Landor & Fitch team to create broader, bolder, more innovative solutions with the power to transform our clients’ brands and businesses,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Jane Geraghty, global CEO of Landor & Fitch, commented, “We are delighted that Liz is joining our team. With the expansion of our offer, and our new specialist partners, Liz is uniquely qualified to help us unite our teams and strengthen our offer for clients.” 

“Her extensive experience and track record of transforming and growing creative businesses make her the ideal candidate to lead our integration and growth efforts as we continue to evolve our offer to meet the needs of our ambitious clients. We are also delighted to bring another strong, inclusive female leader into our leadership team,” she concluded. 

Wilson’s appointment is part of Landor & Fitch’s ongoing strategy to expand its offer to meet the evolving needs of their clients as the group has brought in new capabilities, including ManvsMachine for motion design, Fitch for experience design, bdg for workspace design and most recently, amp for sonic branding, to offer truly multi-faceted brand-led design solutions.

Asia Pacific – Global digital experience analytics company Contentsquare has announced the appointment of Jean-Christophe Pitié as its new chief marketing and partnerships officer to lead the marketing organisation and partnerships.

In his new role, Pitié will lead the company’s global marketing initiatives, focusing on strengthening the brand and driving customer demand in markets around the world. He will take the helm of the marketing organisation and oversee strategic partnerships.

Pitié will also be responsible for identifying, nurturing, and enhancing strategic alliances with key partners. He is expected to grow Contentsquare’s rich partner ecosystem worldwide.

With a solid track record of leading global companies through their digital growth and transformation journeys, Pitié brings with him an expansive portfolio of scalable and world-class demand generation strategies.

Prior to his new appointment, he spent more than two decades at Microsoft, where he played a key role in Microsoft’s journey to cloud-based solutions. He was involved in the launch of Office 365 for consumers and Microsoft 365 for businesses.

Additionally, Pitié also led Microsoft’s digital stores division at the company’s global headquarters in Seattle. More recently, he served as chief operating officer at Microsoft France, where his duties included executing Microsoft’s go-to market and strategy within the French market.

Jonathan Cherki, CEO and founder of Contentsquare, said, “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jean-Christophe to the team. Not only does he have an impressive track record of bringing innovative technology to market, he also embodies our company values and puts his team first with everything he does.”

“Contentsquare is at an exciting stage of its journey, and Jean-Christophe’s deep expertise in tech will be incredibly valuable as we continue to grow. We couldn’t think of a better person to activate our brand vision and partner strategy,” he added.

Speaking on his appointment, Pitié also shared, “Having access to a holistic understanding of customers is critical in today’s business landscape, and Contentsquare is leading the way when it comes to customer experience insights. I’m thrilled to join the company at this exciting moment in time and to help bring its unique insights to more teams.”

Singapore – Multinational home furnishing retailer IKEA has named independent creative agency The Secret Little Agency as its new lead creative agency of record.

The agency’s remit includes all integrated campaigns, marketing strategy, product campaigns, digital and social communications development, and more.

This win is an expansion of IKEA’s growing relationship with The Secret Little Agency and Mother globally. It is worth noting that Mother London is also leading creative duties for IKEA United Kingdom and Ireland, and both agencies are under a joint venture to expand their services in Asia.

Prior to this appointment, TBWA\Singapore was taking the helm of IKEA Singapore’s creative duties.

Nicholas Ye and Mavis Neo, co-chief creative officers at The Secret Little Agency, said, “We are looking forward to stepping into a new era of inspired creativity together with IKEA. Like all creatives, we are restless to realise the creative opportunity that IKEA presents, but not without staying focused on being real strategic allies to IKEA here and wherever they need.”

Nigel Richardson, head of marketing at IKEA Southeast Asia, also shared, “After going through the competitive pitch and creative response process, The Secret Little Agency demonstrated strong strategic thinking, a solid knowledge of the IKEA brand, the IKEA tone of voice, and were a great values and culture fit. Their mindset of being a creative company that solves problems in surprising and entertaining ways sits very well with IKEA, a vision-driven home furnishing retailer.”

Singapore – Initiative, an IPG Mediabrands media agency, has been named the media agency of record for Finnair, Finland’s full-service legacy airline. This appointment followed a competitive pitch review in September of the same year. 

The appointment of Initiative as Finnair’s official media agency is effective right away.

The assigned task for Initiative will be the management of media strategy, planning, and buying across all digital channels, and it will initially cover four Asia-Pacific markets Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. 

Initiative’s strategic model, developed around growth markets and a profound understanding of performance, was cited by Finnair as a key differentiator. 

Speaking about the partnership, Lara Allan, team lead of growth marketing and technology at Finnair, said, “In our centenarian year, Finnair is thrilled to embark on a new chapter, sharing the rich story of our brand and exceptional product with travellers from APAC who aspire to explore Europe and beyond. We are proud to announce our strategic partnership with Initiative, whose strategic insights, local expertise, and expansive media network perfectly align with our vision.” 

She added, “As we look ahead to 2024, the future holds incredible promise, and we are eager to continue expanding our presence in Asia.” 

Meanwhile, James Smyllie, president of Initiative APAC, said, “We are very excited to add Finnair to our client roster. We see this new partnership as an opportunity to help Finnair build their brand Fame and delivering Flow-centric solutions that will elevate Finnair’s position as global trailblazer in aviation.” 

Hong Kong – Advertising agency DDB Group Hong Kong has named Izmael Crespo as its new creative director to bolster the agency’s creative firepower.

In his new role, Crespo will work on multi-market projects across DDB’s varied client base. He will report to Alejandro Canciobello, the regional executive creative director.

Crespo is an art-based creative director who has worked with major brands on projects across the globe. His experience brings not only talent and fame but also a multicultural perspective to his new role with DDB Group Hong Kong.

He moved to Hong Kong from Colombia this month and comes into the agency with an extensive list of major accolades to his name, not least of which include an impressive ten Lions. Crespo is notably a part of the team responsible for the Corona Lime campaign that gave China its first-ever Titanium Lion win.

Additionally, being a gaming streamer himself, he is known for creating campaigns that bring brands to gaming environments.

Crespo’s appointment is the second major hire in DDB Group Hong Kong’s creative department this year. He follows the appointment of Alejandro Canciobello last April, to whom he will report directly now.

These hires underscore the agency’s ambition and commitment to significantly elevate its creative offering and the hope of becoming world-class. This is a goal that Andreas Krasser, CEO of DDB Group Hong Kong, has publicly voiced.

Commenting on the new hire, Alejandro Canciobello said, “Recently winning HKMA’s Agency of the Year for the second year in a row, having won Hong Kong’s 2023 Grand Effie, and with a string of notable creative campaigns this year, the agency has some great momentum. Adding someone like Izmael and his immense passion to create campaigns with the power to move people and culture is going to help us propel forward in our pursuit for even better work and greater impact.”

Also in his new role, Crespo shared, “I’m a big believer in an agency environment where everyone has the freedom to express their own creative voice and inspires each other to roll up their sleeves, and I know DDB has created this culture. I am excited to be here in Hong Kong and feel especially excited about going into an agency that is emerging on the global stage. I can’t wait to play a role in the next chapter of that story.”

Melbourne, Australia – CommerceHub has announced its appointment of Gordana Redzovski as managing director for the Asia Pacific region to lead the company’s plans of expansion.

With a specific focus on the Asia Pacific region, Redzovski will be employing her expertise to provide strategic guidance and direction in support of the company’s expansion plans. 

Based in Australia, she brings 15 years of experience in high-growth industries. Most recently, Redzovski was VP retail APAC at Lightspeed Commerce where she successfully developed new revenue streams during the pandemic, launched Lightspeed Payments in Australia and led the integration of Vend and Lightspeed Commerce retail teams in APAC. She has also served in senior leadership roles at Deliveroo, Catch.com and iSentia.

Speaking on her appointment, Redzovski said, “I’m thrilled to join the talented, flagship team at CommerceHub during this exciting period of transition and growth. Retailers and brands in APAC continue to seek out innovative partners to support their focus on enhancing the customer experience, and indeed business outcomes, through utilising a unified omnichannel approach.”

Meanwhile, Pete Elmgren, CRO at CommerceHub, commented, “As someone who is known for her ability to engage stakeholders and deliver outstanding results by making data-driven decisions and galvanising teams, Gordana is an outstanding choice to lead APAC. She’s a seasoned executive who is passionate about driving operational efficiency and helping customers experience profitable growth.”

Australia – whiteGREY has announced the appointment of Iona Macgregor as chief strategy officer. She has also joined the agency’s executive leadership team and will be working with clients across the country and in APAC. 

Macgregor, who recently served as chief strategy officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, brings over two decades of creative strategy experience. She worked with Ampol, Arnott’s, AXA, Cartier, Heineken, Nestlé, NRMA, OPSM, Orange, the Westpac Group’s St. George, Ray-Ban, Tiger Beer, and Vodafone. 

Macgregor previously led hybrid strategy and innovation teams that integrated experts in brand, UX, and social at creative agency Marcel Worldwide in Paris before joining Saatchi & Saatchi. She then co-founded Marcel Sydney in 2015.

Speaking about the appointment, Lee Simpson, CEO of whiteGREY, said, “We are really excited to welcome Iona to the agency. This is a critical role for us and one we’ve considered carefully. Iona’s experience will bring fresh strategic leadership to our business and our clients, adding to the depth of talent and capability we have across brand, communications, CX and media strategy.” 

He added, “Iona is an innovative thinker suited to a creative agency with strong technology heritage, and I’m excited about the impact she will make.” 

Meanwhile, speaking about her appointment, Macgregor said, “This industry has been talking about transformational change for as long as I can remember. But it takes a proper merge of creative, strategy, technology expertise and genuine care to deliver ideas that will set brands up for sustainable growth.” 

“The team at whiteGREY are just awesome. I believe they’ve got a unique combination of all the skills and passion required to navigate this challenging market for their clients and I can’t wait to get started,” Macgregor added. 

Singapore – Global socially-led creative agency We Are Social has announced its reaffirmation to commit to investing in future focused technologies, through a slew of updates to its innovation arm, .XYZ, complemented with new leadership appointments for the department.

With We Are Social’s appointment, .XYZ will be led by Christina Chong, CEO of We Are Social Southeast Asia, and will expand the agency’s offering across future strategy, creative innovation and virtual production.

Under Chong’s leadership, a number of the agency’s Singapore team, along with specialist colleagues from the US, UK, Europe and the Middle East, will be tasked with further developing the .XYZ offering in three key areas: future strategy, creative innovation and virtual production.

The .XYZ team will be looking for opportunities to embed innovative work across the agency’s entire client portfolio, for brands in all sectors and industries. With experts and practitioners across the spectrum of spatial, phygital, cognitive and distributed technologies, they will also work to keep the entire agency up to speed with the latest advances in technology.

The investment in .XYZ complements the agency’s other investments in future tech and innovation, such as its gaming division We Are Social Gaming, and new augmented reality offering, Make My Day.

Speaking on her own appointment, Chong said, “.XYZ will help our clients feel confident in exploring future focused technologies – the benefits of being an early mover, if managed in a strategic and considered way, can be huge. I’m delighted to be taking the lead on .XYZ – an area I feel passionate about – and helping more brands use technology to get ahead of the pack.”

Meanwhile, Nathan McDonald, co-founder and group chief executive of We Are Social ,commented, “Chris and the team in Singapore have always been up to speed on cutting edge technology and helping clients make the most of the latest advancements so it was clear that .XYZ would thrive under her leadership. I’m confident that we’ll be able to help even more of the world’s most forward-thinking brands navigate the intersection of creativity and technology.”