Tag: Appointment

Singapore – Property technology company PropertyGuru has announced the appointment of Manav Kamboj as the new managing director of its fintech business. Kamboj will retain his role as the chief technology officer of the company.

In his expanded role, Kamboj will lead the business, leveraging technology, data, and analytics to drive further digitisation of the home loan process and operational excellence. He has been working closely with the Fintech team since it was established which also helped him in gathering insights into his new role.

Kamboj has extensive experience in the consumer internet industry across eCommerce, mobile applications and technology consulting. Furthermore, he has led cross-functional teams in retail lending, product management and customer acquisition strategy.

Kamboj started to join the PropertyGuru group as chief technology officer in 2017, leading a distributed team of engineers, software developers and data scientists who deliver technology solutions to address the ever-changing needs of home seekers, real estate agents and property developers across the region. 

He also spearheaded the inauguration of PropertyGuru Group’s technology Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, India, which marks the Group’s sixth country office alongside offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. 

Before joining PropertyGuru, he was with e-commerce platform Snapdeal as vice president of technology where he shaped the product and technology roadmap for buyer platforms.

Hari V Krishnan, chief executive officer and managing director at PropertyGuru Group said that Kamboj’s strong skillset in technology and finance will help the company’s Fintech ambitions, including digitisation of home loan process in Singapore.

Kamboj expressed his excitement as he takes a new role in the company because of new opportunities to help the consumers.

“Our focus will be on developing products and solutions for the mortgage market that guide the home buyers’ financing needs and that are more often than not the biggest hurdle in their home ownership journey,” he added.

Last month, PropertyGuru also appointed Disha Goenka as its new chief marketing officer.

Singapore – Wunderman Thompson has announced the appointment of Shailesh Iyer as its new chief strategy officer for Singapore where he will be working with the agency’s Unilever brands as well as the agency’s partnerships with brands HSBC and J&J, amongst others.

Iyer brings with him a strong leadership experience in integration-driven strategic approaches across a multitude of categories and clients. He was previously with public relations company Publicis Groupe Indonesia as chief strategy officer where he led the strategy practice across creative and digital, working across the three markets of Singapore, UAE and Indonesia.

Furthermore, Iyer has also worked on various global brands such as McDonald’s, Oreo, Cadbury, KraftHeinz, Samsung, Nestle, Coca-Cola, SK-II, Tide, IKEA, HSBC, Citibank and more.

Nimesh Desai, chief executive officer of Wunderman Thompson Singapore, said that they were thrilled to have Iyer in their team knowing of his proven expertise in strategies, bringing a creative and grounded human approach to the agency.

Meanwhile, Iyer commented, “I am super excited to be a part of the Wunderman Thompson family. The agency has everything it takes for the next phase of how the industry evolves. The right leadership, right skillsets and the right vision to help us create meaningful work that inspires growth for us and our ambitious clients.”

Earlier this month, Wunderman Thompson also announced other leadership appointments including KJ Lee as managing director for South Korea and Richa Dholi as VP for strategy planning for India.

Hong Kong – The Marketing Society, a global community for marketers, has announced new leadership appointments for Hong Kong which include Natalie Truong as its chair and Hina Wainwright being the new vice chair. The appointments aim to accelerate marketing leadership in the city and across the Asia-Pacific region upon entering the post-pandemic era. 

In their new roles, Truong and Wainwright will lead the society in Hong Kong by curating programme of events, conducting trainings, and mentoring marketing leaders and teams which is aimed to be a step for them to perform well for brands, business, partners and wider society.

They will be working with the non-executive board which includes Edward Bell, general brand manager at Cathay Pacific Airways; Nellie Chan, director of customer solutions at Google; Karl Gregory, head of digital channel, sales and customer engagement at HSBC Asia; Kiri Sinclair, founder and CEO at communications agency Sinclair; Seraphina Wong, co-founder and CMO at Women Workplace Index; and environmental service The ESG Consortium.

Truong brings with her experience in leading B2C and B2B organisations from various industries including professional services, financial services, superannuation and telecommunications across Australia, New Zealand and Asia whilst Wainwright also carries with her leadership experience working at global organisations in Asia from various industries including marketing services, life sciences, engineering and the arts.

Whilst serving the organisation, Truong is simultaneously the current chief marketing officer and partner at consulting firm Mercer. Meanwhile, Wainwright is concurrently with independent marketing service adm Group, similarly holding a chief marketing officer position.

Darren Chuckry, outgoing chair of the society said that it is an honour to serve the society in Hong Kong, knowing that they became connected with inspirational marketers.

Sophie Devonshire, chief executive officer at The Marketing Society, added, “As we look towards exciting times ahead, we are delighted to have two formidable marketing leaders at the helm. Natalie and Hina each have a wealth of rich experience, and are ready to steer new energy into our community.”

Founded in 1959, The Marketing Society is a non-profit organisation that builds community of marketing leaders around the world, with its hubs in England, Scotland, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and New York.

Australia – Australian adtech company Cartelux has announced that it will take its presence to America by expanding operations to the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Simultaneously, the company appointed Matthew Tickell to lead its operations.

The expansion to American markets, which is cited as the world’s second-largest car market, is a step to further cement its identity as the world’s leading ad-tech provider for the automotive industry. Furthermore, the company added that the expansion comes after its success in European markets at the beginning of 2022 along with its consistent growth in Asia-Pacific Region.

Tickell’s appointment will have him lead the business operations of the company in America. He is an automotive industry leader with a 15-year experience in managing automotive dealerships and automotive software providers. In his last stint, he was with automotive software provider e-GoodManners as director of sales and equity partner.

Joshua Williams, founder and CEO of Cartelux said that they are excited about adding Tickell as part of their team in America. 

Williams added, “Our business has been globally scalable from the beginning and now we are rolling out that capability. Our US engagement also allows us to establish a footprint in the world’s biggest equity market. After North America & Canada, we will add the LATAM market in the second half of this year to complete a global reach.”

Meanwhile, Tickell expressed his delight in leading the expansion of Cartelux into America, whilst believing that the company is by far the most innovative, value-adding, and cost-effective marketing solution.

“Understanding the US mentality of ‘Think Big, Think Forward’, I am confident the Cartelux solution will be well adopted as the perfect platform for centralising dealer marketing programs across sales, finance & aftersales,” he added.

With its significant growth both in APAC and Europe, the company has also appointed Kristin Harder as global head of strategy and partnerships in 2022 and Hervé Genin as general manager for EMEA in 2021.

Cartelux has been working with brands such as Ford, Renault, and BMW Group.

South Korea – Wunderman Thompson has announced the appointment of KJ Lee as its managing director for South Korea to lead the agency’s operations in the country and build a business with creativity and technology at its core. 

Lee will also support the growth ambitions of existing clients by collaborating with the APAC network whilst securing new businesses by delivering innovative solutions to the challenges being faced by Korean brands.

Lee brings with him a 20-year working experience in advertising companies. In his last stint, he was with creative agency Serviceplan Group as executive director. Working with at advertising agency Leo Burnett, tobacco company Philp Morris International, and WPP’s Geometry Global were also some of his previous experiences.

Furthermore, Lee formerly served as Havas’ vice president, where he led the team’s growth in a highly competitive market. Aside from winning the lead creative agency for premium brand BMW Korea during his stint, he was able to expand client categories to healthcare, and mobile game and platform industries.

Ewen Sturgeon, international CEO at Wunderman Thompson said that they are thrilled to have Lee in their leadership team due to his deep understanding of the challenges in the modern marketing industry.

Meanwhile, Lee said that he aims to strengthen the agency’s presence in Korea by making it a positively recognized, highly recommended, and deeply respected agency in the country.

“The Wunderman Thompson network, including Korea, has the data and innovative strategic and execution tools to build inspiring consumer-centric, omnichannel communications – adding value and meaning to our clients and partners,” he added.

Earlier this month, the Indian leg of Wunderman Thompson has also appointed Richa Dholi as vice president of strategy planning in India.

Australia – Amidst its global growth, independent marketing and communications agency Bastion has announced the appointment of Karen Powell to the newly created global role of group chief operating officer. 

In her new role, Powell will oversee the agency’s global operations across client, business, people, and marketing functions whilst ensuring that it continues to deliver world-class experiences to brands. Furthermore, she will help in maintaining the agency’s presence in major cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Los Angeles, New York City, Wellington, and Auckland, as well as its agency partnerships across 10 Asian markets. 

Powell brings with her a strong background in regional go-to-market planning, integrated digital marketing, audience intelligence, marketing automation and experiential events working across Asia Pacific and North America.

Prior to joining Bastion, Powell was with Australia’s longest-standing B2B marketing agency McCorkell and Associates since 2006. In her entire stay in the agency, she held several positions including being its general manager and managing directorwhere she has advised several multinational brands such as Salesforce, Lexus, Telstra, EMC, AIG, Harley Davidson, SAP, and AMEX.

Whilst working with McCorkell and Associates, she also assumed board director positions at Dress for Success Sydney and B2B network ICON APAC. In addition, she formerly served as managing director of B2B agency BBN for APAC. 

Jack Watts, chief executive officer at Bastion, said that they are thrilled to have Powell in their agency, especially that they have spent over a decade establishing Bastion as a global outift that delivers deep expertise.

Powell believes that the agency is unique in terms of its integrated model across business units, providing expertise from various disciplines and world-class work for clients.

“I look forward to working with the diverse, curious, and creative people at Bastion as we continue to grow the new world agency,” she said.

Singapore – To further build its creative strengths in the Asia-Pacific region, global creative and media agency VaynerMedia has appointed Yash Murthy as its group creative director for Australia to lead the creative vision for the agency amidst its growing team in the country.

Murthy brings with him a wide range of creative, strategy and social experience. He previously served as head of creative and strategy for the restaurant Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen in Australia, where he built and led the in-house strategy and creative agency team.

He has also assumed several positions at design and innovation company AKQA including being the social media and creative director; director of brand strategy, social and creative for APAC; and executive strategy and creative director. Furthermore, he stood as group account director for social and content at advertising agency M&C Saatchi in Australia. 

In his new role, he will work closely with Amy Bradshaw, agency’s head in Australia.

Bradshaw said, “With his hybrid background as a business and creative leader, Yash truly understands our integrated approach and is well positioned to drive real impact for our clients and VaynerMedia’s growth.”

Meanwhile, Murthy strongly believes that in the midst of the fundamental reimagination of how brands are built, consumed and cultivated, VaynerMedia is equipped enough to deliver.

He added, “Partnering with our clients here in Australia to create this future in big, bold and impactful ways is a prospect I’m incredibly excited about.” 

VaynerMedia has also recently announced other appointments in the region including Chan Woei Hern who assumes the position of head of creative for Asia-Pacific.

Singapore – Global creative and media agency VaynerMedia has appointed Chan Woei Hern as the head of creative for Asia-Pacific, where he will further strengthen its credentials as an integrated consumer-centric agency in the region.

The seasoned creative brings with him an experience in the advertising world across the creative, media, content and film segments. He previously served as the executive creative director of VMLY&R Commerce for Malaysia and Southeast Asia, where he integrated and accelerated growth in the areas of creative commerce.

Woei Hern has also led the creative teams at advertising agencies Naga DDB, dentsu, and Ensemble and has worked with brands such as Grab, Nippon Paint, Maxis Communications, Petronas and Munchy’s.

In his new role, he will be reporting to Tim Lindley, managing director of VaynerMedia APAC.

Lindley said that when they started to find a successor for VJ Anand, who was recently promoted to the ECD position for the EMEA region, Woei Hern was on the top of their list. 

Lindley added, “His excitement for our attention-first model, his curiosity across platforms, and his passion to develop great people make us even more excited about the next phase of our growth. Woei Hern is an exceptional creative talent, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the team.”

Meanwhile, Woei Hern commented on how inspiring the energy is in the media agency. 

He added, “I can’t wait to see what an amazing adventure this will be to bring the culture to life through the work we do together as a team.”-

Last November 2022, one of the leaders of VaynerMedia APAC, Jonathan Gerard, who is its head of production, joined MARKETECH APAC as one of the speakers at the webinar, What’s NEXT 2023: Influencer Marketing in APAC. As part of the panel discussion, Gerard shared his insights on how brands should best engage with influencers as their content creator partners.

New Zealand – Due to its commitment to maintaining its growth, research and testing platform Stickybeak has appointed Anna Fitzgerald as its first head of global growth. In her new role, Fitzgerald will help in accelerating the platform’s global growth and give more support to its growing customer base.

Prior to joining Stickybeak, Fitzgerald was previously based in London, where she served as operations director for Edify systems in 2021, a hospitality software company. 

Fitzgerald will be directly reporting to Anna Henwood, chief executive officer of Stickybeak.

Henwood said that with Fitzgerald’s passion and knowledge of growing tech start-ups, the Stickybeak platform is set to maintain its continuous growth.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald said that she’s thrilled to see the quality of technology companies that are based in New Zealand. 

She added, “Joining Stickybeak was an easy and exciting decision owing to its global impact, how it connects businesses and NGOs with real people in real-time, and its incredible team.”

Founded in 2019, Stickybeak helps individuals, academics, authors, unions, local government organisations, small businesses, and startups to commission public quantitative surveys. Their notable clients up to date include Dole International Foods, SC Johnson, Tetra Pak, Klook, The World Health Organisation, Edelman, and Ogilvy.

London, United Kingdom – Committed to global expansion and future growth, global integrated communications agency WE Communications has announced two regional executive roles for APAC and EMEA, promoting Avian WE group CEO Nitin Mantri to regional executive managing director for APAC, and WE’s UK managing director Ruth Allchurch to regional executive managing director for EMEA.

Mantri and Allchurch will both help in strengthening the agency’s operations in APAC and EMEA by overseeing client retention and business development, nurturing the teams of talents, and driving strategic growth initiatives through the development of new client services and capabilities. 

The two new hires will report to the president of International and global chief operating officer Kass Sells, who oversees WE’s eight international markets and its affiliate network. 

Speaking on Mantri’s appointment, Sells said that he has demonstrated his ability to develop teams and business operations that fuels the agency’s growth. Meanwhile, Sells considers Allchurch as a leader of action who will extend her knowledge to EMEA, after seeing her as an instrument for growth in their UK Business.

Sells added, “I’m proud of how each of these leaders has evolved at WE, developing their teams, building successful relationships with clients, all with an eye toward the future.”

Meanwhile, Melissa Waggener Zorkin, global CEO of WE Communications, said, “Our sector and services growth, expanded client partnerships, and acquisitions in these international markets have created an exciting inflection point for our business. We are well positioned to make strategic changes to our broader international leadership team that will enable us to build our blueprint for future growth.”

Mantri will maintain his Avian WE Group CEO title while Allchurch will continue to manage WE’s recent acquisition of Hopscotch Consulting.