Tag: Appointment

Singapore – Ogilvy Asia has appointed Kunal Jeswani as the new group CEO for Ogilvy Singapore and Malaysia, succeeding Chris Riley, who is departing the agency, effective June 2022.

Jeswani has been with Ogilvy in India for the last 17 years. He has been CEO of Ogilvy India since 2015. Prior to that, Jeswani was the chief digital officer of Ogilvy India. During Jeswani’s tenure as CEO, Ogilvy India has become a leading agency in the Indian market.

He holds an extensive understanding of the business, having spent over two decades in the communications industry. Among his successes, he is known to have worked with high-value clients namely Unilever, Mondelez, Vodafone, Pidilite, The Tata Group, and The ITC Group. He has also worked on the launch of the Indian Premier League for the Board of Cricket Control in India and the South Asia Cricket Boards’ successful bid for the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Kent Wertime, Ogilvy Asia co-CEO and chairman of Ogilvy Singapore and Malaysia Group, said of the appointment, “I couldn’t be more thrilled that Jeswani is taking up this important role. Jeswani lives the Ogilvy spirit: he cares deeply about Ogilvy people and what we stand for, he is focused on building close client relationships, he is deeply passionate about the creative product for our clients, and he constantly aims to shape and transform the Ogilvy service offering through innovation, new capabilities and new partnerships.”

Simultaneously, VR Rajesh will be elevated to group president of Ogilvy India. As group president, he will lead the integrated Ogilvy India P&L across all offices and will be responsible for the acceleration of all core Ogilvy capabilities in India.

Piyush Pandey, chairman of global Creative and executive chairman of Ogilvy India Ogilvy, commented that Rajesh is a fantastic leader and a pivotal driver of their business and culture. Pandey added that Rajesh joined Ogilvy in 2004 and has grown from strength to strength within Ogilvy.

“Since 2018, he has led Ogilvy Mumbai and Kolkata, growing the business consistently year after year. He embodies Ogilvy values and knows how critical it is to nurture strong talent in our business. He is a powerful growth driver, an influential client partner, and a passionate creative partner. Rajesh also understands the importance of transformation in our business and has demonstrated this time and again – championing new transformative roles, new capabilities and new revenue streams,” Pandey said.

India – dentsu India has announced the appointment of Arjuna Gaur as chief creative officer of Dentsu Webchutney & dentsuMB. Gaur’s new role is to increase both firms’ creative mandate. 

He will be responsible for creative thought leadership across the network, combining the expertise of Dentsu Webchutney and dentsuMB to provide clients with forward-thinking creative solutions. Gaur will report to Ajay Gahlaut, dentsu creative India’s group chief creative officer (GCCO).

Gaur has earned over 40 national and international honours over the course of more than 16 years of experience. Prior to this, he worked as a creative director at Leo Burnett India, MNC Saatchi Kuala Lumpur, BBDO India, and Grey. 

Since then, he’s collaborated with a slew of household names in the business sector, including Coca-Cola and Amazon as well as P&G and PepsiCo and Wrigley’s as well as Celcom and Airtel and GE India and HP. He also has a background in filmmaking thanks to Equinox Films.

On his appointment, Gaur said, “The talent and energy of the creative teams at Dentsu Webchutney & dentsuMB are limitless and frankly, a little intimidating. There is no better creative role in the country right now than this.” 

Ajay Gahlaut, group chief creative officer at dentsu Creative India, said that it is a privilege to have yet another brilliant creative onboard as part of the team. He says that Arjuna is a rare creative person who is equally adept at traditional and new age media.

“We are looking forward to him significantly raising the creative quality of our output and adding even more value to the solutions that we provide to our clients,” Gahlaut adds.

Singapore – Julie Nestor, formerly the chief marketing officer of Manulife APAC, joins global financial services company Mastercard as its senior vice president as well as head of marketing and communications for Asia-Pacific. In her new role, she will lead the company’s integrated marketing and communications (IMC) team.

Said team plays a critical role in building and maintaining corporate reputation, as well as bringing Mastercard’s promise to life for banks, fintechs, governments, merchants, consumers and other stakeholders.

In addition to that, she will also focus on deepening consumer engagement through ‘Priceless’ – the company’s long-standing marketing platform.

During her stint at Manulife, she was responsible for marketing, brand, digital and customer experience, customer insights, product design, data analytics, digital strategy and communications. Nestor also holds 25 years of marketing experience across the financial services, technology and hospitality industries, including 13 years at American Express in Australia and Hong Kong.

Speaking about her appointment, she said, “I am excited to get on board and get involved. I love working in Asia Pacific, know the markets well, and understand the operating model. Coming into Mastercard, I look forward to bringing all I have learned across financial services, technology, e-commerce and hospitality to deepen engagement with customers and partners, and to build incredible experiences for consumers.”

Nestor will report jointly to Ari Sarker, president for Asia-Pacific, and Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer and president for healthcare. She will also become a member of the Asia-Pacific leadership team and the global marketing and communications leadership team.

Meanwhile, Sarker commented, “Leading Mastercard’s world-class marketing and communications team requires a unique blend of industry mastery, business acumen and managerial skills. Julie not only has these in spades but she also brings with her immensely diverse, yet incredibly relevant experience across a range of adjacent industries that are critically important for Mastercard’s business. Combined with her long track record of leading highly engaged, inclusive and high performance teams, she is an ideal fit for the role and we couldn’t be more delighted to have her onboard.”
Nestor takes over from Rustom Dastoor who has relocated back to New York as executive vice president of marketing and communications for North America following four years in the role.

Hong Kong – Global clothing brand ESPRIT has announced a slew of digital and marketing leadership appointments to boost its international expansion. The new appointees are namely Edwin Pak as chief technology officer; Maximilian Wang as vice president and head of marketing and communications; Calvin Wang as vice president and head of brand strategy, innovation and partnerships; Ivy Au as vice president, head of digital marketing; and Tiffany Chu as vice president and head of e-commerce and CRM.

These seasoned professionals will lead ESPRIT’s e-commerce expansion, creating a seamless experience by integrating physical and digital businesses across its online and retail stores worldwide, bringing customers closer to its refreshed offerings. All new appointments report to Larry Luk, chief digital and marketing officer at ESPRIT, who was recently appointed in March this year.

With over 20 years of international experience, Pak will spearhead the development of ESPRIT’s digital offering by leveraging his extensive experience in enterprise systems development and creating game-changing digital solutions for industry giants including Hitachi and ABB.

Meanwhile, Maximilian Wang has more than 17 years’ experience including senior lead roles in both in-house and in agency, and will oversee branding, corporate communications, brand & loyalty marketing, and visual merchandising to cement ESPRIT’s impression and relevance to new and existing customers worldwide.

With over 12 years of fashion retail, editorial and brand management experience, Calvin Wang will steer the co-creation of ESPRIT’s brand strategy to meet international business ambitions and rejuvenate its fashion presence.

On the other hand, Au arrives with over 17 years of experience across APAC, and will bridge brand marketing and e-commerce to drive channel deployment efficiency, and amplify the effective use of data to locate and reach the right audience with messages that drive sales conversion.

Lastly, Chu joins boasting over 10 years of experience in e-commerce, and will be responsible for expanding ESPRIT’s digital footprint and accelerating the establishment of e-commerce touch points, as well as working together with the product, brand marketing, digital marketing and technology functions to ensure the brands’ digital success.

Speaking about the appointments, Luk said, “I am pleased to have such an array of experienced and sophisticated talents joining us in this exciting mission to breathe new life to the ESPRIT brand. The team’s regional expertise will add significant value to the rollout of our eCommerce expansion strategy. I look forward to leveraging their passion and expertise in brand building to continue to bolster the ESPRIT brand across key international markets.”

London, United Kingdom – Hybrid Theory, a data-driven digital services partner for brands and agencies, has announced the appointment of Sean Badlishah as its new managing director for Asia-Pacific.

Badlishah brings an illustrious career spanning two decades in the media and advertising industries. After launching his career at Leo Burnett Worldwide in London, he returned to Singapore to hold multidisciplinary roles at some of the most prestigious agencies in the world, including Ogilvy & Mather, M&C Saatchi, 3M, and Y&R. 

Prior to Hybrid Theory, Badlishah also headed up three other successful agencies, the most recent of which was Zoo Group, a boutique strategic creative agency.

Speaking about his appointment, he said, “I have ambitious plans for Hybrid Theory in Asia Pacific and look forward to the challenge of growing and fast expanding its footprint. I spent many years in the Creative industry and believe that the learnings I gleaned in that space, coupled with Hybrid Theory’s audience discovery and data insights capabilities make for a powerful and unique combination in APAC, one that the region is craving for, and I look forward to exploring further with both our agency and brand clients.”

Meanwhile, Patrick Johnson, CEO at Hybrid Theory, commented, “I have ambitious plans for Hybrid Theory in Asia-Pacific and look forward to the challenge of growing and fast expanding its footprint. I spent many years in the creative industry and believe that the learnings I gleaned in that space, coupled with Hybrid Theory’s audience discovery and data insights capabilities make for a powerful and unique combination in APAC, one that the region is craving for, and I look forward to exploring further with both our agency and brand clients.”

Hybrid Theory has also announced the promotion of Inês Martins to the role of global head of product.

On Martins’ promotion, Johnson commented, “In her new role, Hybrid Theory and its clients will benefit from Ines’ instinctive understanding of business dynamics and prescient ability to predict changes in the industry, skills that are imperative to furthering our company’s product and technology vision at pace and offer innovation in a rapidly evolving industry landscape.”

Mumbai, India – Dentsu’s media agency Carat in India has appointed Sayami Podder as its new associate vice president for strategy, where she will be responsible for spearheading strategic thinking for the agency. In addition, she will also offer insights to the existing agency clients across the West and South regions in India.

She will be reporting to Anita Kotwani, CEO at Carat India.

With more than 12 years of experience, Sayami is specialised in brand, media & communication strategy, consumer research and market mix modelling. She has worked across a wide range of categories including FMCG, beverages, fashion, BFSI, e-commerce and manufacturing.

She was previously with Mindshare India, where she led strategy for brands like Ultratech Cement, Castrol, SBI Life, ICICI and Kellogg’s. She has also worked with significant retail brands like Pantaloons & Max Fashion and new-age brands like Upstox, Byju’s and TCS Ion, to name a few.

Speaking on her appointment, she said, “The consumer journey is no longer linear, and the media ecosystem is constantly evolving to accommodate our new age audience. Carat is already known for its strategic thinking and integrated approach. With my expertise in data science and creative thinking, I am looking forward to building an insight-led strategy that will generate incremental and sustainable growth for our clients. I am delighted to begin this new journey under Anita’s dynamic leadership and contribute to Carat’s growth story for India.”

Meanwhile, Kotwani commented, “Talent today is the key differentiator that clients look for. Our core focus is to always ensure that we have the best talent that comes on board and joins the Carat family. Sayami’s diverse expertise across data & analytics, research, communication planning and media strategy, is certainly something that will drive growth for the clients. We see her as the ideal team player to lead Carat’s vision of ‘Designing for People’ in the West and South markets.”

Hong Kong – Dentsu International Hong Kong has announced the appointment of Napoleon Biggs as chief consultant, effective immediately.

In his new role, Biggs will offer consultancy for senior marketers in evolving their organisations in a digitally dominated world. He is also entrusted with driving integrated solutions for dentsu’s important customers by leveraging the agency’s broad spectrum of offerings across the three service lines, namely creative, media, and CXM.

Over the course of Biggs’ career, he has worked with more than 100 customers in a wide range of businesses, including airlines, zoos, and more. He is also a regular speaker on technology trends and digital disruption at international and regional conferences including Ad:Tech, Clickz Live, Google, HKU, HKTDC, among others and has delivered courses for HKU, Singapore Art Council, Omnicom University (Singapore & China), Yonsei University (Korea) and Google Squared. 

Digital transformation, omnichannel commerce, data leadership, and new kinds of digital business and culture and entertainment, such Web3, Metaverses, and NFTs, will be among the topics covered by Biggs.

On his appointment, Biggs said, “I can’t wait to plug my energy and expertise into the truly integrated agency platform that dentsu offers. The industry in Hong Kong is crying out for both creative and data-driven ways to engage their various stakeholders. And we’re teaming up to make it happen.”  

Simone Tam, CEO of dentsu International Hong Kong, shared, “With such depth and breadth of e-commerce, digital, marketing and business knowledge, Napoleon will add tremendous value to our clients and reinforce our leadership in the market in offering integrated solutions.” 

“I am confident that with Napoleon’s entrepreneurial spirit, we will go from strength to strength as the agency partner for modern marketers,” Tam added.

New York, USA – Singapore-based e-commerce delivery experience platform Parcel Perform has announced its continued expansion into the United States, as well as the opening of its first office in New York City. In addition, Tiffany Jensen has been appointed executive vice president for the Americas.

This development will enable Parcel Perform to provide on-site servicing to existing and new customers in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. The company’s success in curating unique end-to-end customer journeys and optimising logistics performance for its global customer base, which includes Nespresso, Decathlon, and Waterdrop, has resulted in the doubling of its team growth to better serve its global customers, with the launch of its European office in 2019 and US office in 2022.

Jensen has been named Executive Vice President, Americas for Parcel Perform, where she will be in charge of the company’s growth in the United States. She has over 20 years of direct and channel leadership experience with PGi, ON24, Andela, and nTopology, where she has established and expanded worldwide sales organisations. She helped PGi construct a platform for their channels business while also generating $20 million in sales. Jensen also increased ON24’s global strategic collaborations and alliances by 300 percent while overseeing a portfolio of some of the world’s largest corporations.

On her appointment, Jensen said that she is honoured and inspired to be joining Parcel Perform. 

“The company has built an exciting product and has proven to the market that they are innovative, efficient, and scalable to empower the next stage of e-commerce growth. Building on this foundation, we will continue to address very real challenges that merchants across different industries face here in the US,” Jensen said.

Jensen emphasised, “I look forward to working with a truly diverse and global team, executing our growth plans, and building the Parcel Perform brand across this region.”

Arne Jeroschewski, founder and CEO, Parcel Perform, shared that she is delighted that Parcel Perform is doubling-down on the US market, following their extremely successful expansion in the last 24 months, defined by new hires and partnerships. 

“Both my co-founder, Dana von der Heide, and I are thrilled to have Tiffany on board with us; she brings experience, passion, and leadership with a proven track record in building successful software businesses in the United States and Europe. Her appointment also highlights our ongoing success and commitment towards growing a truly global, diverse, and inclusive team at Parcel Perform,” Jeroschewski adds.

Parcel Perform’s focus for 2022 will be to increase its global market share through continued partnerships, deploying innovations in data science, and more profound efforts in customer acquisition. 

Singapore – Global advisory and advocacy communications consultancy APCO Worldwide has announced double leadership changes in Singapore as part of the firm’s next phase of growth across Asia, according to its CEO Brad Staples. The new appointments are James Yi as regional senior director of market development, Southeast Asia, Korea and Australasia, and JJ Lee as the new managing director for Southeast Asia.

Having served as managing director of Southeast Asia and Korea for APCO since 2018, Yi will focus more on driving new business and presence in the region across sectors, including health care, technology and in the social impact space. He will collaborate with APCO’s existing leadership in expanding APCO’s presence in key markets across Asia in coordination with both regional and global operations.

Meanwhile, Lee, a seasoned consultant with more than 15 years of experience in policy and strategic communications, has played an integral role in the growth of APCO in Asia. She has held a leadership role with WE Communications APAC prior to joining APCO.

Staples said, “Due to the great success achieved in Southeast Asia under the leadership of James and JJ over the past few years, we are looking to accelerate our plans for continued expansion in the region. APCO seeks to further facilitate growth with the shift in roles, so that we may be well poised to be a more resilient partner and offer the best APCO has to this important and fast-changing geography.”

He added, “This bolstering of our leadership represents our strong commitment to the region and propelling our business forward at this important intersection in regional growth. Coming out of the pandemic, governments, businesses and society all need to collaborate more proactively in establishing the necessary road to take in maximising development and prosperity—APCO wants to ensure we are there to help shape the direction of these organisations as we look into the needs of future society.”

Wellington, New Zealand – Global small business platform Xero has appointed Chris O’Neill to the role of chief growth officer, where he will be responsible for strategic direction and operational performance within Xero’s newly-created applications and services division, which represents part of Xero’s small business platform. He starts his role at Xero officially on April 4, 2022.

As he will be based in San Francisco, USA, he will be responsible as well for leading the strategic development of Xero in the Americas, and working closely with Tony Ward, president for the Americas at Xero.

Chris joins Xero having served as a senior executive, board member and investor for a number of global technology companies, including Google and Evernote. He also has deep leadership experience in global and North American consumer and enterprise markets.

Steve Vamos, CEO at Xero, commented, “The global cloud-based small business applications software market is still in a relatively early stage of development and represents a huge opportunity. Chris brings extensive experience to help further develop and grow a number of exciting business areas within Xero.” 

He added, “I look forward to Chris helping us further scale Xero’s business in the US and Canada, building on our go to market and product efforts to date; through partnerships, acquisitions, and further development of our product capabilities to meet the needs of customers and partners.”