Tag: Appointment

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Used car e-commerce platform Carsome has appointed Ravi Shankar Mallavarapu, former chief growth officer at AirAsia, as the company’s new chief marketing officer. Through his new role, he will be heading multidisciplinary functions and continue to drive Carsome’s leadership in all marketing-related aspects.

As part of his chief marketing officer role, Mallavarapu will be overseeing Carsome’s brand, marketing, digital, social media, public relations, growth, market research and customer experience. He will also work closely with Derek Tan, chief brand officer at Carsome, on brand, creative, production and sponsorships.

He brings with him close to 15 years of experience in digital, brand and growth marketing. He spent six years across multiple firms in India, before moving to Malaysia. During his latest stint at AirAsia, he has built an in-house digital marketing team and transformed it into a growth team, which runs ads to develop marketing products, in line with the company’s business direction of pivoting from an airline to a super-app.

Speaking about his appointment, Mallavarapu said, “I am thrilled to be a part of Carsome’s journey of building a trusted car ownership ecosystem using data and technology. Being the industry leader, Carsome is in a good position to bring change to user behaviour in the Southeast Asian region, where most car transactions are done offline.”

He added, “We can move this online by establishing trust and the best customer experience at every touchpoint. I look forward to making Carsome the top-of-mind brand in this region and connecting the dots between brand, marketing, technology and data.”

Meanwhile, Eric Cheng, group CEO and co-founder at Carsome, commented that said appointment is an important move to continue strengthening Carsome’s leadership team to achieve greater heights.

“Ravi is a data-driven marketer who balances creativity with excellent execution. We are very excited to have him onboard to accelerate our business growth and help establish Carsome’s mission in the market, which is to create a new standard of buying and selling cars,” Cheng added.

Australia —Toyota in Australia has announced the appointment of Toyota veteran Vin Naidoo as its new chief marketing officer. Naidoo ascends from his general manager role in the automotive company which he held since 2020 leading the APAC leg.

Naidoo joined Toyota Australia in 2002 after graduating from Melbourne University as a mechanical engineering major. Naidoo assumed various positions at Toyota since then, and now brings an extensive experience in after-sales, product planning, national fleet and national sales, as well as regional operations. From 2013 to 2020, he was the head of sales of Toyota’s luxury vehicle brand Lexus in Australia.

Naidoo commented that his focus as new CMO will be to articulate Toyota’s compelling vision as a mobility company, connecting everyone “with the freedom to move and be moved.”

“This will require even deeper collaboration across all parts of our business as we navigate the once-in-a-century transformations occurring simultaneously in connectivity, autonomy, sharing and electrification. We will communicate the unique benefits to customers of Toyota’s industry-leading vehicles and services. We will also build on our success by accelerating innovation in the spirit of continuous improvement, which is a cornerstone of our company culture,” he said.

Naidoo replaces John Pappas who has been promoted to chief executive at Lexus Australia.

Singapore — Media investment group GroupM has announced the appointment of Anne Ng, former senior director for corporate communications in Lagardéré Sports, as the new director of marketing and communications for the Asia-Pacific. Ng will lead communication strategies for the APAC market, moving forward GroupM’s vision of “Making Advertising Work Better for People”.

Ng holds extensive experience in marketing campaigns for high-value clients. Aside from her director role at Lagardère Sports, she’s held positions as communications manager for Singapore Grand Prix where she was in charge of the media centre and press functions for Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. She also authored and published a book, produced an HIV anti-stigmatisation movie, and founded a publishing and communications consultancy ‘A Good Word’ prior to joining GroupM.

At Lagardère Sports, Ng headed corporate communication functions across APAC and the Middle East and was instrumental in amplifying the company’s brand equity in Greater China.

Ng will join the APAC regional leadership team. She reports to Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO of GroupM APAC, and Jill Kelly, chief marketing officer of GroupM Global.

Ng shared her thoughts on the appointment, saying, “As many media evangelists like me will attest to, GroupM is a leading, visionary brand whose work has fundamentally transformed the landscape of media, influenced consumer habits, and shaped global culture. GroupM is poised to be a force for good and I look forward to maximizing the potential of our trailblazing talents across the region, help strengthen the agencies’ already powerful legacies, and generate far-reaching value for clients.”

Meanwhile, Srivastava welcomed the investment group’s new signing.

“We extend a very warm welcome to Anne whose values, mindset, and wealth of experiences dovetail with the GroupM ethos. She will work closely with our regional leadership team to drive our collective agenda in shaping a new era of advertising that’s focused on bettering businesses and benefiting communities,” Srivastava said.

Last November, GroupM held its third annual ad marketing conference entitled SourceCode in Malaysia, which saw the company inviting key leaders from several top-tier brands to talk about how they are shaping the marketing landscape.

Hong Kong — Digital creative agency AnalogFolk has announced the appointment of Dixi Song, former senior strategist of Publicis Groupe, to be its new strategy director for Asia. Song will be responsible for bolstering the agency’s full-service offering for the market. 

At Publicis Groupe, Song was tasked with handling and leading the strategy for leading the company’s top-tier clients like Cathay Pacific and Under Armour. Song also holds extensive experience and expertise in the financial service business where she supported HSBC in its Asian wealth business.

Chris Ryan, managing director and partner at AnalogFolk Asia, commented, “360 customer experience planning is in increasing demand from our clients and Dixi brings that expertise to our team in Asia. She is fanatical about using data to help brands to become customer-first. She is an exciting new talent for us, not only adding another dimension to our team but also bringing a lot of energy to our culture.”

Meanwhile, Song shared her thoughts on her appointment, saying that as the world is looking forward to life beyond the pandemic, the company understands clients placing increasing emphasis on digital transformation and positive societal impact.

“AnalogFolk’s strong digital pedigree and its global ambition to be an agency of change was a key reason for my interest in working with them. I’m really excited to use my experience to build on our capability in Asia and to guide client strategy in this era of rapid change,” Song said.

This January, AnalogFolk also launched their new behavioural transformation consultancy ‘Mindworks Consulting’ to deliver augmented business outcomes to both marketing strategy and organisational design through applied behavioural economics.

Singapore – MediaCom, the media agency by media investment company GroupM, has announced the appointment of Rupert McPetrie as APAC CEO, following the upcoming departure of Mark Heap, who is moving within the group to join sister agency Mindshare as its EMEA CEO.

McPetrie, who will also continue his current role as CEO for Greater China, will expand his area of responsibility to lead the regional operations of the WPP-owned network and take responsibility for more than 1600 people across 21 offices. He will also join the MediaCom Worldwide Exco and will be reporting directly to Global CEO Nick Lawson. 

Rupert holds extensive experience in Greater China having spent six years leading MediaCom in the region. Aside from his work in MediaCom, he’s held leadership roles in regional operations during his time as the CEO of media company Zenith for Central and Eastern Europe.

Lawson shared his praises for the upcoming APAC CEO.

“Rupert is quite simply a brilliant leader. Throughout his time leading our China operations, he has developed numerous client solutions and brought the best talent to our agency via game-changing solutions and capabilities, such as Incite Consulting and China Passport. All his great work has grown our business from number 6 to number 2 in the market, and we look forward to him reapplying this magic across the region building on Mark’s outstanding legacy,” Lawson said. 

McPetrie said he is thrilled to take on this expanded role and have the opportunity to work with all the people and clients to build on the strong business momentum the company has in the region.

“This is in part due to the recent slew of new business wins, such as The Coca Cola Company and Bayer, but importantly also down to our incredible clients and the work we do for them across APAC. Our People First, Better Results proposition has been at the heart of our growth, together with our extended Bigger Picture capabilities that drive our clients’ businesses forward,” Mcpetrie said.

Singapore – Following the conclusion of its ‘Blazing Sapphire’ main event to mark its fifth-year celebration, integrated communications agency COMCO in Southeast Asia has announced the appointment of public relations and communications practitioner Joyce Yu as the agency’s newest deputy account operations director for marketing PR. 

She will be leading the agency’s teams who are managing some of the clients, including Eastern Communications, Jobstreet, Sunlife ASCP, Skechers, Lamoiyan Corporation’s Licealiz Head Lice Treatment Shampoo and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

With more than a decade of experience working in the field, Yu specialises in media relations, copywriting, social media management, event management, and journalism. 

Speaking about her appointment, she said, “Prior to joining COMCO, I’m already familiar with the company, the team, and the projects that they’ve accomplished through common friends in the industry. I’m very excited to be part of an award-winning dynamic team, to learn from the leaders, and hopefully give back through mentoring those who want to learn about the ins and outs of the industry. I’m really thankful to be given this opportunity.”

Aside from Yu, COMCO also welcomes its newest staff members, who are graduates of the Camp COMCO Mentorship Program. They are Louise Macaraeg and Cherry Gajito as brand communications associates, Bea Cabrera as digital and integrated communications associate, and Narah Faigal as digital and multimedia arts associate. 

Ferdinand Bondoy, regional integration and chief executive director at COMCO, commented, “Despite recent challenges and limitations brought by the pandemic, I’m immensely proud to see our COMCO Squadron thrive and grow. Joyce, Louise, Cherry, Bea and Narah joining the team is very exciting as we cap off our Blazing Sapphire anniversary and expand to new horizons this 2022.”

Singapore – Marcus Pousette, formerly the country manager for Southeast Asia, Greater China and Korea at PubMatic, has been appointed by brand suitability platform and YouTube measurement program partner Channel Factory as its newest managing director for Southeast Asia. In his new role, he will be working closely alongside Channel Factory President, Alex Littlejohn, to drive business growth across the Asia-Pacific region.

As he brings into the company an 11 year-track record in revenue growth and in managing large accounts across enterprise verticals, Pousette will be leading the company’s go-to-market strategy, sales, and operations teams across Southeast Asia and India. 

The latest appointment move comes as Channel Factory scales up its efforts in the region by leveraging Asia’s growing online advertising market. 

Speaking about his appointment, Pousette said that he is excited to join Alex and the team in building a better digital advertising ecosystem, especially in a market that is rapidly evolving in the region.

“Furthermore, in a region that is extremely diverse, there is the added challenge of brands relating to the right consumers. Our goal at Channel Factory is to enable brands and marketers to consciously connect with their audience in the right context, and align with their brand values,” he said.

Meanwhile, Littlejohn commented that someone with such calibre on board like Pousette is crucial as they gear towards the continued expansion of their business heading into this year.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity of working alongside brilliant people like Marcus, and push for progress, further transparency and conscious advertising across the industry. Marcus’ experience in scaling a company for international success will be invaluable to us as we continue to focus on the importance of brand suitability and elevate online advertising standards for our clients,” he added.

Along with Pousette, Channel Factory has made a number of hires to its Southeast Asian team including MediaCom’s Dhanesh Tarani, AnyMind Group’s Dawn Lee, and dentsu’s Tom Yap. This is in line with Channel Factory’s business plan in expanding its operations across the region, specifically in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Singapore – Mitchell Kreuch has been promoted to the role of managing director for Southeast Asia at Twitter, coming from his previous role as part of Twitter’s APAC agency development. In his new role, he will be responsible for continuing and accelerating Twitter’s revenue growth in Southeast Asia.

He will be reporting to Yu Sasamoto, vice president for Asia-Pacific at Twitter.

Prior to joining Twitter in 2017, Kreunch l spent almost three decades in the sales, marketing, and media industries across the US and in Asia Pacific. He has worked for global brands such as The Walt Disney Company, Yahoo!, and the New York Time

Speaking about his appointment, he said that in his new role, continuous growth of the platform in Southeast Asia is a top priority, adding that having led Twitter’s agency development in the APAC region for the past two years, he is excited to expand the role to lead the revenue growth team in the Southeast Asia region.

“Through Yu’s leadership and collaboration with our amazing team across the region, I look forward to unlocking more opportunities and continuing to showcase Twitter’s values to help brands stay connected with our audiences in the region,” Kreunch said.

Meanwhile, Sasamoto commented that they are excited to have Mitchell lead their revenue growth and continue accelerating their revenue growth across the Southeast Asia region.

“With Mitchell’s extensive experience in sales, media, and marketing over the past three decades, I’m confident that he will be a strong leader for our Southeast Asia sales team, strengthen our client and partner relationships across this region, and increase our commitment to Southeast Asia as a high-growth region for Twitter,” he added.

Singapore – Wunderman Thompson in Singapore has appointed Yeo Wee Lee as its new head of technology, where he will be overseeing the agency’s technology team, and work closely with the leadership team to deliver business solutions and growth to clients.

His new position takes effect immediately, and he will report to Nimesh Desai, chief executive officer at Wunderman Thompson Singapore. 

Lee was most recently the project director and program manager for Integrated Health Information Systems (iHIS). He previously served Wunderman Thompson as a technology director before joining WPP as project manager for business systems.

He brings in over 3 decades of experience, including application development, technology consulting and business process transformation, working with clients such as Singtel, Starhub, Citibank, Changi Airport Group, McDonald’s, to name a few.

Speaking about his appointment, he said, “It’s great to return to this family. Wunderman Thompson has made significant strides and I look forward to working [with] the team and clients.”

Meanwhile, Desai commented, “We have ambitious plans for 2022. As we continue our positive trajectory on all fronts, a huge focus is on strengthening our tech capabilities. I am glad to be working with Yeo again, and believe he will help us reach our goals.”

Singapore – Mediabrands, IPG Mediabrands’ media and marketing solutions arm, has appointed Harrison Boys to the newly-made role of APAC director for standards and investment product, effective immediately. He will be responsible for leading the strategic direction and product development for digital standards in the Asia-Pacific region, and will focus on developing and maintaining long term brand hygiene strategies.

In addition, Boys will be also responsible for working closely with partners to ensure that their product development roadmap is aligned with Mediabrands future facing standards strategy; and developing internal products that provide a more transparent view of our partner ecosystem to our clients.

With eight years of industry experience, five of which with Mediabrands’ MAGNA, he has been responsible for delivering significant projects around brand safety, ad fraud, media responsibility, and in-depth media partner assessments, in addition to developing investment products.

One of his notable works include being the author of the “2021 Dis/Misinformation Challenge for Marketers” research study report, which examines the accelerating amount of inaccurate and misleading content appearing across online news outlets and social media platforms; and what brands can do to ensure a more brand-safe environment.

Speaking about his appointment, he said, “I am excited to be working back home in the Asia-Pacific region. Working in such a diverse region is an exciting prospect as it offers significant opportunities to contribute to the sustainability of the online ecosystem.

He will be reporting to Raja Kanniappan, chief financial officer at Mediabrands APAC, and will be based in New Zealand.

Kanniappan said, “The topics areas Harrison specialises in have become increasingly important to clients, agencies, and the wider industry. Harrison’s objectives for the region will be to implement strategy and education on media standards, increase alignment and capabilities for assessing our media partners, and working with existing teams to advance our investment product.”

Meanwhile, Leigh Terry, CEO at Mediabrands APAC, commented, “Welcoming Harrison to Mediabrands Asia-Pacific is the latest in a series of key appointments where we are investing in specialized talent within our region to provide a central and consistent focus to progress the health and sustainability of our industry, in addition to working with clients and platforms to share best practices around upholding suitability standards for advertisers.”