Tag: Appointments

Sydney, Australia – Australia’s independent media agency, Nunn Media, has appointed Jennifer Olmi, former senior digital associate director at media agency Havas Media, to assume the newly created role of digital director at its Sydney office.

Olmi brings with her extensive end-to-end experience from the brand through to performance. Aside from working at Havas, she has also worked as the digital marketing manager at multinational beauty company Coty for three years, managing digital activity across diverse brands including Gucci, Hugo Boss, Marc Jacobs, Rimmel, and Burberry, as well as Tiffany & Co., and Covergirl.

As the first digital director of Nunn Media Sydney, Olmi will be reporting directly to Nunn Media’s head of digital, working across its growing portfolio of clients to ensure all aspects of digital are integrated into broader media strategies.

“I’m delighted to be joining Nunn Media and look forward to working with the team and its clients to drive their digital media objectives. As an independent, Nunn has built an enviable service and results-driven reputation and I’ll be playing my part to build on that success,” commented Olmi, regarding her appointment.

Meanwhile, Chris Walton, the managing director at Nunn Media, shared that Olmi has a strong strategic understanding of digital channels and how advertisers can best use them to grow their brands and deliver returns on their investment. 

“As our client roster continues to expand, she will bring her expertise to further strengthen our digital media capabilities,” said Walton. 

Nunn Media specializes in integrated strategy, planning, and media buying. The front and center of its business model is a philosophy – “all great relationships are built on trust.”

Singapore – Marketing analytics company AppsFlyer welcomes strategic technology marketing veteran Sam Chiu as the new senior director for marketing for Asia-Pacific, where he will be responsible for spearheading AppsFlyer’s brand awareness, strategic marketing strategies, and demand generation for the company in the region.

Currently based out of Hong Kong, Sam will relocate to AppsFlyer’s SEAPAC hub in Bangkok, where he will play a critical role in driving AppsFlyer’s go-to-market strategy for over 22 markets across ASEAN, South Asia (including India and Pakistan), Japan, Korea, and ANZ.

Sam brings an extensive amount of experience with close to twenty years of digital transformation and omni-channel strategy implementation to AppsFlyer’s Southeast Asia-Pacific (SEAPAC) team. His full stack marketing tech career spans Boston, New York City and Hong Kong across agencies like iProspect, publishers and ad networks such as Microsoft and Yahoo, as well as B2C & B2B advertisers, with deep experience driving campaign results for various Fortune 500 firms.

Speaking about his appointment, Chiu said, “AppsFlyer is experiencing phenomenal growth, not only in APAC but globally, and I am honored to work alongside talented individuals in the team to further advance our marketing efforts and assert AppsFlyer’s dominance in the region. AppsFlyer is well-positioned to help marketers transform their businesses, and the mobile marketing industry continues to expand with the use of mobile apps wildly increasing day by day. I am excited about what lies ahead.”

Chiu will report to Ronen Mense, president and managing director for APAC at AppsFlyer.

“Throughout the last twelve months we have continued to focus on growing AppsFlyer, not only in APAC, but globally. In a crucial time of AppsFlyer’s expansion, Sam brings in a wide range of experience, having worked at an array of established players in the industry. His role will drive key business goals in the region,” Mense added.

Melbourne, Australia – Independent media agency Match & Wood has appointed former strategy director at media company Initiative, Sam Enshaw, to be its first-ever national strategy director.

The appointment will see Enshaw, who will be based in Melbourne, leading the strategy offering across Melbourne and Perth offices, working on key clients in the education, energy, and health and insurance, as well as finance and technology sectors.

Besides previously working at Initiative, Enshaw was the former regional implementation director at IPG Mediabrands in Singapore, assisting clients including Johnson & Johnson, Netflix, and Spotify. He has also worked at media and advertising agencies Carat, McCann, and UM.

“They have developed strong teams across both Melbourne and Perth and continue to secure work with leading organizations across the country. I’m looking forward to contributing to the agency’s continued success,” said Enshaw.

Meanwhile, Match & Wood’s Managing Director Lyndelle O’Keefe commented that Enshaw is an award-winning strategist who has worked with major brands both in Australia and across the region. 

“He’s a great talent who will further enhance our core strategic capabilities, at a time when we are experiencing new and organic business growth. I’m delighted to welcome him to the team,” said O’Keefe.

Match & Wood said that Enshaw’s appointment comes after a significant period of growth for the agency, which has seen 13 new hires this year, including Stuart MacDougall, the new national performance director, and Jodie Allen, the new communications advisor, as well as Keleigh Moore and Tiffany Doan, the new communications managers.

London, United Kingdom – Dentsu International has announced the appointment of Fred Levron, former worldwide creative partner at advertising agency FCB, to be its new global chief creative officer.

Levron brings with him over two decades of experience in the creative industry. Aside from previously working at FCB, Levron also worked as the global executive creative director at entertainment agency CAA Marketing, and the executive director and creative director at creative firm Ogilvy Paris.

According to dentsu, Levron’s appointment would be helping accelerate the company’s creative ambitions across its agencies and for its clients, who make up 95 of the top 100 advertisers globally. 

As part of his new role, Levron will be leading the network’s holistic creative agenda and its portfolio of creative agencies worldwide. He will also be building on dentsu international’s current capabilities and storied Japanese creative roots. In addition, Levron will be responsible for the network’s creative product and for accelerating creativity across the entirety of dentsu international’s creative, media, and CXM agency brands.

“I’m so excited to start this new transformation journey. We have the opportunity to build a unique creative company that brings creativity, tech, data, media, entertainment, and commerce together to become the most attractive place for talents out there and the most relevant partner for the biggest brands,” said Levron, regarding his appointment.

Meanwhile, Wendy Clark, the global CEO of dentsu international, commented, “Fred has one of the most lauded portfolios and creative reputations in the business. His appointment accelerates and emphasizes the importance of creativity as the hallmark of everything we do. I’m counting down the days until he joins.”

This new leadership appointment will take effect in November 2021.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Global esports organization Galaxy Racer (GXR) has appointed Allan Phang, former regional head of marketing and PR of professional esports company EVOS Esports, to now assume the role of chief marketing officer. 

Galaxy Racer holds a roster of eleven esports teams in various online battle games such as Legends, Dota 2, CS: GO, and Fortnite, as well as PUBG Mobile, and Free Fire. It has over 60 male and female esports athletes from 22 countries, with over 20 content creators across the Middle East North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia (SEA).

The organization said that Phang’s leadership appointment aims to lead the development of best-in-class strategic marketing plans to establish GXR’s brand presence on a global scale. She will be handling the organization’s marketing initiatives from social media and digital campaigns to advertising, partnerships, and creative projects.

Aside from previously working at EVOS Esports, Phang also worked at AirAsia for close to seven years and his roles included being the head of esports, leading as well in the areas regional marketing, ancillary income, employee engagement, as well as internal branding, corporate culture, partnerships, and business development. Most recently, he led the airline’s esports strategic initiatives including the AirAsia Allstars Esports Club, sponsorship activation for Mineski Dota 2 Esports Team, and the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) by Alisports, the sports arm of Alibaba Group. 

“I believe Galaxy Racer is on the right path to be a market leader in this space with their integrated 360 approaches focusing on content and lifestyle, as brands and marketers begin to understand the true value of esports and gaming in connecting with the hard-to-reach demographics of Millennials, Gen Z Digital Natives and Gen Alphas,” said Phang.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Racer’s CEO Paul Roy commented that Phang is a highly experienced business leader with a proven track record, including his vast knowledge and network in the esports ecosystem, which they value immensely. 

“As Galaxy Racer evolves into a lifestyle brand, I am confident with his cross-cultural leadership qualities, passion for innovative marketing, and forward-thinking mindset, he will be able to take us to the next level as we aggressively continue our global expansion across continents,” said Roy.

Galaxy Racer has also announced that it has recently brought onboard Guenther Hake, the senior vice president and general manager of Disney Consumer Products in Greater China and CEO at Oriental DreamWorks. Hake will be assisting in an advisory role with GXR’s brand partnerships, consumer products, apparel, and merchandising endeavors.

Sydney, Australia – Precision, the newly launched marketing science practice by independent agency network M&C Saatchi AUNZ, has announced the three new senior hires it has appointed to lead, to signal an accelerating start following its first week of operation.

The new appointees are Steve Wright, the new director of data and technology, Olivia Nadile, the new research manager, and Tahl Finkenberg, the new data and analytics manager.

Wright brings over 16 years of experience working with an enviable list of blue-chip clients across Europe and Australia, helping them realize the value of data science to drive deliberate action and growth. 

On his appointment, Wright commented, “The unique opportunity to blend the power of data with the existing creative success of the Group is something I am excited to be a part of and can honestly say – I can’t wait to get started.”

Meanwhile, Nadile brings a qualitative and quantitative edge to the team. With her broad sector experience gained from time working with a long list of major Australian brands including ING, Sanitarium, and ANZ, as well as Jetstar, and Cochlear, among others.

“Opportunities like this don’t come around very often. I’m excited to jump in and support the group in realizing the opportunity of creativity and quantification coming together,” Nadile noted.

And lastly, Finkenberg brings with him his extensive analytics background, having spent the most recent phase of his career specializing in market mix modeling and other data-driven projects for dentsu and CHE Proximity. He said, “The opportunity to help build on and evolve M&C Saatchi’s data and analytics capability is so appealing. I’m looking forward to making a difference and working with the Precision team.”

Precision is a continuation of the M&C Saatchi Group AUNZ’s long-term growth strategy, accelerating the unique union of creativity and quantification. Its launch comes several weeks after James Collier’s elevation to chief data officer, who will be leading the design and internal development of Precision and will spearhead its rollout and growth.

“As we interviewed Steve, Olivia, and Tahl, it became obvious that not only were they incredible at what they did, but their diverse backgrounds would give us a real breadth of perspective. This diversity of thought will set us up for success and it’s a privilege to welcome them to the team,” said Collier.

New York, USA – Global health communications network Havas Health & You has announced that Eric Weisberg will now take helm as the network’s new global chief creative officer, effective August 2021.

In his new role, Weisberg will guide the creative output globally for the company through his deep experience in storytelling, innovation, media and content. He will report to Donna Murphy, global CEO of HH&Y.

Prior to his new position, he served as global chief creative officer at agency network Doner Partners Network, where he led a creative and new business rebirth at the 750-person micro-network. His tenure marked the most awarded era in the agency’s history, including wins from Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Nature’s Bounty, Travelocity, to name a few.

In addition, he was also formerly the global executive creative director at advertising company J. Walter Thompson which is now Wunderman Thompson, where he was responsible for creating the agency’s first integrated creative group blending expertise in traditional, digital, and customer relationship management (CRM).

“The zeitgeist of the world is driven by health and will be for the foreseeable future. The COVID and post-COVID era has deeply impacted our global consciousness, with every brand now needing a point of view on how they protect and advance consumer quality of life. There is no better place to revolutionize the global health dialog, in every category, than at the world’s largest and most capable network. I am delighted to join the over 5000 people of HH&Y and be a part of their next era of growth, innovation and creativity,” Weisberg said, regarding his appointment.

Meanwhile, Murphy commented that from the moment she met Eric for this opportunity, she knew that he was the right person to help unlock the next chapter for HH&Y — driven by the creativity, digital transformation and innovation that today’s brands want and need. She added that the opportunities and challenges that exist for businesses today require creative problem solving more than any time in recent history.

“Eric’s proven track record as a creative force and his understanding of connecting consumers through digital platforms, data-driven storytelling and content partnerships will be a vital complement to our investments in customer experience, content, technology and analytics. His reputation as an award-winning digital expert and hybrid creative leader adds a new dimension to our seasoned global leadership team. Eric also brings cultural compatibility with our agency with his people-first leadership style and shared passion for purpose-driven work,” she added.

Havas Health & You unites Havas Life, Health4Brands (H4B), Lynx, Red Havas and Havas Health Plus, all wholly owned health and communications networks, with the consumer health businesses and practices of Havas Creative Group.

Tokyo, Japan – GroupM’s outcome media specialist company Xaxis has appointed Leanne Bowles as the new general manager for Xaxis Japan, where she will drive the growth of programmatic advertising in a highly-wired Japanese market while managing the agency’s relationship with its growing pool of clients.

She brings ten years of experience within the GroupM network, including over four years with Xaxis Asia Pacific before moving to Mindshare China where she held the position of partner for investment strategy for over three years, creating, delivering, and executing proprietary solutions to drive value for her clients.

Prior to her appointment, Bowles previously led the Mindshare Balance Champions initiative in China to raise awareness and support colleagues on their well-being journey. She will leverage her experience in Mindshare’s DEI (Diversion Equality Inclusion) Council to further drive Xaxis’ initiatives and instill a value-driven organization that celebrates diversity.

She will report to Arshan Saha, CEO for Xaxis Asia-Pacific and Michael Beecroft, CEO at Xaxis Northeast Asia.

“I’m incredibly excited to be returning to the Xaxis family, and am looking forward to working together with Arshan Saha and Michael Beecroft once again. . In an era where leaders need to take charge and foster a culture of work-life balance, diversity and inclusion. I’m honored to have the opportunity to drive this in my role in Japan,” Bowles said, regarding her appointment.

Saha, meanwhile, said that Leanne is incredibly talented and that they are thrilled to have her back at Xaxis. He added that Bowles’ experience in growing teams and delivering outcomes for clients, combined with Xaxis’ AI in programmatic and creativity, will bring incredible value to the company’s operations in Japan.

Beecroft added, “Leanne has proved herself as an invaluable member of the GroupM family, whether in Xaxis or Mindshare. Her knowledge and diverse experiences from across the GroupM network will empower her for this role as General Manager at Xaxis Japan. Importantly, Leanne is also extremely passionate about championing female leaders, and inspiring people like her will truly make a difference in our industry.”

Australia – Marketing and communications firm Havas Creative Group in Australia has announced a new leadership movement – the elevation of Olly Taylor, its former chief strategy officer at creative arm Host/Havas, to assume the newly created role of chief strategy officer.

Taylor is an industry strategy veteran who has worked at Host and its subsequent merged Host/Havas business for almost 18 years. He originally joined Host Sydney in 2003 as the agency’s first planning director.

Prior to joining Host, he worked as a senior planner at advertising agency Fallon in London, after beginning his career at another advertising company DMB&B in 1998.

As the first chief strategy officer of the Group, Taylor will be leading the overall strategic business of Host/Havas, Red Havas, One Green Bean, Havas Commerce, and a new research and insights capability, Havas Labs. His remit spans across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

Furthermore, Taylor will be responsible for the development of IP and processes for world-class strategy across paid, earned, and owned media, on and offline.

Commenting on his new role, Taylor said that he is truly excited by the opportunity to now lead the creative group strategy across brand, creative communications, and data, as well as PR, and social among others. 

“Alongside the team, I’m looking forward to developing integrated strategies that deliver great work, meaningful impact for brands, and results across the board. With such great brands in the Havas Creative Group, the opportunities are plentiful,” added Taylor.

Meanwhile, Havas Group ANZ’s Chairman Anthony Freedman shared Taylor joined Host as a young, but talented brand planner and immediately made an impact, playing a key role in the agency’s success and a long list of effectiveness awards. 

“In the many years since, he’s become a completely integrated strategic thinker, a canny spotter of emerging talent, a much-respected agency leader, and a very dear friend. I don’t know why we didn’t give Olly this broader role years ago. It’s long overdue and much deserved,” said Freedman.

Singapore – Global sports media platform, Group ONE Holdings (ONE), has appointed David Levy, former president at American television and media conglomerate Turner Broadcasting Inc, to its board of directors. He will serve as lead director, and will be actively involved in the development and execution of the platform’s strategy.

ONE is a sports media property that broadcasts across more than 150 territories with some of the largest networks and digital broadcasters, including Star Sports, Beijing TV, and TV5, as well as Turner Sports, and Dubai Sports, among many others.

Levy brings with him 30 years of proven leadership experience in the sports and media sectors. In his previous work, Levy has led Turner Sports’ media rights and defined the division through its association with premium sports content, events, and brands like the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship (March Madness), NBA, and MLB, as well as PGA Tour.

Levy has also overseen Turner’s addition of premium sports properties when it acquired the rights to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) – including UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and the UEFA Super Cup – which later became the foundation for the direct-to-consumer streaming sports destination, B/R Live.

In his appointment, he will be developing strategies to expand its live events, content platforms, and reach in the U.S. and other key international markets, including assisting in its media rights expansion efforts.

“ONE has an incredibly talented and visionary Board and management team, and I believe my complementary experiences and relationships will enable us to capture the significant opportunities that lie ahead as the demand for live sports and creative programming reaches new heights across traditional and digital channels,” said Levy.

Meanwhile, Chatri Sityodtong, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Group ONE, commented that Levy is the perfect addition to the board with his proven track record of working with the largest sports leagues in the world.

“We look forward to working with David as we accelerate our strategy to bring our popular martial arts and gaming content to the U.S. and other international markets,” said Sityodtong.