Tag: Appointments

Singapore – Global data and measurement-driven media agency Essence has promoted Magda Wolder, its former EMEA creative strategy head, to be the new head of experience for its APAC unit. 

Wolder brings with her over a decade of experience in bringing advertising and ideas together in the media, technology, and entertainment industries. Prior to joining Essence in 2018, she has worked as the senior researcher for Netflix EMEA in the Netherlands, and the lead creative strategist and head of customer closeness at broadcast media company Sky in the United Kingdom.

In her new role, Wolder will be heading the agency’s team of creative strategists, conceptual thinkers, and design experts, as well as technology-powered production partners, to create data-driven creative innovation for Essence’s clients in the region. This team will continue to incubate and develop next-generation, privacy-compliant personalized creative experiences through Essence Global Ventures – the agency’s Singapore-based innovation, research, and development hub, which is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Commenting on her promotion, Wolder said that they have a very talented creative team and cannot wait to see what they will achieve together in 2021.

“Our work at Essence demonstrates that data and technology complement a creative idea, and are not the idea itself. In addition to my focus to drive personalization at scale for our clients in APAC, I am keen to help nurture emerging creative talent and imagination in this region,” said Wolder.

Meanwhile, Essence’s SVP, Client Partner, APAC, and Singapore Managing Director Monica Bhatia, shared that they are delighted to have Wolder join the APAC team. 

“With her impressive brand experience, as well as her deep understanding of Essence’s unified approach to data that brings creative and media closer together, we are looking forward to the creative innovation she will bring to media channels and content programs for our clients in this region,” said Bhatia.

T. Gangadhar, the CEO of Essence APAC, commented, “With Magda’s leadership, I am excited about the creative technology and experience products our Experience team will continue to deliver through Essence Global Ventures, which will be scaled to help brands across APAC and globally successful in the new economy.”

Wolder’s appointment is part of the agency’s corporate and product strategy, which will further strengthen its specialist capabilities, namely advertising operations, analytics, and data strategy, as well as experience, and consulting, alongside its media services offering, which includes media planning, media activation, automation and media technology.

Beijing, China – As global communications firm Edelman looks into unifying their public relations and creative work in East Asia, the agency has now added a new member of its growing leadership team, Pully Chau as the recently-appointed agency’s president in Greater China.

Chau brings to the agency 33 years of agency leadership experience to her new role, having served as CEO for Greater China at marketing company Cheil Group, a role she was promoted to in 2017 after joining as the Group’s first woman COO in 2015. During this time, she led the Greater China teams to deliver acclaimed work on the global stage while growing the business to win accounts such as Volkswagen, Tempo, Infiniti, and Coca-Cola.

She grew her passion for integrated communications while working on the P&G business for 17 years at advertising agencies DMB&B and Saatchi & Saatchi in both Hong Kong and Shanghai. She has also previously served as Greater China CEO & Chairman for DraftFCB, an advertising company that has since then rebranded as FCB.

Speaking on her new role, Chau comments, “Nothing beats the excitement of joining the largest PR agency in their quest to redefine the game. With a unified mission to drive fast growth through integration, and by empowering the company’s diverse team of high-flying talent, we are going to take the industry in a new direction.”

Chau will report to Stephen Kehoe, Edelman’s President and CEO for Asia-Pacific, as she will lead the charge on enhancing the agency’s existing offerings and launch new specialist capabilities to further fuel growth.

“Pully is known in the industry as a game-changer. She is the right partner to build Edelman’s future in these unique, high-growth markets that are evolving ahead of the curve. She is a proven business driver, having led large agencies and won substantial client remits at the highest level. Pully is very well connected across Greater China and will be a force multiplier for Edelman in the region,” Kehoe stated.

Moving forward, Chau will be also receiving reports from the leaders of Edelman’s businesses across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taipei; namely, Mark Wang, Adrian Warr and Alexandra Pao, which will aid in building synergies across offices and driving growth across the Greater Bay Area.

The agency now comprises four offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, and comprises over 400 people, a figure that is growing as they add new business to their client roster, which includes adidas, Cathay, Ernst & Young, HSBC, HP, and Mars.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Dentsu Malaysia has recently appointed three new leadership hires to strengthen its media service line executive committee.

The new hires are Asha Nair, the new managing director of media investment and platforms, Jing-Wen Foo, the new e-commerce director, and Hemanth Jayaraman, the new partner and agency brand lead of DentsuX.

The initiative is part of the evolution of dentsu’s recent rebranding and transformed organizational design, building a powerful end-to-end marketing and communications offering that connects consumer understanding, data, ecommerce, and technology with media, creative, and customer experience management.

Nair brings with her over 20 years of media solutions expertise in digital marketing and advertising. Prior to joining Dentsu Malaysia, she has previously worked as the managing director of media company Xaxis and marketing agency INCA, where she led the growth of AI-powered programmatic and content marketing solutions for GroupM Malaysia. 

Nair has also worked at various media agencies such as MediaCom Malaysia, where she was the head of interaction, and Starcom Malaysia, where she was the digital lead. She has also driven results for clients such as Mars Food, P&G, and Telekom Malaysia, as well as Volvo, and Nespresso, among others. 

In her new role, Nair will be responsible for managing client media investments, trading, and platform activation across offline and online channels for the entire media service line.

Meanwhile, Foo joins Dentsu Malaysia from Shopee and Shopback, where she consistently drove growth for more than ten consumer product verticals by using advanced technology to make online shopping experiences delightful, rewarding, and effortless. 

Prior to that, she has supported the global roll-out of BMW’s digital content model out of Munich headquarters and spearheaded BMW Malaysia’s digital marketing campaigns amongst younger consumer groups.

Foo will now be responsible for scaling and growing dentsu’s end-to-end ecommerce capabilities across marketplace and direct-to-consumer commerce.

And lastly, Jayaraman, who has previously worked as the senior brand manager at Hennessy VS and Hennessy VSOP, where he maintained market share leadership and share of voice for Moët Hennessy Diageo Malaysia’s core brand portfolio. 

Before joining Hennessy, Jayaraman worked at food and beverage company PepsiCo Malaysia, where he drove volume and share growth for Lipton Iced Tea and oversaw the brand growth strategy for Tropicana juice brands for eight APAC markets. He has also founded and sold his own events and activation agency, Switch Strategies, which managed top brands such as Audi, Lamborghini, and UOB, as well as Hong Leong, and Johnnie Walker Malaysia.

Jayaraman will now be leading Dentsu X, which helps brands create integrated and personalised marketing solutions to deliver ‘Experience Beyond Exposure’.

Dentsu Media Malaysia’s CEO Dheeraj Raina shared that they are building a technical and data-driven marketing spine that goes end-to-end in our business that will chart new frontiers in our industry. 

“I am excited that Asha, Jing-Wen, and Hemanth will join me in unpacking all our dynamic, data-driven tech-enabled media capabilities towards meaningful progress for clients,” said Raina.

Singapore – Public Groupe’s creative communication hub Publicis Communications has promoted Sharim Gubbels, its former group creative director, to be its new executive creative director for advertising agency Leo Burnett in Singapore.

Gubbels has been with Publicis Communications for the past five years, focusing on growing social and digital expertise across Publicis’ brands. In his former role, Gubbels has previously worked with Leo Burnett for the past 18 months leading the McDonald’s account. He has also worked on Samsung, Audi, and Disney accounts.

In his new role at Leo Burnett, Gubbels will be working closely with Publicis Communications’ CEO Lou Dela Pena and Chief Creative Officer Jennie Morris. He will be responsible for reimagining the agency’s ethos of HumanKind – the agency’s bold philosophy that represents the notion that ads must be centered on meaningful experiences – and what it means for creativity and clients in the new normal.

Commenting on his promotion, Gubbels said, “HumanKind is such a powerful way to create and foster true connections between brands and people, and I can’t wait to further expand on Leo Burnett’s already amazing body of work, and its ethos.”

Meanwhile, Morris shared that as the world re-evaluates what is really important and returns to the ideals of culture and community, there has never been a more important time for its ethos of ‘HumanKind’. With this, she sees Gubbels as the perfect person to lead the creative charge at Leo Burnett.

“Work like the highly acclaimed McDonald’s Ramadan ‘My Happy Table’ activation shows the power of what’s possible when we set out to not just solve business problems, but human problems,” said Morris. 

Dela Pena also commented that they are excited to elevate one of their brightest talents to lead the next chapter of Leo Burnett’s growth and to deepen human connections for their current and future clients.

Last April, Leo Burnett launched one of its projects with McDonald’s Singapore, physical activation ‘My Happy Table’. It uses technology and a camera set-up to help Singapore-based individuals ‘reunite’ with their families in Malaysia during Ramadan.

Mumbai, India – Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R in India has recently appointed Payal Vaidya as its new executive vice president of experience design.

Vaidya brings with her 19 years of global experience in transforming brands and businesses through collaborative leadership and problem-solving skills across India, APAC, and the US markets. Prior to joining VMLY&R, she co-founded the management consulting firm The Thinking Hats Innovation in New York City, which focuses on launching, sustaining, and innovating with brands on their experiences, products, and services.

Furthermore, Vaidya has also worked with various marketing agencies and consultancies like Ogilvy, Grey, and Publicis. She has helped start-ups, not for profits, and Fortune 500 companies like P&G, L’Oréal, and Unilever, as well as Tata, and Lowe’s, among others.

In her new role at VMLY&R, Vaidya will be a part of the senior leadership council, leading the customer experience design vertical, and will be responsible for evangelizing design thinking and customer-first experiences within the agency and with clients.

Commenting on her appointment, Vaidya said that she is thrilled to join the agency and help transform brands and businesses to create phenomenal experiences through creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. 

“It’s exciting to see the human-centered design approach permeate through agencies and brands alike, and I look forward to building on VMLY&R’s existing practice to allow us to truly put the customer at the center for every client,” said Vaidya.

Meanwhile, VMLY&R India’s CEO Anil Nair commented, “In our journey to becoming a complete marketing partner to our brands, we have been evolving our Customer Experience practice. For that precise reason, we are happy to have Payal on board to evangelize the importance of customer strategy and partner brands on the delivery of elevated experiences for their consumers.”

Sydney, Australia – Connected marketing agency Digitas in Australia has recently appointed Rebecca Zemunik, former senior director of business development and alliances at digital business transformation firm Publicis Sapient, to be its new managing director.

Digitas is a connected marketing agency by advertising and public relations company Publicis Groupe that offers creative, data, media, and strategy, as well as technology experts. It aims to help brands better connect with people.

Zemunik brings with her more than 20 years of experience, spanning tech, consulting, and telco. Besides her previous role in Publicis Sapient, she has also worked as the lead of the financial services at digital customer experience firm Accenture Interactive, the director of customs solutions at software company Responsys, and the senior account director at creative communications agency Sputnik.

The new role, which will be effective July, will see Zemunik leveraging her expertise in business development, alliance management, and client relationship management, as well as people management, and digital transformation, to continue to drive the growth of the agency.

Commenting on her new role, Zemunik said, “I’m thrilled to be joining a world-class agency with Digitas Australia. I know first-hand the caliber of people and the exceptional work they continually produce. I look forward to working with the team and our clients in the future.”

Meanwhile, Digitas ANZ’s CEO Adrian Farouk shared that Zemunik is an intuitive operator who understands the importance of connecting clients with the right talent and supporting teams to deliver outstanding business results. 

“She joins at a crucial time for our agency. We are humbled to have someone with Bec’s talent come on board to chart the next evolution of our growth,” said Farouk.

Michael Rebelo, the CEO of Publicis Groupe ANZ, also commented, “Bec is a highly-skilled digital business leader with a proven track record in our Groupe. Her move from Publicis Sapient to Digitas is a testament to our ability to provide progressive career pathways for our talent. I have no doubt she will continue to excel in her new role within the Publicis Groupe family.”

Zemunik’s appointment comes after the decision of the existing Digitas Australia Managing Director Ian Gough to move back to the United Kingdom with his family.

Singapore – GroupM’s outcome-driven media company Xaxis has recently appointed Silvia Sparry as the company’s newest chief operating officer, following the company’s celebration of 10 years in operation.

Prior to her new position, she has served as Xaxis’ vice president of global operations and platforms.

In her new role, Sparry will help translate how differentiating capabilities such as Xaxis’ proprietary AI platform Copilot or GroupM Choreograph can be consistently leveraged by clients to deliver better outcomes from their digital media investments.

In addition, Sparry will lead Xaxis’ global operations and will focus on accelerating Xaxis’ journey to become an artificial intelligence (AI) and data science first company. Responsible for technology platforms, partnerships, operations and process excellence, Sparry will work to maximise synergies across Xaxis’ 47 markets, as well as across the wider group, including GroupM and WPP.

“I’m excited to take on my new responsibilities at Xaxis at such a momentous time of change. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Nicolas and the talented Xaxis teams around the world to further transform the business into an AI and data first company, that equips its people with the capabilities and know-how to deliver the very best outcomes for our clients over the next decade and long into the future,” she said, regarding her appointment.

She will report to Nicolas Bidon, global CEO at Xaxis, who commented that Sparry has a proven track record of driving transformative initiatives, adding that they could not think of anyone better to help the company continue their 10-year journey of innovation and growth.

“As programmatic advertising continues to conquer new channels like audio, TV or out of home, marketers are looking for globally scaled specialists that can help them accelerate their own digital transformation and growth. To help our clients seize the opportunities presented by this ever changing and complex ecosystem, it is more important than ever for Xaxis to have a strong global operational leader who can drive operational excellence and innovation across the globe,” Bidon stated.

Xaxis’s presence in Asia has been evident, with the recent appointment of Aravind Menon as managing director of Xaxis in Malaysia, as well as working with Singapore-based proptech Really for programmatic advertising.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Following the company’s endeavor to launch a new data center of excellence (COE) in response to the digitalization of the company’s business decisions for the used car industry, Carsome has recently appointed Piyush Palkar as the company’s latest chief data officer.

The former head of data at iflix and subsequently WeTV iflix brings to Carsome a vast experience in data and analytics across banking, energy, media and entertainment, and retail. Despite being a construction engineer by qualification, he ventured into data since his varsity days.

Palkar will lead data maturity, data engineering and management, ML/AI-based data-driven innovations, business intelligence, insights and data analytics in Carsome. He will also embed data culture in the organization to support organizational efficiency and agility through data.

Speaking about his announcement, he stated, “I am very excited to be part of the team that digitalizes the used car industry, now further strengthened by cutting-edge data technologies, as democratizing data and providing near-real time insights to different business functions are vital in driving innovation and efficiency. We will leverage data to improve customer experience via personalization, customer segmentation and propensity models.”

Palkar’s appointment by Carsome will also aid the company in its quest to use data, which allows Carsome to power its business at all stages while supporting strategic decisions. The combination of auction and market data, and machine learning (ML) model backs Carsome’s proprietary vehicle pricing optimization and inventory support system. It also helps the company in understanding different user personas and their journey as a customer, and allows for analytics-backed inventory acquisition and liquidation strategy.

Carsome co-founder and group CEO Eric Cheng explained that the company has amassed a wealth of data after six years in business, where data of hundreds of cars pass through Carsome’s platforms every single day. “By setting up our data COE, we are on full throttle in implementing data science solutions, along with data-driven insights to increase operational efficiency.”

“Our in-house data capabilities and machine learning automations increase work efficiency and enhance timely, evidence-based decision-making abilities, which in turn helps our customers get good quality services from Carsome,” Cheng added. 

The company also believes that data helps in digitalizing workflows and processes by improving internal products with artificial intelligence (AI) and ML capabilities. Application of AI and ML include automating various operations tasks, such as car number plate masking and car scoring engine; these reduce the time an inspector takes to inspect a car and therefore promote better efficiency internally while providing faster car-selling process for consumers.

Carsome is on track to hit an annualized US$1 billion in revenue by the end of the second quarter (Q2 2021). The company is also expected to complete a number of major merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions that will further cement its market leadership position in the next six months.

Delhi, India – Global data and measurement-driven media agency Essence in India has appointed Sonali Malaviya, former senior vice president of client services for Essence’s Google business in INSEA, to be its new managing director for the India team.

Malaviya brings with her 20 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Essence in 2018, she has previously worked as the chief operating officer at beauty company Colorbar Cosmetics and the country marketing lead at Twitter India. 

In addition, Malaviya has also held senior roles at various companies such as media companies Mindshare and PHD, market research firm Roy Morgan Research, and marketing agency MediaCom in India, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia.

In her new role, Malaviya will be responsible for leading Essence’s continued client-centric innovation in data, analytics, and technology, as well as business growth, and company culture for the agency in the market. She will be joining the agency’s APAC leadership team and GroupM India’s executive committee and will be reporting directly to Essence APAC’s CEO T. Gangadhar and GroupM South Asia’s CEO Prasanth Kumar. 

Commenting on her appointment, Malaviya said that she is truly honored to have the opportunity to lead Essence in India, as over the past three years, she has witnessed the growth of the agency, clients, and employees.

“I am looking forward to partnering with our highly talented teams and leveraging our industry-leading capabilities to help even more brands in India achieve data-driven growth and transformation, as well as valuable connections with consumers,” added Malaviya.

Meanwhile, Gangadhar said, “India continues to be a priority for Essence in APAC and globally, and with Sonali at the helm, I am very excited about our next phase of growth and development in the market.”

Kumar also commented that with Malaviya’s background and significant achievements, she will add to the capabilities of the agency and work with the teams to improve the client experience.

“As we continue to develop leaders internally, Sonali is also part of our growing pool of talent taking on various leadership roles across GroupM India. I look forward to working with Sonali and leveraging her expertise,” said Kumar.

Just recently, Essence has also announced the launch of its new pro bono initiative ‘Essence Impact’, which aims to aid non-profit organizations in their digital transformation.

India – Advertising agency TBWA\ India has recently launched ‘Weapon’, a new data practice that aims to solve key growth problems and challenges faced by CEOs. 

‘Weapon’ is a mix of creativity and data that seeks to solve the growth, profitability, and efficiency challenges of today’s organization in an increasingly complex and ever-changing business landscape.

Following this endeavor, the agency has also appointed Vishwajit Vyas, former senior manager of software company Automation Anywhere, to be its new head of data practice, effective immediately. 

Vyas brings with him his broad experience at high-growth startups. He specializes in data analytics, leading large teams for clients across technology, banking, financial services, and healthcare, as well as retail, and consumer packaged goods. Vyas has also led the development of new products and services that met the analytic needs of Fortune 500 companies and has been on founder teams developing strategic initiatives for long-term business growth.

Aside from working previously at Automation Anywhere, Vyas has also spent five years working at India’s decision sciences firm Mu Sigma across many roles spanning delivery, product, and strategy, as well as the founder’s office.

In his new role, Vyas will be responsible for developing and delivering TBWA\ India’s data strategy, while working closely with the global collective, leveraging TBWA’s unique capabilities to implement intelligence, which will continue to shape its clients’ thinking and execution across the marketing and advertising value chain.

Commenting on his appointment, Vyas said that he is excited to join TBWA and help fuel the level of innovation and strategic thinking the agency can offer the brands, finding opportunities to unlock growth using the power of data.

“The CEO is faced with a multitude of factors that are affecting brand performance and growth. The ever-changing customer needs and behaviors across channels have necessitated the use of data in creative and meaningful ways. At the same time, the need for a nuanced understanding of the customer and the market is ever-present,” Vyas said.

He added, “‘Weapon’ is an opportunity to become a trusted partner of the CEO, helping them articulate the problem, define it with data, design a solution, and finally execute it efficiently at a tactical level.”

Meanwhile, TBWA\ India’s CEO Govind Pandey shared that TBWA is on a continuous journey to find new avenues through which they can deliver disruptive growth, and ‘Weapon’ is their way to be strategic partners to the clients throughout the value chain.

“Our deep consumer focus, cultural creative design – now combined with our expertise in data-led insights and execution – is critical in framing and answering the key growth questions that every CEO has,” said Pandey.