Tag: Appointments

Mumbai, India – MediaCom, the media agency by media investment company GroupM, has appointed two new key senior talents to strengthen its core leadership team in India.

The new hires are Shekhar Sharma, the new North and East managing partner, and Averill Sequeira, the new chief product officer.

Sharma has previously worked as the vice president for digital platforms and services at GroupM, where he has been instrumental in spearheading a digital-first approach for brands varying from global to large Indian conglomerates and mid-sized businesses. He has also been an accomplished integrated marketing professional with experience in managing large media investments from global clients to large Indian conglomerates across different vertical

Sharma brings with him over 25 years of diversified experience in the media and marketing industry. His expertise ranges from crafting media strategies, bringing in an insights-based approach to sharpen the strategic planning and deliver ROI for clients. In his new role, Sharma will be responsible for the team’s offices, clients, and growth. 

Meanwhile, Sequeira was a GroupM alumnus, with over 18 years of experience across the media, communications, and consulting industry. She specializes in data, digital media, and strategy, as well as creativity. Her formative years were spent in developing audience insight tools and specializing in marketing ROI/ econometric modeling.

In her new role, Sequeira will be leading ‘Seeing the Bigger Picture’, a MediaCom Creative Systems wherein they use the power of data to bring together media and creativity, which was successfully soft-launched in the US and Australia, and is now ready to roll out to the rest of the world.

Commenting on the appointments, Navin Khemka, the chief executive officer of MediaCom South Asia, said that as the media landscape continues to accelerate and evolve, they want to build on the strong track record of helping brands build campaigns that deliver results.

“Today brands want to communicate quickly and effectively, and we believe that together with our new appointments, we will be able to deliver more powerful work for our clients. With having Shekhar and Averill as a part of our team, I am convinced that they’re uniquely positioned to successfully drive the company and are here to put their best foot forward towards offering the best solution to our clients and strengthening our portfolio,” added Khemka.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Malaysian arm of Universal Music, a division of Universal Music Group, has appointed Kim Lim as its newest managing director to help accelerate domestic artist development and label growth in the country.

The appointment comes as part of a series of strategic hires to further expand and bolster the senior management team as part of the company’s effort to accelerate domestic artist development and label growth within the region.

Through the appointment, Lim will oversee UMG’s operations throughout Malaysia. Based at UMM’s headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, she will report to Calvin Wong, CEO at Universal Music Southeast Asia and senior vice president for Asia.

Prior to her new position, Lim has held a variety of senior roles within the company, most recently serving as senior director of new business and artist management, as well as head of marketing and sales for Malaysia for Universal Music Malaysia.

She also spearheaded the launch of Celebrity 360, an industry-leading full-service management company which manages the careers of some of Malaysia’s most popular and influential talents from the worlds of music, film/TV, entertainment and lifestyle including Anis Nabilah and Alvin Chong.

Speaking regarding her appointment, she stated, “I am excited to lead the amazing team here in Malaysia, as we look at new ways to expand the horizons and think expansively about what is possible for a music company to achieve. We will continue to focus on domestic A&R, discovering and developing the best talent our country and region have to offer. 

She added, “We will innovate and carve new paths to ensure that Malaysia’s vibrant music culture is more accessible to partners, platforms and most importantly music fans throughout the region than ever before.”

Joining her as well in the recent slew of promotions are Hermond Cheng, director of A&R and marketing and head of Def Jam Malaysia; Ivan Koh as director of commercial and digital strategy; and Patrina Wong as finance and operations director.

Meanwhile, Calvin Wong, CEO at Universal Music Southeast Asia and senior vice president for Asia, commented, “I am thrilled that Kim’s ability, business innovation and strategic leadership have enabled her to rise from within UMM to the top job in Malaysia. Having been a passionate and successful marketing executive on the label side, she has achieved amazing results in transforming our non-recorded Income, whilst spearheading the innovative and successful launch of Celebrity 360 in Malaysia.”

He added, “I’m confident that with the team of Kim, Hermond, Ivan and Patrina in place, UMM will continue to expand the opportunities for Malaysian music talent around the world, whilst achieving new levels of success domestically.”

India – The Group Chief Strategy Officer of MullenLowe Lintas Group in India, S. Subramanyeswar (Subbu), has been elevated to now assume the same position for the whole APAC division of the company. Subbu will now take both roles as he continues to lead the strategy for brands at the India team. 

Subbu joined Lowe Lintas in 2011 as a national planning director. Since then, he has led major strategic thoughts or shifts for multiple brands across the clients that the group works on in India. The most notable is his thought-leading and breakthrough ‘Brands to Stands’ philosophy, methodology and frameworks that have been adopted by many of the brands that the agency steers in India. 

James Fox, the global chief strategy officer for the whole MullenLowe Group, is confident of the elevation, describing the new APAC CSO as one of the finest marketing minds in the region. 

“He is a true leader for his team and his clients, helping them achieve new heights professionally and commercially. I am very proud to have Subbu as part of the global planning council, leading MullenLowe Group’s strategic charge across Asia Pacific countries,” said Fox. 

Meanwhile, Virat Tandon, the group CEO of MullenLowe Lintas Group, shared that in the 10 years of having worked together, Subbu has played a huge role in not just improving and innovating the planning product, but also in forging strong partnerships with colleagues at the agency, clients and academia. 

“Having worked very closely with him over the last 10 years, I have to say that he is clearly one of the top brand strategists in the world. I am extremely happy that Subbu will take his amazing brand of strategic planning beyond South Asia and into all of Asia Pacific,” commented Tandon.

Subbu has spent over two decades in advertising and marketing, having worked at Wipro, Publics, Rediffusion Y&R, and Saatchi & Saatchi in the markets of India, US, and UK. He has authored and won 131 awards at prestigious award-giving bodies such as India Effies, APAC Effies, Global Effies, as well as Asian Marketing Effectiveness, WARC, and the globally distinguished Jay Chiat by 4A’s. Aside from being on the receiving end, he has also been a jury of each of the mentioned organizations. 

Subbu is also a regular columnist and passionate academic, being a visiting faculty at top business schools IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore in India and the renowned Kellogg School of Management, Illinois and MIT Sloan, Boston in the US.

On the new appointment, Subbu himself commented, “I’m honored, humbled and fired up. It’s a huge opportunity and that’s very exciting. At the same time, I’m also grounded on the challenges that lie ahead. And it is that trip and the constraint that also brings out the passion and fierce obsession in me, to do great culture-leading work. I’ll take the rich learning that I had in my ten years at MullenLowe Lintas Group – India, an ecosystem or the fulcrum of marketing, forward.”

Subbu will be based in Mumbai, India, as he takes up the Asia Pacific charge with immediate effect.

MullenLowe Lintas Group in India is among the largest country operations of the global MullenLowe Group that has agencies and presence in 65 markets. The India unit has two creative agencies under its management – Lowe Lintas and Mullen Lintas.

Australia– Global Out-of-Home media company JCDecaux in Australia has appointed Amanda Munce, former commercial inventory manager of broadcast company Seven West Media, to be its new head of campaign execution. 

Munce brings with her 12 years of experience in campaign operations. She has previously held various operations roles and led delivery teams both on and offshore. In her new role, which was traditionally in the Operations area of the business but was restructured to sit within the broader Sales team, Munce will be leading the company’s campaign delivery, campaign installations, and campaign services teams. 

Munce will report directly to Cassandra Cameron, the executive general manager of revenue strategy and operations at JCDecaux.

Commenting on her appointment, Munce said, “I am so excited to join this progressive business and look forward to leading the team to deliver exceptional client service with customer success at the heart of everything we do.”

Meanwhile, Cameron commented that this important restructure and appointment brings together key client touchpoint areas that drive an increased focus on exceptional customer experiences. 

“Our customers’ journey starts with the Sales and Campaign Delivery teams, and bringing these teams together ensures JCDecaux delivers an unrivaled customer experience and drives positive business outcomes for our clients,” said Cameron.

Recently, JCDecaux has announced several promotions and appointments across the sales team, namely Oliver Newton, the new chief sales officer, Brad Palmer, the new national programmatic director, and Kasey Climpson, the new programmatic operations manager.

India – Following the recent re-organization of the network, dentsu in India has finally named its CEO for the Media division, Divya Karani. Alongside this, the company has also announced a new COO, Kartik Iyer. 

The new appointments are both internal elevations. Karani is currently the CEO of dentsu X India and will have the new appointment as an additional role, handling all media agencies of dentsu in South Asia, including Carat, iProspect, and Posterscope, aside from dentsu X. She is tasked to drive the global media strategy and delivery in the region, ensuring its alignment and relevance to the market.

Meanwhile, Iyer has previously worked as the president of dentsu’s Media Brands and media investment and innovation platform Amplifi. With the COO role, Iyer will be engaging with regional teams, global teams, and all other network brands to ensure the ongoing transformation program. He will also be driving the implementation of dentsu’s new business model within the country. Iyer will be collaborating with leaders and client teams across businesses in the market to change how the network works and inculcate the culture of operational excellence.

Both Iyer and Karani will report to Dentsu India’s CEO Anand Bhadkamkar.

Commenting on the new promotions, Bhadkamkar said, “Dentsu is committed to delivering the best to its clients and Kartik and Divya are veterans in what they do. Kartik is recognized industry-wide for his media expertise while Divya is one of our finest from the industry. Her strength lies in delivering first-class, client-centric results and I am confident that their expertise and experience will only help accelerate the effectiveness, purpose, and performance offered to our clients.” 

Earlier this year, Dentsu India also announced the recent merge of Vizeum and iProspect into one to bring together the former’s media strategy and planning, storytelling, and brand-building capabilities with the latter’s digital expertise. 

Australia – Creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson in Australia has announced the elevation of Melbourne team’s General Manager Nick Muncaster, to now assume the role of managing director for the unit.

Prior to joining Wunderman Thompson in 2019, Muncaster has held multiple leadership roles at several advertising agencies, including Ogilvy and Havas Creative in Sydney and Melbourne. He has also worked with brands within retail, telco, finance, and automotive, as well as extensive partnerships with the State and Federal Government, among others.

In his new role, Muncaster will be leading the brand’s vision for the Melbourne office, continuing to build a high-performing culture for talent and drive strategic growth for clients.

Commenting on his appointment, Muncaster said that he is excited by the opportunity and humbled by the support from the agency’s talented team and ambitious clients. 

“I’m looking forward to my next chapter within this dynamic industry and business. I am proud of our continued momentum at Wunderman Thompson and look forward to continuing to inspire growth across our client’s business in 2021,” said Muncaster.

Meanwhile, CEO of Wunderman Thompson ANZ, Lee Leggett, commented that they have met many talented and ambitious people in their ‘extensive search’ for a new managing director, and that the final decision to appoint internally is a testament to Nick’s strong leadership of its Melbourne team and clients for the past six years.

“For anyone who has worked alongside Nick, you will know for yourself how talented he is. Our Melbourne office is in great hands,” said Leggett.

Singapore – DoubleVerify (DV), the global software platform for digital media measurement, data, and analytics, has announced the appointment of James Cashmore as its new senior vice president of global client and agency partnerships.

Cashmore brings with him 25 years of experience in the digital industry. He previously worked as the global client partner director for Google APAC in Tokyo, where he led a team that worked with some of the largest technology and automotive global brands. Prior to Google, Cashmore also held positions at technology content publishing companies VNU and Ziff Davis.

In his new role, Cashmore will be leading a newly-formed team called ‘Global Client and Agency Partnerships’ (GCAP), which focuses on addressing the holistic needs of top global brands, agencies, and consultancies. He will be based in London and will report directly to Julie Eddleman, the EVP and chief commercial officer of DoubleVerify.

The GCAP team will be responsible for cultivating relationships with DV’s largest global customers, offering end-to-end leadership and coordination with local markets, and ensuring seamless delivery of DV’s comprehensive solutions. The team will also be structured and empowered to offer vertical expertise, best practices, and industry thought leadership, as well as to negotiate new and existing global deals on behalf of DV. Furthermore, the team will be leveraging close customer feedback loops to serve as the upstream input for the product roadmap and resource allocation guidance.

Commenting on his appointment, Cashmore said, “I’m thrilled to join DV at such a pivotal point in its growth journey. I look forward to applying my extensive industry experience to help strengthen our leadership position globally, as the company expands its commercial footprint and continues to deliver best-in-class solutions across the digital ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, CEO of DoubleVerify, Mark Zagorski shared that Cashmore is the ideal choice to spearhead the new Global Client and Agency Partnerships team, under the leadership of Eddleman.

“As Julie continues to take steps to evolve our commercial structure and strategy, James’ previous industry and leadership experience make him a well-suited addition. He is tasked with developing the infrastructure and processes essential for this team’s success, as we deliver a seamless experience throughout the customer lifecycle,” said Zagorski.

Sydney, Australia – Media and marketing agency Mediabrands in Australia has recently announced the appointment of Maria Grivas as the new CEO of Reprise, Mediabrands’ digitally-led full-service performance agency in the country.

Prior to her new role, Grivas has previously worked as the chief data and technology officer at media agency UM Australia, a role she has had for the past three and a half years, and has been a member of UM’s senior leadership team. She has also been a mentor across the Mediabrands group on digital development.

Grivas’ appointment came after the resignation of CEO Matt Sallis, who cited family reasons related to travel restrictions from his base in Canada. In taking the leadership role at Reprise, Grivas will be playing a key role in shaping the group and will also be joining the Mediabrands Australia Executive Leadership Team.

Commenting on her appointment, Grivas said, “Having already worked closely with Reprise for some time, I am very excited about the CEO role. The business has a large team of very talented people doing great work and my ambition is to help elevate their successes as the industry evolves at pace.”

Meanwhile, Mark Coad, the CEO of Mediabrands Australia, commented that Reprise Australia plays a vital role in supporting the teams and clients with world-class communications solutions, and Grivas is the ideal future leader for the business.

“I’m thrilled that Mediabrands has the talent of Maria’s caliber to promote into such an important leadership position, as well as her high-quality team members. We will find Maria’s successor for her role in UM Australia in due course,” said Coad.

Reprise Australia has more than 150 people and offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, as well as Perth. The business works with many of Mediabrands’ clients across the group and also has independent clients.

Singapore – Media company Verizon Media has recently announced the promotion of Paul Sigaloff, former managing director of ANZ, to now assume the role of vice president of Verizon Media ANZ and INSEA.

Sigaloff brings with him over 10 years of experience in the media industry across the United Kingdom and Australia. He joined the company as the commercial director in 2014, and thereafter, worked as the managing director in 2018, where he led Verizon Media’s portfolio of dynamic digital media and technology brands including Yahoo across ANZ.

In his new role, Sigaloff will be responsible for leading the media company’s teams in Australia, New Zealand, and India, as well as the whole Southeast Asia region. The current sales team headed by Carol Tay, the senior director of sales of Verizon Media SEA, will now report to Sigaloff.

According to the company, the promotion is recognition for Sigaloff’s leadership during a record year of growth for Verizon Media ANZ. In 2020 Monthly Active Users (MAUs) across Yahoo’s editorial brands grew 11%, with double-digit revenue growth despite the headwinds in the wider market.

Furthermore, the company said that Sigaloff’s leadership philosophy and success in ANZ is grounded on the principles of media and advertising acting as forces for good in the world. This approach has leveraged product developments including greater privacy controls for users, and internally through a phenomenal corporate social responsibility program which saw the company donate more than AU$1M in time and value to charitable causes in 2020.

Commenting on his promotion, Sigaloff said that he is fortunate to be building on strong foundations in Singapore with the SEA region being a vibrant and important market for Verizon Media.

“My priority is to take the time to learn from the successful initiatives in those markets and take a strategic approach to apply the most appropriate lessons from our ANZ success story to create meaningful impact here in South East Asia,” said Sigaloff.

Rico Chan, the head of sales of Verizon Media APAC, commented that Sigaloff deserves the promotion coming from an inspirational leadership in ANZ.

“I look forward to working with him going forward to replicate this success across Southeast Asia and India. Southeast Asia is an important market for our business and this new structure enables us to take full advantage of key growth areas in 5G, e-commerce, and responsible business within these regions,” said Chan.

Sydney, Australia – Comparison platform Finder has appointed former head of public relations and communications of its ANZ operations Bessie Hassan to now take the helm as the company’s global head of communications.

Aside from her previous role in Finder ANZ, Hassan has worked as a freelance journalist and public relations consultant, with bylines from various publications such as The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, Marie Claire, and InStyle among others. She has also served as communications officer for the Randwick City Council and as vice president for New South Wales at the Public Relations Institute of Australia.

In an interview with MARKETECH APAC, Hassan stated that in her new role, she will be responsible for establishing and leading an integrated communications strategy to grow Finder’s corporate footprint, thought leadership, and credibility across all of Finder’s markets. This will include external and internal communications, corporate social responsibility (CSR), public affairs, employer brand, and risk and reputation management. 

Hassan’s promotion comes after Finder’s recent acquisition of Singapore-born financial services platform GoBear to drive its growth in the Southeast Asia region, months after GoBear announced shutting down its operations.

“As Finder continues to grow, I will work closely with the founders and executive team to establish a brand presence in all its markets. Our goal is to help people make better financial decisions every day – by helping people save, invest and grow their wealth – and we believe we have a strong role to play in doing this in Southeast Asia,” Hassan shared with MARKETECH APAC.

In regards to her appointment, she said, “The last six years at Finder have been a blast and now I’m so excited to be sharing Finder’s mission with the rest of the world.”

Finder has yet to find a replacement to lead the communications branch for ANZ.