Tag: Appointments

Delhi, India – The Indian arm of dentsu’s media agency Carat has appointed Ashish Singh to take charge as Carat India’s new vice president for planning.

Singh will be leading the agency’s digital mandate for North and East. Through his new role, he will be responsible for developing and leading client relationships for Carat in addition to helping the agency deliver enhanced digital solutions to clients.

Prior to his new position, Singh was with Mindshare India where he held the position of Partner for Digital. During his seven-year-stint with Mindshare, Ashish was responsible for driving revenue growth for the network agency. He has been instrumental in leading several client relationships at Mindshare and has actively lead pitches for businesses.

With more than 15 years of experience, Ashish has liaised with numerous clients across multiple categories to build the roadmap to numerous path-breaking digital strategies.

Commenting on his appointment, Singh said, “With continuous change in the media ecosystem, digital is the battleground for all types of businesses where consumers are accustomed to connectedness. Carat is known for its integrated communication planning backed by some of the cutting-edge analytical tools in the industry.” 

He added, “I am delighted to join Carat – the first specialist agency in the country and the world’s first media agency – to contribute my experience to create a meaningful connection for brands in the digital ecosystem for business outcomes. I look forward to this journey where together we focus on growth, expansion, and nurture talent.”

He will report to Anita Kotwani, CEO of Carat India.  

“I have had the pleasure of working with many digital professionals and Ashish Singh clearly stands out as one amongst the best. Ashish will add immense value as part of my core team and help shape the Carat Digital offering. He comes in with the mandate to drive the larger North and East offices for Carat India and help drive value for our key global clients like Microsoft, Mastercard, Phillips and local clients like Havells, DS group, and others,” Kotwani stated.

She added, “With his domain expertise across the changing digital ecosystem and his love for being a lifelong learner, I am confident that our clients will see the best of data, creative and technology amalgamation under his leadership to help drive their business outcomes.”

Singapore – The Singapore arm of digital experience agency Bray Leino Splash has announced four new hires for its country operations, including a new user experience (UX) director.

Jaffry Jalal takes the helm as Bray Leino Splash SG’s UX Director, who has previously worked with TBWA\Singapore and Havas as its UX design lead, and most recently a lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic. He has previously worked with brands such as Singapore Airlines, MasterCard, and Michelin to help them create digital products and immersive experiences.

“I’m excited BLS continues to invest in experience design capability and I’m thrilled to be at an agency who has the technical chops to bring good design to life,” Jalal stated.

Other hires include Kein Wai E, who joins as the agency’s technical project director and is from technology company Deltatre; Stephanie Holzhuber, who is the agency’s new senior account director and is from advertising agency Cheil Worldwide; and Jamie Phua as the new account director and is from ad agencies Y&R, TBWA, and Digitas.

Speaking about their appointments, Kien Wai stated, “Joining BLS Singapore is like a homecoming of sorts as the marrying of creativity with technology is definitely something close to my heart and that I’ve missed in recent years.”

Meanwhile, Holzhuber commented, “BLS is an agency who are able to deliver truly seamless customer experiences for their clients by bringing data, technology, and creativity together. I look forward to our exciting future ahead.”

Lastly, Phua stated, “In the last few years, It’s become apparent to me that the pillars of UX and technology are critical if agencies are to really help brands create relevant solutions for present-day consumers, so being able to leverage these capabilities at BLS is what excites me the most.”

These new hires are welcomed by BLS Singapore’s managing director Joshua Lee.

“Each of these hires has ‘runs on the board’ when it comes to connecting technology, creativity, and business results for their respective clients. I couldn’t be happier welcoming such wonderful talent to the team. Not only are they at the top of what they do, but they are passionate and hardworking to boot,” Lee stated.

Singapore – Location technology platform Foursquare has appointed a new regional head for its Southeast Asia and Hong Kong operations, former head of sales of martech Playground XYZ Tim Castle.

His new role will revolve around working closely with brands, agencies, and advertisers in this region to further the expansion of Foursquare across Southeast Asia, following the company’s recent rebranding stage, and various strategic acquisitions for the past two years, the companies namely Placed and Factual.

Prior to his new role, Castle spanned multiple roles among regional hubs, including in the UK and Australia, where he led new business initiatives at GroupM, AOL, which is now Verizon Media, and most recently at Playground XYZ, where he was responsible for expanding the business’s mobile rich media and measurement solution into new markets across Asia.

“Location services are critical to any enterprise’s technology stack. Foursquare has continued to push the boundaries of what’s possible with location technology with their full range of capabilities to help businesses scale, and create better customer experiences and business outcomes,” Castle said, commenting on his recent appointment.

Castle will report directly to Aditi Kohli, managing director of Foursquare Asia-Pacific.

“Tim’s appointment marks an exciting new step for Foursquare in the region. As we continue to gain momentum with our innovative enterprise products and proprietary location technology and data, we will deeply benefit from Tim’s years of expertise in driving new business growth across multiple markets,” Kohli stated.

Singapore – Former global CEO for dentsu’s content and creative, Dick van Motman, will now take the helm as the chairman of the advisory board of Singapore-based pop culture marketing Culture Group.

Through his new appointment, van Motman will advise Culture Group regarding market entry and development, as well as mergers and acquisitions, and executive mentorship.

Prior to his latest position at Culture Group and his past role from dentsu, van Motman has also served as chairman for dentsu in Southeast Asia, and has accumulated more than 30 years of building brands and businesses globally. 

Aside from the current role, van Motman is also on the way to launching his own consulting and investment group which will focus on accelerating the growth of disruptive businesses in emerging industries.

Commenting regarding his appointment, van Motman stated that his newest affiliation with Culture Groups speaks more about a “combination of strategy, creativity, production and strong leadership” that places the agency in “a unique position to define how brands leverage pop culture to create business success.”

“In a dynamic region where demographics are skewed younger, digitally adept, and in search for expression and identity, brands that are anchored in pop culture thrive commercially. Culture Group’s uncommon approach goes beyond advertising and seeks to drive brands to consciously forge a connection with the right passion point,” van Motman stated.

Meanwhile, Culture Group’s founder and president Michael Patent commented, “Dick’s unparalleled history in the region and commitment to developing the next generation of transformative businesses is why we’re excited to partner with him as we embark on our next phase of growth,”

Culture Group has been ramping up its senior hires for its advisory board, including Marie Lee who similarly joins from dentsu to spearhead the agency’s insights and strategy function in Singapore; and Jakeena Malli who joins from Mindshare as group account director, as well as Angie Akaraskul who from Brave Bison, to take the role of business director.

Malaysia – Dentsu Malaysia bids farewell to Tony Savarimuthu, Huang Ean Hwa, and Szu H. Lee, three executive veteran partners of Merdeka LHS, the creative agency it acquired in 2016. 

Savarimuthu is Merdeka LHS’ CEO, while Huang and Lee are chief creative officers of the agency. 

From left to right: Former Merdeka LHS CEO, Tony Savarimuthu; and chief creative officers, Szu H. Lee and Huang Ean Hwa

Dentsu said that former CEO of dentsu Malaysia, Nicky Lim, and new CEO Kien Eng Tan are both grateful for everything the three have done in building, growing, and subsequently completing the earnout duration of Merdeka LHS and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. 

“As these three ride into the sunset, their everlasting legacy has been imprinted into dentsu’s DNA and it is my honor to have served with them,” said Lim.

Savarimuthu has served the industry for more than a decade, formerly as vice president and president of advertising association 4A’s, introducing many progressive initiatives such as industry awards ‘The Effies’. 

Commenting on his departure, he said, “I’ve had the good fortune of working on some of the world’s most renowned brands as well as go-getters striving to change the status-quo working with the best creatives in the land. I wish to pay tribute to my long-time colleagues and friends Huang Ean Hwa and Szu Lee, and not least Ali Mohamed and the late Yasmin Ahmad who were my past colleagues for their ideas, inspired creativity, and for changing the perception and fortunes of many a brand both in Malaysia and globally.”

Meanwhile, with the current departures, which dentsu shared to be “emotional,” the agency forges a beginning as it welcomes a new group chief creative officer for dentsu’s creative line of service, Andrew Low. 

Andrew Low
dentsu Malaysia’s new group chief creative officer for its creative line of service, Andrew Low

Low came highly recommended by the three former Merdeka LHS executives. His career spans across three countries in the Asia Pacific region with Ogilvy, Publicis One, and Leo Burnett. His work has won multiple awards such as at D&AD, Cannes Lions, and The One Show, as well as One Show China, China 4As, and Spikes, among many others. 

With the role, Low is tasked to bring together dentsu’s creative powerhouses to solve client’s marketing challenges in an ever-more virtual economy. 

“To spur growth, I believe it is fundamentally important to be agile, especially if we want to thrive in new creative business models. I am looking forward to working with the team and being a part of its unifying force,” said Low. 

The Malaysian arm of the network has also recently announced a new CEO for its Media business, following the re-organization of the network to now operate as three main divisions, namely, Creative, Media, and CRM.

Manila, Philippines – Business development veteran Joven Barceñas has recently joined international-wide UX and digital development agency Adaptis as its head of growth.

Prior to Adaptis, Barceñas was most notably the regional head of advertising and sponsorship sales at Lighthouse Independent Media in 2018, the publisher of Singapore-based Marketing Magazine. 

For his new role at Adaptis, Barceñas will be responsible for the firm’s business growth through business development and marketing, and also to improve processes within the function. Adaptis is a collective of digital development studios strategically located in Europe and Southeast Asia, providing experience-led technical capabilities to global clients. 

On his appointment, Barceñas said, “With almost a decade of exposure to media, marketing, and technology, I always wanted to discover what I can do and learn more in the tech space. I am very excited to be a frontrunner in humanizing technology through the apps and websites we create.”

Barceñas also shared to MARKETECH APAC that while the role charges him to focus on the company’s Australia, Singapore, and Thailand markets, his role “has no boundaries,” and that whenever opportunities strike within Adaptis’ other markets, he is more than ready to grab them.

Since its inception, Adaptis has grown through word of mouth – a testament to excellent client satisfaction. [My] priorities [for the role] are looking into the process and communications improvements from every aspect of client journeys with us – from prospecting to onboarding to project deployment. Part of the role is to create marketing initiatives to boost brand awareness for Adaptis. While I am doing these, business development activities are in place concurrently

Joven Barceñas, Head of Growth, Adaptis

Meanwhile, on his personal insights on the changes in the business development landscape amid the pandemic, Barceñas commented, “The most positive thing with virtual selling is that you can do 2 to 3 business meetings in 2 hours as it saves you time to travel from one place to another.”

He continued, “This means the business developers should have been more productive during these times. I think the main challenge is to effectively use the first meeting as an opportunity to build a better foundation of trust and relationship with new clients.”

Adam Eastburn, CEO, and founder of Adaptis, shared that prior to Barceñas’ appointment, the role was open to reach out to more companies to partner with them and to guide firms through their adaptation to changing human behavior and technology trends. 

While the company has been successfully acquiring new businesses since its inception in 2013, it believes that it could contribute more to the industry by educating new clients on user experience and providing excellent work that users would love. 

“The direction is always finding opportunities wherever and whenever. With Joven’s extensive regional business development experience, I trust that he will contribute to Adaptis’ growth, either opening up new markets or growing existing ones for us,” he said.

Adaptis has a presence in Europe and the Asia Pacific. They have offices in Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Their global clients include Kempinski Hotels, Toyota, Johnnie Walker, and more.

Boston, USA – Global video solutions Brightcove has announced that a new executive has taken the helm of its marketing – Jennifer Smith as new chief marketing officer (CMO).

Smith is an experienced CMO, where she assumed the role for several companies, most specifically those serving in tech. Most recently, she was chief of marketing at global software company Alfresco Software, where she led the transformation of the firm’s positioning from technology vendor to platform solution provider, managing all aspects of marketing. 

Prior to that, she held the position at tech company Software AG, HR cloud solutions Globoforce, and business applications provider Progress Software. 

In her new role, Smith joins the senior leadership team to lead Brightcove’s marketing functions, including demand generation, product marketing, and marketing communications.

“With the ever-increasing need for companies to digitally improve their customer and employee engagement, video is at a defining moment,” said Jeff Ray, Brightcove’s CEO. 

“As we enter 2021 we continue to see increased demand that we believe will only continue to rise. Jennifer’s vast knowledge, experience, and leadership within the high-tech industry will help expand Brightcove’s presence across global markets,” he added. 

Brightcove serves brands through its suite of video solutions such as video marketing, virtual events, and even video-centered solutions for internal communications of companies. Brightcove has worked with brands Adobe, Johnson & Johnson, and Ford, and is also a proud associate of the Academy Awards, or The Oscars, for one of its platforms Academy Screening Room. 

The new CMO commented, “Brightcove has been an integral part of the video industry for 15 years, having developed award-winning technology used by organizations around the globe.”

Smith added, “As communication continues to evolve and thrive in the digital world, storytelling with video will be even more paramount to companies. I am thrilled to join the Brightcove team as we embark on the next chapter of growth.”

London – Digital monetization company Centili has appointed Olivier Letant, former senior vice president for strategy & operations of Kuala Lumpur-based mobile payments and acquisition platform Apigate, as its group chief operating officer.

Letant brings in more than 20 years of experience in management, M&A, and international relations.

In Apigate, he was in charge of the overall corporate strategy, strategic planning & analysis, product strategy, as well as the firm’s M&A, and risk management and compliance. Prior to Apigate, he also headed the strategy and analysis of Malaysia telecom Axiata.

Centili’s reach spans globally, serving several APAC markets such as China, Thailand, and Malaysia. The firms’ main solution is connecting merchants with mobile operators, helping to turn existing users into paying customers through monetizing digital content and virtual goods.

For his new role, Letant will be responsible for the company’s growing global operations, as well as its key projects and product delivery, from feasibility assessment to the commercial launch.

“Olivier has a great mix of big picture strategic thinking and a hands-on leadership style. He has a reputation for setting a high bar, focusing on impact, and building trust within the organization. We strongly believe we will benefit from his skill set, his experience in [technology, media, and telecom] (TMT), as well as from his insight into the Asian markets, which are instrumental to our next growth stage.” said Centili Group CEO Zoran Vasiljev.

Commenting on his appointment, Letant said, “I look forward to working with Centilians to continue to establish the company’s leadership position in digital monetization. Centili is a dynamic and game-changing company with authentic culture and strong values, and I am excited to contribute to its next growth stage.”

Singapore – Global media network Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has announced that its COO for the APAC division of its marketing agency OMD, Rochelle Chhaya, has been promoted to CEO of OMG in Thailand.

In her previous position at OMD, Chahaya was instrumental in scaling a client-centric, digitally-powered, and data-led agency model across the region.

“Rochelle has done an outstanding job of improving OMD’s organizational processes for growth while enhancing its operational capabilities and efficiency,” said Tony Harradine, CEO at OMG APAC.

He added, “With Rochelle’s comprehensive knowledge and experience, coupled with her unrivaled visibility over the entire client-agency-partner ecosystem, I am confident that OMG Thailand will reinforce its position as an innovative and digitally-forward agency brand.”

In her new role, Chhaya will be tasked to drive profitability and efficiency across OMG’s media agencies OMD and PHD in Thailand.

Additionally, she will also oversee and support the development of the network’s digital transformation roadmap as well as the operationalization of products to foster stronger client partnerships, drive digital growth and
creativity in the market.

“Thailand has always held a special place in my heart and I am humbled to take on this responsibility,” said Chhaya.

“Right now is an important time of change for the Thai media landscape and together with the Thai leadership team, we are fully committed to build on the fantastic momentum and harness all opportunities to drive OMG’s continued growth and ambition in the Kingdom,” she added.

Chhaya will report to Tony Harradine and will officially assume her role immediately.

Hong Kong – Canada-headquartered customer experience management (CXM) and insights platform Alida has expanded its Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) team to build on its existing regional presence and propel further growth in the CXM industry.

Formerly named Vision Critical, Alida is a global platform that offers both CXM and extraction of insights and feedback. Its products offer brands a number of use cases such as customer journey, customer satisfaction and advocacy, marketing and advertising, and product and UX design across a broad range of industries.

The firm recently appointed its general manager for APJ, former CEO of IT firm NTT Steven Medeiros, and along with Medeiros’, its several appointments of senior industry leaders in the region support its expansion to drive new growth while making additional investments in its clients’ success and partner ecosystems. 

“We are seeing unprecedented demand from clients and partners seeking enterprise technology, industry expertise, and a high touch, localized delivery model. We will continue to invest in great people to better serve our clients and partners across Asia Pacific and Japan.” said Medeiros.

Phillip Walsh, former regional vice president for APJ at Texas-based computer software company Kony, joins the team as general manager for Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific. Walsh brings over 19 years of CRM sales experience, with leadership positions at Atomic Software, BMC Software, Pegasystems, and IBM Australia. In his role at Alida, Walsh will focus on formulating strategy and growing business in ANZ.

Jodarna Meade has been appointed as head of customer success for the APJ region. Meade brings over 20 years of experience and previously led Alida’s sales operations, partner ecosystems, and customer success management in North America recently relocating back to Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Alida, Meade spent a decade leading marketing at Lendlease. 

Karen Lo joins the APJ team as head of marketing to further expand client and partner growth in the region. Lo’s decade of experience in leading corporate communications and marketing for Dimension Data and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, will strengthen Alida’s pipeline and revenue growth and expand brand presence across APJ.

Wingsan Lun, senior sales executive of APJ, joins the team to lead sales and growth for APJ. With more than 20 years of experience in Temenos, Adobe, and Salesforce.com, he brings deep expertise in digital marketing and customer experience. Lun will support the growth of Alida’s customer base in the region and support its clients to uncover the power of customer truth in their businesses.

Uma Jain, partner manager at APJ, brings over 18 years of experience in business development and execution of global go-to-market strategies for acquiring new clients and partners. Jain previously held senior management positions at Kore.ai, OutSystems, and Kony. She will support the growth of Alida’s global and partner ecosystem.

Jagan Sivanesan, the new principal solution engineer, has joined Alida to lead the regional APJ solution engineering team. Sivanesan brings over 16 years of engineering experience developing state-of-the-art software experiences, high-growth technology companies, such as Kony and Wipro Technologies.

“I’m thrilled to have assembled this powerhouse team of proven technology experts to drive our growth in APJ. Each leader brings unique expertise that is fundamental in propelling our business to the forefront of the CXM industry in Asia Pacific and Japan,” said Medeiros.

He added, “Their collective wealth of experience will drive our next phase of growth in the region. Our priority as a team is to know our customers and put them first.”