Manila, Philippines – Digital, design and technology group Avyan Global has announced the appointment of Hermie de Leon as chairwoman of its Philippine operations.

De Leon is an industry stalwart with a wealth of experience spanning 40 years in the industry. Her previous stints include roles at multiple global agencies in the Philippines stretching Ogilvy & Mather, Universal McCann, BBDO Guerrero Ortega, Bates 141, Omnicom Media Group, and most recently Havas Media Ortega.

She also held a variety of senior leadership roles including managing director, president, and CEO of Omnicom Media Group Philippines, and Managing Partner of Havas Media Ortega. 

Throughout her career, she has thrived on delivering solutions that promote business growth, showing keen understanding for the Philippine market and deep appreciation for the needs of clients and partners. She has championed the industry’s evolution through her role as chair of multiple industry bodies.

Known for her work ethic, versatile management skills, and customer-centric philosophy, de Leon’s appointment is expected to lend significant heft to Avyan’s growth and success in the Philippines. 

Speaking on her appointment, de Leon said, “I’m thrilled to join Avyan and contribute to its vision of unlocking possibilities and driving positive impact for brands. Together, we expect to help our clients grow by delivering innovative solutions with the critical thinking and flawless execution necessary for value creation.”

Meanwhile, Vishnu Mohan, founder and chairman of Avyan Holdings, said, “We are privileged to have Hermie, a highly respected industry doyen to help mentor and guide the team led by Kaye Enriquez. She has been a guiding force in building many companies ground up and I am looking forward to her bringing that expertise to Avyan’s growth and success.”

Singapore – BeingIconic, an Australian consultancy centred around strategic marketing, commercial and operational expertise–is opening in Asia with backing from Singapore-based Avyan Holdings. It has also appointed Jack Lim as its principal for BeingIconic’s Asia operations based in Singapore.

Lim was previously the partner and chief growth officer at Avyan Global and former chief commercial and partnerships officer at ONE Championship and chief commercial officer at Mediacorp.

Following successful collaborations with over 50 scale-ups in Australia, BeingIconic has closed a pre-seed friends and family capital raise to expand operations in Asia and the UK, build out strategy and client services teams as well as investing in marketing and business development.

BeingIconic supports companies to scale outside of existing internal capabilities through flexible delivery of strategic marketing, network expansion, commercial and operational expertise. It has closed a A$1m pre-seed round with investment from Avyan Holdings, founded by former Havas chairman and CEO for South East Asia, Japan and Korea, Vishnu Mohan.

Peter Brocklebank, partner and managing director at BeingIconic said, “Since launching two years ago, we have taken a deliberate and staged approach to validate the proposition to ensure it delivers for companies ready for their scale-up journey. Scale-ups typically don’t fail because they don’t have a good product, they fail because they only have a great product. BeingIconic brings deep insights, expertise and networks to fuel the next phase of growth by becoming an integral part of their teams through expert guidance across marketing, operations and finance functions.”

Meanwhile, Ian Bell, partner and chief innovation officer at BeingIconic, commented, “There are significant opportunities to take the product and service innovations of Asian businesses and expand them out to new markets. BeingIconic’s mission is to grow these entrepreneurial scale-ups beyond their internal potential, be a trusted partner and help them realise their ambitions. The founders  together with our new shareholders are experienced in doing just that and now we are bringing this combined experience, and that of our wider team to scale-ups in Asia.”

Manila, Philippines – On August 12 in Manila, Vishnu Mohan, industry veteran in marketing and previously CEO of Havas Group for APAC markets, together with his C-suite team, officially launched his integrated digital and marketing agency, Avyan, in the Philippines. The media launch, which took place in Makati, was graced by Partner & CEO Valli Lakshmanan, Partner & Chief Growth Officer Jack Lim, Chief Strategy Officer Ed Mapa Jr., Chief Technology Officer Art Gabriel, and the company’s country head for the Philippines, Kaye Enriquez.

Mohan first introduced the firm exactly a year ago, being upfront about his goal of making the Philippines its regional hub – a fresh new move from the usual direction of regional companies making Singapore their centre of operations 

At present, Avyan in the Philippines is 30+ strong, with plans to further beef up the team count, said Mohan to MARKETECH APAC. So far, brands that Avyan in the Philippines has done work for are local bank RCBC, blockchain-based company AltSwitch, and PH leg of insurance provider AIA. 

In the media launch, Avyan’s leaders presented the agency’s core mission of helping ‘to design the future’. Avyan is a collective that invests in start-ups by helping them achieve their goals of growing their potential through designing and building products that enhance the digital landscape. 

With its goal of working towards “advancing human possibilities through design and technology,” Avyan presents its extensive capabilities roster which includes strategy formulation, design, coding, data, media practice, and commerce and content creation. 

In a brief interview with MARKETECH APAC, Founder and Chairman Vishnu Mohan shared that in line with making Manila their regional hub, they will be continuing to build a very strong design and tech team. He shared that they have brought in roles such as head of technology which had not been present a year ago. 

Regarding playing in the competitive market, Mohan said, “I’m not worried about the competition because I’m not trying to compete against anybody, to be honest…I said my aim is to give back to society. I want to do good work.”

Meanwhile, in the press statement, Partner & CEO Valli Lakshmanan commented, “Best way to predict the future is by creating it. As tomorrow builders, we, at Avyan, focus on designing a relevant, commercially successful future for our clients by creating products and services touched by millions of people worldwide. Our strength is our people and the love for what we do.”

Country Head Kaye Enriquez said, “We are all bound by the same purpose. And we will always strive to design experiences that will allow brands to stay relevant to their customers now and tomorrow. Our ultimate goal is to drive business outcomes for our clients, no matter how big or small.” 

Mohan also candidly shared the meaning behind Avyan’s name, which is in fact, a variation of his own – ‘Vishnu’ – which means perfection. 

Avyan currently has operations in Singapore, India, and the Philippines, with plans to expand into Indonesia and Vietnam, shared Mohan.