Tag: CEO

Singapore – Online food delivery platform foodpanda has announced the appointment of John Fang as its new CEO to lead and grow the business in the APAC region. 

Fang will succeed Jakob Angele, former foodpanda CEO for APAC who served for nine years in the company, six years of which as the CEO. 

In his new role, he will continue to lead and grow foodpanda’s business, staying focused on bringing value and purpose to the food and grocery delivery ecosystem that foodpanda serves. 

Fang has been with foodpanda for six years, taking various leadership roles since he joined in 2017. He served as CEO for foodpanda Taiwan in 2017 and most recently held the position of chief international officer at Delivery Hero, where he managed business operations across foodpanda’s 11 markets.

Prior to joining foodpanda, he also served as the chief operations officer for global e-commerce marketplace Groupon Taiwan.

Fang’s appointment comes weeks after Delivery Hero, foodpanda’s owner company, announced that it will be selling foodpanda’s activities in select markets in Southeast Asia. 

United Kingdom – Patrick Béhar has been appointed as the new global CEO of Kantar Media, a division of Kantar Group Holdings,which will take effect in September 2023. He will be in charge of a company that conducts media research and audience measurement on a global scale in this capacity.

Chris Allen, who led the executive team since 2022, will now focus exclusively on his role as global CFO of Kantar Media.

Béhar has 25 years of experience in the media industry, is the chief business officer of Sky Group, a media company and pay-TV broadcaster in Europe and a Comcast subsidiary. In this role, Béhar has been in charge of managing and improving Sky’s partnerships with content and distribution partners, as well as playing a role in increasing Sky Media’s advertising revenue.

Speaking about his appointment, Béhar said, “Media markets are undergoing unprecedented transformation, accelerated by new technologies and changing audience behaviours. With the widest and most rapidly expanding cross-media audience measurement footprint, Kantar Media is at the forefront of this transformation, uniquely positioned to unlock audiences and drive growth and value for clients.” 

He added, “I’m looking forward to leading this amazingly talented team, working closely with the board, our Chairman Adam Crozier and Chris Jansen, Chief Executive at parent company, Kantar Group.”

Meanwhile, Adam Crozier, chairman of Kantar Media, remarked, “Patrick brings a unique combination of first-hand client experience in equipping media companies to grow in a cross-media age and deep global advertising expertise.” 

“His appointment will strengthen the Kantar Media leadership team.  As we continue to drive our innovation agenda forward, I am confident he will fulfil the ambition we have for the business to cement its position, unlocking insight opportunities for our clients,” Crozier added. 

New York, USA – Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the media services division of Omnicom Group has announced the appointment of OMG EMEA CEO Guy Marks as CEO of PHD Worldwide. He will be replacing Philippa Brown, who will step down from the role after almost 5 years of handling it. 

In his new role effective October 1, Marks will be headquartered in London and will be reporting to OMG global CEO Florian Adamski. His successor as leader of OMG EMEA is expected to be named in the following week.

Marks joined OMG in 2014 following Omnicom’s acquisition of Mobile5, the global UX, design and tech consultancy service that he co-founded. As CEO of OMG EMEA, he helped establish Omnicom’s Transact connected commerce and retail media consultancy in the region; and co-architected the expansion of OMG’s TRKKN analytics and cloud consultancy from five European countries to 20 markets across APAC, EMEA and North America.

Speaking on his own appointment, Marks said, “As the CEO of PHD – an agency that was born from a transformative concept of media as a strategic tool – my priority will be assuring that every PHD account team around the world have the talent, tools, technology and collective commitment to excellence they need to deliver the transformative ideas, solutions and service that drive growth for our clients, our agency, and our people.”

Meanwhile, Adamski commented, “Guy is one of our industry’s most entrepreneurial leaders, with an approach that transformed first OMD’s and subsequently Omnicom Media Group’s offering in EMEA over the past six years. The fact that – at the same time – he was also one of the network’s key people coordinating Omnicom’s boots-on-the-ground Ukrainian relief and rescue efforts tells you everything you need to know about both his character and his leadership skills.”

Shanghai, China – Wunderman Thompson has announced the promotion of Carter Chow to chief executive officer of Wunderman Thompson Greater China.

Previously CEO of Wunderman Thompson China, Chow’s promotion comes as the agency focuses on building a united approach and strategy in Greater China, as more client opportunities call for a consolidated response from agencies.

With 25 years of experience, Chow returns to lead the digital transformation of J.Walter Thompson as CEO where he modernised the entire service offering – driving the agency into a state of hyper growth.

In 2019, Chow notably led the merger of Wunderman and JWT in China by combining and elevating existing teams to bring new, unique and integrated capabilities to the China market.  Since then, the market has experienced significant changes and years of economic uncertainty, but Chow continued to remain consistent – growing alongside clients such as The Estée Lauder Companies, Volkswagen, HSBC, P&G, Danone and so on.

Speaking on his promotion, Chow commented, “We have exceptional teams and excellent capabilities in many of our markets, especially within the Wunderman Thompson Greater China offices. From Shanghai to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei, each office brings its distinct and market-leading expertise. We can achieve remarkable feats when we‘re all in it together, empower one another, and harness our collective synergy.”

Meanwhile, Ewen Sturgeon, international CEO at Wunderman Thompson, said, “Carter is known for building a robust and successful business with people at the heart of it all; encouraging a culture of creativity and growth. I have no doubt Carter will take our Greater China business to new heights with a united approach.”

Maggie Wong and Evan Teng, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong and Taipei respectively, as well as Win Mak, CEO of Mirum Hong Kong (part of Wunderman Thompson), will remain leaders of their markets and will work with Chow to create a more consolidated response to the opportunities and challenges that present Greater China clients.

Singapore – Validus Capital has appointed Vineet Agarwal as the new CEO of Validus Capital in Singapore, effective from 1 August.

Vineet brings with him a wealth of experience from his senior leadership roles at DBS and American Express from 2008 to 2021. Under his leadership, Validus aims to drive innovation and growth through strategic partnerships, embedded finance, alternative data, and AI-driven data analytics, further solidifying its market-leading position in Singapore.

Nikhilesh Goel, Co-founder and Group CEO of Validus, expressed confidence in Vineet’s appointment, stating that Validus is well-positioned to enter the next phase of expansion under his guidance. The appointment follows the retirement of Jayanta Roy, the outgoing CEO of Validus Capital Singapore, who leaves behind a distinguished three-decade career in banking and financial services.

As Validus moves forward under Vineet’s leadership, the company remains steadfast in its mission to empower SMEs with comprehensive financial solutions and expand its presence in the region’s competitive financial landscape.

Meanwhile, Vineet, who previously worked as the President of Payments at Validus, played a pivotal role in the successful rollout of Validus’ comprehensive SME financial services offering in Singapore.

India – Dentsu X has announced the appointment of Jose Leon as its new chief executive officer (CEO). Leon will leverage his expertise in digital transformation, combined with the network’s best-in-class media, analytics, technology, and content capabilities.

His primary focus will be empowering clients through media campaigns that create exceptional consumer experiences, drive transformative solutions through technology, and strengthen their businesses for increased top-line performance.

Moreover, he will mentor teams to strategize meaningful media campaigns in line with the agency’s unique promise, ‘Transforming by design,’ to enhance the brand-people connection.

Anita Kotwani, CEO of media, South Asia, Dentsu, expressed her excitement about Jose’s appointment; she believes Jose’s blend of technology and media acumen makes him a perfect fit for Dentsu X’s vision of creating valuable consumer experiences beyond mere media exposure.

In response to his appointment, Leon stated that Dentsu X’s purpose revolves around understanding people’s motivations beyond digital behavior, earning their attention, and driving action through integrated content creation, technology, data, and behavioral insights.

Meanwhile, Jose brings experience in accelerating growth and building revenues for brands across various industries. Before joining Dentsu X, he served as managing director at the Publicis Groupe for over five years and gained leadership experience in global technology giants like Adobe.

Australia – Red Havas, the global consumer and creative communications arm of Havas, has announced the appointment of Shane Russell as its chief executive officer for Australia. Russell will be growing its client roster and driving the business’ overall aggressive growth ambition.

Russell brings with him an experience in consumer and corporate communications with a focus on technology. Before joining Red Havas, he served as the executive vice president of New York-based 5W Public Relations where he helped in driving its rapid expansion to become one of USA’s top 10 independent PR agencies by size.

James Wright, global CEO at Red Havas and Havas Creative Group Australia, said that he is looking forward to Russell’s skills and attitude that he maximised in the US market and apply it to the agency’s growth plans in Australia.

Meanwhile, Russell expressed his excitement in further building the agency’s reputation for leading-edge creativity alongside a phenomenal roster of consumer and corporate brands.

“With my strong professional background in all areas of technology, I’m also excited by the significant investments Red is making to increase our presence as a leading agency in the tech sector,” Russell added.

Red Havas is the global consumer and creative communications arm of Havas which was launched in 2019. It currently operates in 14 markets and has 26 offices as of present.

New York – To strengthen its status as one of the few significant agencies on the West Coast, marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson has appointed Emily Chang as its chief executive officer for West Coast region to lead its offices in LA, Seattle, as well as the Swift boutique agency in Portland.

Chang’s remit also includes overseeing the region’s growing client portfolio including technology companies Microsoft, T-Mobile, Qualcomm, Venmo, Snap, and major automotive brands and DTC companies whilst leveraging Swift boutique agency’s creative and social media expertise.

Prior to joining Wunderman Thompson, Chang also held the CEO position at McCann Worldgroup in China where she restructured the leadership team and developed new strategic and digital capabilities to grow its revenue. 

On the brand side, Chang served as CMO at Starbucks China, chief commercial officer at InterContinental Hotels Group, and was the first executive in China for Apple Retail.

Audrey Melofchik, CEO at Wunderman Thompson North America describes Chang as a powerhouse leader who will bring people together to deliver inspiring brand stories along with her expertise across the marketing ecosystem.

Chang added, “I’ve watched Wunderman Thompson’s build its reputation as the authority on inspiration and look forward to tapping into this insight and adding inspiration of my own when it comes to our clients and culture.”

This month, Wunderman Thompson has also appointed Raji Ramaswamy as chief growth officer and Joy Chauhan as chief client officer for South Asia. 

Singapore – Universal McCann has named former chief innovation officer at EssenceMediacom Sasha Savic as the company’s new chief executive officer. In his new role, Savic will galvanise the UM community around a growth mindset and leverage the agency’s industry-leading data capabilities to optimise and energise its go-to-market strategy.

In addition, he will be setting the vision for the agency’s global growth while also overseeing the strategy, product, operations, and management of clients including American Express, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Nestlé and Sony, amongst others. 

Savic will report directly to Mediabrands Global CEO, Eileen Kiernan.

Prior to his C-suite role at EssenceMediacom, he also served as the chief executive officer for the US team at MediaCom for a decade. He also served several leadership roles at McCann New York and UM, leading media efforts for brands like Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Intel, and Mastercard.

Speaking on his appointment, Savik stated that building connections is what drives him– from strengthening the community and partnering with clients to connecting consumers’ needs to a brand’s purpose and value.

“The role of media is timeless, and I am excited to join the global leadership team at UM, the undisputed leader in unlocking the power of data to enhance the purpose and longevity of brands,” he said.

He further added, “I look forward to bringing together content, data and brand meaning to create sustainable, long-term growth at UM, where I first got my media chops and fell in love with this industry.”

Kiernan commented, “A tenacious and dynamic leader who cares deeply about people, clients and community, Sasha is a consummate relationship builder who has driven results for some of the world’s most iconic brands. Sasha’s love of the business complements our strong, values-driven global culture, and his will to win and commitment to excellence will supercharge how we show up in the marketplace and for our clients. We are thrilled to welcome him back to the IPG family.”

Australia – Research company Ipsos has announced the appointment of its long-time global executive Hamish Munro as the new CEO for APAC, and current CEO for SEA Suresh Ramalingam as the new chief client officer for APAC. 

Munro moves into his new remit after three years as Ipsos’ global head of interactive devices. Since joining the company in 2013, he has also had stints as CEO of Australia and New Zealand (2013 – 2015), CEO of SEA (2016 – 2017), and CEO of APAC operations (2017 – 2019). 

In his new role, Munro is set to bring broad international operational and research management experience, along with more than two decades of diverse market research and leadership. He will also be replacing current Ipsos APAC CEO, Christophe Cambournac, who will move into a global role with the business. 

Meanwhile, Ramalingam moves into his new role after four years as CEO for Ipsos’ SEA markets. Prior to joining Ipsos, he spent more than 20 years at Nielsen, working across its emerging markets in various leadership roles, and the most recent one as managing director of consumer insights across LATAM, EMEA and South-East Asia, based in Dubai. 

In his new remit, Ramalingam will be leading the client organisation for Ipsos’ APAC region and will be based in Kuala Lumpur. 

Commenting on his new role, Munro said “I am excited to collaborate with my colleagues across Asia Pacific and continue to build on our strong client partnerships, building and strengthening our talent and deploying many of our new services to help our clients grow.”

Meanwhile, Ramalingam also said, “Our strong client organisation teams help drive engagement with our key clients in Asia Pacific collaborating across our services to provide the best possible research outcomes catering to their business needs. I am very excited to continue to focus on building client relationships across Asia Pacific.” 

Ben Page, Ipsos’ CEO, said that Munro and Ramalingam were set to bring a wealth of industry experience and corporate knowledge to their new roles. 

He further shared, “Hamish has been an integral part of the global Ipsos team since 2013, sharing his 25-plus years [of] experience in market research, marketing, communications and account management roles.”

“Suresh has already shown his ability to grow and manage client relationships across Southeast Asia, delivering on our long-term growth plans for the region. In his new role, I’m confident that his client and people-focused leadership style coupled with his extensive research and management experience will help in leading the client organisation successfully in our APAC region,” added Page.