Tag: CEO

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.

Vietnam – Vietnam-based digital bank Timo has announced two new key leadership appointments. These include Henry Nguyen, the new executive chairman, and Jonas Eichhorst, the new CEO and will retain his position on the board of directors. 

As executive chairman, Nguyen will continue on working on strategy and planning, as well as regulatory and external relations, including partnerships and strategic alliances. In addition to Timo, Nguyen also serves as chairman of Phoenix Holdings, whose portfolio holdings include strategic partners of Timo, including VietCredit and Kredivo, Viet Capital Securities, and Viet Capital Bank.

Meanwhile, in Eichhorst’s new leadership role, he will continue to work closely with Nguyen and the senior leadership team at Timo. Over the past 15 years, Eichhorst has supported the development of a wide range of high-scale products and businesses across various emerging markets. Having first joined Timo’s Board in 2020, he took on the CFO position in 2021 before now being promoted to CEO.

Timo said that the change also marks the two-year milestone of Timo’s relaunch of service under its long-term partnership with Viet Capital Bank.

Commenting on his appointment, Nguyen said, “While my work at Timo will remain unchanged and uninterrupted, I am extremely excited about Jonas’ promotion to CEO. It reflects all of the hard work and leadership he has exhibited at Timo so far while also expressing the potent and high expectations we all have for him.”

Meanwhile, Eichhorst said, “Timo has had an incredible journey since its founding seven years ago to become the most trusted digital banking brand in Vietnam. We have a unique opportunity to really set the benchmark for digital banking in a market that is quickly developing. Ultimately, our customer’s success in moving, managing, growing, accessing and protecting their money drives our success.”

Singapore – Global advertising company Publicis Groupe in Singapore has promoted Joanne Theseira, the current managing director of Publicis Communications, to be its new CEO of Publicis Communications in Singapore, where she will take on executive responsibility for Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, Prodigious, and MSL. 

In this new role, Theseira will also champion the continued development of clear and ownable client, business, and employee positionings for the agencies under her stewardship. She will ensure that they are evolving in line with clients’ needs and reflective of the way consumers are engaging with brands today.

Additionally, Theseira will take on the newly created role of chief growth officer for Publicis Groupe SEA, and will report to Amrita Randhawa, CEO of Publicis Groupe Singapore and Southeast Asia. She will be leading Power of One accounts expansion, powering new business development, and managing the profile of Publicis Groupe in SEA. Theseira will also work closely with the Publicis Groupe SEA market CEOs and Practice leadership across APAC to deliver on the growth agenda.

Speaking about her appointment, Theseira shared that she believes that a strong and positive talent-centred culture is integral to the business of creativity, and this opportunity to hone and harness their different creative agencies is one that only Publicis Groupe can offer.

“Driving growth across Southeast Asia gives me an incredible canvas to scale and shape the future of our agency offerings and make a meaningful impact on our industry and our clients. I’m excited to get started,” she said.

Meanwhile, Randhawa said that Theseira’s passion for the creative business is addictive, and the clarity of her vision for their creative communications agencies and her determination to make the Groupe the fastest growing in the market is energising and impressive. 

“Joanne has demonstrated a strong capability to build high-performing teams and attract both clients and outstanding talent into the Groupe which makes her uniquely qualified to make an impact in this role,” she added.

India – Global consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive has appointed Prabha Narasimhan, former executive director at Hindustan Unilever (HUL), to be its new managing director and CEO for India.

Colgate-Palmolive India announced Narasimhan’s appointment in March 2022, and she has been special projects vice president for Colgate’s Asia Pacific Division.

In her previous role at HUL, Narasimhan led the Home Care category and served as a member of the HUL Leadership Team. She has nearly 25 years of rich and varied experience in customer development, consumer marketing, and innovation across geographies and multiple categories, including home care, foods, personal care, and skin care. 

Mukul Deoras, CP India’s chairman and president of APAC division, commented, “I am delighted to welcome Prabha as the leader of the CP India business. Prabha has a successful track record of strong performance across categories, and I am confident that she and the team will build on our strengths to grow the business and reimagine a healthier future for the communities we serve.”

Singapore – Global financial superapp Revolut has appointed Raymond Ng, chief commercial officer at Liquid Group, to be its new CEO for Singapore. This follows Revolut’s recent launch of its crypto products in Singapore.

In his new role, Ng will be focusing on leading and building the next chapter of Revolut’s expansion in Singapore, developing and implementing the local business strategy. 

During his previous stint at Liquid Group, Ng managed product and business development and global expansion. He also held senior executive roles with large global corporations such as Microsoft, Visa, and MasterCard, as well as with tech startups.

Revolut said it is committed to establishing Singapore as one of the cornerstones of its global business and plans to establish several global product hubs.

Commenting on his appointment, Ng said, “I’m thrilled to lead the exceptionally talented team and bring Revolut’s super app offering to Singapore as we continue to develop the best financial solutions for millions in Singapore, especially those who are looking for hassle-free digital alternatives to get more from their money.”

Meanwhile, Nik Storonsky, CEO and founder of Revolut, noted, “With a wealth of experience in the mobile, payment and travel tech sectors and an outstanding track record in scaling the business across new markets in the APAC region, Raymond is an excellent fit for the role and his appointment is a major achievement in our continued mission to become the world’s first truly global financial superapp.” 

In April 2022, Revolut has appointed Charles Debonneuil as APAC general manager as it continues to focus on growth in the APAC region. Debonneuil will focus on building out Revolut’s local Growth teams and developing the business’ growth strategy, driving rapid new user acquisition in the APAC region.

Singapore – GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, has announced a roster of C-suite appointments in APAC that will be leading the regional transformation of GroupM Nexus – the global performance organisation that unites the network’s performance talent and technologies into one single outfit.

The appointees are Arshan Saha, the new CEO of GroupM Nexus APAC, Jon Thurlow, the new COO of GroupM Nexus APAC, Deepika Nikhilender, the new CEO of Xaxis APAC, and Brett Poole, the new CEO of Finecast APAC and AUNZ.

A founding member of Xaxis APAC, Saha rose through the ranks to become APAC CEO of Xaxis and GroupM’s data-driven specialty businesses, including INCA, Finecast, Sightline, and Acceleration. For over a decade, he led the expansion of Xaxis – an A.I.-powered programmatic engine – into 16 markets and multiplied its revenue by 20-fold.

Saha shared that GroupM Nexus is a cross-channel performance-led organisation that unites its expertise in service excellence, AI technology and the most advanced solutions. 

“This is the future of marketing, and we are poised to offer our clients and agencies the most powerful performance engine that will accelerate their growth. I’m honoured to be working alongside some of the world’s best specialists at GroupM Nexus to collectively cultivate a better media ecosystem,” he added.

Meanwhile, as the new COO of GroupM Nexus APAC, Thurlow will be driving the transformation of Nexus alongside Saha. His new role is an additional appointment to his corporate remit as COO of GroupM APAC.

Thurlow is one of the region’s most accomplished practitioners across the breadth of the network’s business. He architected the consolidation of GroupM’s search, social, commerce, programmatic, and addressable practices in APAC, and for almost three years, he oversaw the complex integration of inter-network systems and structures across 16 markets into a unified campaign delivery platform.

Commenting on his appointment, Thurlow said, “I’m very excited about the launch of GroupM Nexus across the region. Building on the success of the past years, the expanded service and solutions offering that GroupM Nexus will create, represents a wonderful opportunity to deliver genuine market-leading innovation and produce a positive business impact for our clients.”

Moreover, Deepika Nikhilender, who is elevated from SVP to the CEO role at Xaxis APAC, has over two decades of marketing and data science experience. She steered Xaxis’ A.I. and machine-learning ambitions in the region while leading the design of marketing solutions, supply strategy, trading, and operations excellence, as well as ad-tech and platforms strategy.

Deepika commented, “I’m thrilled to embark on this exciting challenge to lead Xaxis APAC into new frontiers where we can break new ground for our clients and agencies with our A.I. differentiated initiatives and solutions. Together with the team, I look forward to cultivating a culture where our talents will continue to thrive as well as strengthening Xaxis’ capabilities to achieve our clients’ desired outcomes.”

Completing the Nexus APAC leadership line-up, Poole, who was formerly managing director of Finecast Australia, has been appointed the CEO of Finecast APAC and AUNZ. With over two decades of experience in product development, tech commercialisation, publishing, and advertising platforms, he has launched and built profitable businesses across native advertising (plista), data tech (mPLATFORM), programmatic trading (Xaxis), and most recently, spearheaded television transformation in Australia where his team grew the Finecast brand to become synonymous with addressable TV and TV innovation.

Poole noted, “I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to continue growing Finecast across APAC as part of GroupM Nexus. I look forward to working closely with Nexus APAC leaders to build on the outstanding work of our Finecast APAC team.”

Australia – Global advertising agency and public relations company Publicis Groupe in ANZ has appointed Jason Tonelli, the current CEO of digital agency Razorfish, to be its new CEO of ROI agency Zenith.

Tonelli will be continuing to lead Razorfish until the end of the year while his replacement is recruited. He will be moving into his new position at Zenith in January 2023.

In other roles at the Groupe, Tonelli was previously Publicis Media ANZ’s chief digital and technology officer, and executive director of technology, digital and content at Starcom Australia. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Audited Media Association of Australia.

Commenting on his appointment, Tonelli said that with a heritage of strong leadership and talented specialists, he could not be more honoured to lead Zenith and succeed Nickie Scriven, who has done an amazing job progressing the agency to where it is today. 

“The opportunity ahead in what we can do for clients is enormous. Working across the full spectrum of media communications, Zenith delivers insights that lie at the intersection of consumer, category, and brand – attributing every budget to stronger business outcomes, and more personal brand experiences,” he added.

Meanwhile, Michael Rebelo, Publicis Groupe’s CEO for ANZ, shared that Tonelli’s depth of experience in media, data, technology and creative solutions has made him a key member of their executive leadership team, and most recently, he relaunched Razorfish to position the business as a progressive digital marketing transformation agency, while as chief product officer, he strengthened their agencies’ capabilities in the core areas of commerce and attention. 

“Over the past ten years and in the various roles, Jason has held across the Groupe, he has shown himself to be a successful and strategic leader focused on building a strong culture and driving business outcomes for clients – making him perfectly placed to take Zenith to its exciting next stage of growth,” said Rebelo.

Just recently, Publicis Groupe has launched its sustainability consultancy ‘Salterbaxter’ in Australia. This offers solutions to help organisations in the country turn their sustainability promises into progress.

Sydney, Australia – IPG’s connected intelligence company, Kinesso, has elevated Clay Gill, the current CEO at Matterkind Australia, to be its new CEO for Australia. As part of his new remit, Gill will retain his Matterkind leadership role while adding responsibility for Kinesso Australia’s data and technology solutions.

Gill noted that marketers can engage IPG from start to finish knowing that the design of their digital marketing requirements from CDP to media activation is fully transparent and effective, and that the company’s supply path optimisation agenda is also unparalleled globally, as it’s fully auditable and accountable – ensuring every dollar spent in media is validated.

He further shared, “IPG offers its clients an end-to-end solution across Martech, Adtech and Media activation using First Party Data at a deterministic level. Where insight and scalability are a challenge for the industry, IPG’s full-stack offering provides clients [with] an unmatched ability to extend beyond their own eco-system and or access a quick-to-market data solution through Acxiom’s Infobase.”

“We are by far ahead of the cookie crumble and very much leading the way towards connecting consumers with their brands. I am excited about what the future holds and the expanded offering for our clients,” said Gill.

Meanwhile, Mark Coad, CEO at Mediabrands Australia, commented that Gill is an outstanding leader and the extension of his role is a testament to his leadership qualities and the great work Matterkind continually produces for its clients.

He added, “In his new role, Clay’s primary responsibility will be to ensure clients have a single, simplified engagement experience with Acxiom, Kinesso and Matterkind; companies that work closely together as part of the data, technology, and media activation backbone of IPG.”

Matt Ware, CEO at Kinesso APAC, said, “Clay and his team have established an industry reputation for craft, innovation, and client servicing and I’m confident with his industry knowledge and zeal for innovation and solving client problems, combined with the calibre of his team, that he will be well positioned to bring the full spectrum of Kinesso and Matterkind capabilities to life. I am delighted he has taken on the expanded leadership role”

As part of the new Matterkind/Kinesso leadership team, Michael Whiteside, former head of Melbourne/Perth, will be moving to the role of national managing director of Matterkind, while Kim Kho, previously UM’s director of Biddable Media, Australian Government, will be taking on the role of national head of trading at Matterkind. Additionally, Matterkind also welcomes Georgina Fox, former head of operations at GroupM’s Finecast, to be its new national head of strategic investment and partnerships. 

On the appointment of his new team, Gill said, “As a leader, nothing is more pleasing than recognising talent and promoting from within plus onboarding innovative leaders of the future. In Michael, Kim, and Georgina I am confident the business has the skills, knowledge and creativity to offer our clients truly world-class end-to-end business solutions.”

Mumbai, India – Madison PR, the communications arm of Madison World, has appointed Abhinav Krishna Srivastava, former COO at SPAG Asia and DYellowElephant, to be its new CEO. He will be based in the agency’s Mumbai office. 

With more than 21 years of experience, Srivastava is an expert in every aspect of internal and external communications covering public relations, public affairs/advocacy, digital, advertising and integrated marketing campaigns. He also comes with enriched experience of stakeholder engagement, CSR, financial and investor relations, crisis management, and media training. 

Moreover, Srivastava has led integrated marketing and communications strategies across sectors like consumer, lifestyle, food, pharma and healthcare, technology, and telecom, as well as energy, and infrastructure, amongst others. Having worked with some of the world’s most respected brands, he has experience with multiple consumer market mechanisms and managing complex corporate reputation programs for businesses.

Commenting on his new role, Srivastava said that he is beyond excited to join Madison Public Relations and be a part of such a respected, mission-driven team of India’s leading homegrown agency group. 

“I look forward to developing our business by building on established clients and finding new opportunities for growth. As the communications domain has got revamped in the past 2 years, I believe Madison’s might and my multi-sectoral experience will help us expand our growth horizon and get into the big league,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sam Balsara, chairman at Madison World, said, “I am delighted to have Abhinav lead our very capable and experienced Madison PR team as CEO. Am sure he will take Madison PR to new heights and will add a lot of value to our client’s business.”

Singapore – Programmatic media partner MiQ has elevated its current CEO for ANZ, Jason Scott, to the new role of CEO for APAC, adding SEA to his leadership remit. 

In his upgraded role, Scott will be responsible for driving business growth and expansion throughout SEA. His remit includes APAC countries excluding India and China, and he will continue to serve as CEO for Australia and New Zealand.

Scott joined MiQ in 2019, following a successful career in advertising and media. He has been the general manager for Microsoft Advertising Asia, responsible for growing revenue and market share in the Asia region including greater China, India, and Japan. Scott has also held senior executive roles at Allure Media (Fairfax) and ninemsn, using his digital media and sales background to service some of the world’s largest technology clients.

Commenting on his elevation, Scott said that he is thrilled to be adding the fast-growing SEA region to his current remit, as the region’s market is dynamic and fast-paced and he is looking forward to accelerating growth by adding additional regional support. 

“MiQ has grown significantly over the past few years, with regional expansion across Australia, increased channel diversity, growth in our product portfolio and senior staff appointments. My priority now is to ensure MiQ is adequately servicing the Southeast Asian market and securing its position within the global MiQ network,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Richard Dunmall, MiQ’s global president, shared that since Scott joined them in late 2019, his performance leading their ANZ business has been nothing short of exceptional. 

“As momentum continues to build, I’m excited to see how Jason’s leadership can now be applied to our fastest-growing region. Jason is no stranger to this dynamic part of the world, holding multiple leadership positions across the region, throughout his career. I have no doubt he will continue to drive business across APAC,” he said.