Tag: Chief Operating Officer

Singapore – Edelman has announced the appointment of Christiane Schulz as chief operating officer for Asia Pacific (APAC). Schulz moves from her current role as CEO of Edelman Germany. She will report to Rakesh Thukral, Edelman’s CEO for APAC, and focus on enhancing operational excellence and client growth across the region.

Schulz joined Edelman in 2019 to lead its German operations and has been successful in expanding the firm’s presence, strengthening its market position and driving business growth. 

Under her leadership, Edelman Germany has grown, diversified its client portfolio, and enhanced its capabilities in key sectors. She has also been instrumental in fostering a collaborative, people-first culture and driving innovation across the business.

As Schulz transitions into her new role, Nils Giese will succeed her as CEO of Edelman Germany, ensuring continuity and continued growth in the market.

Speaking on her new role, Schulz said, “I’m honoured to take on this new challenge and excited to work alongside our talented teams across Asia Pacific. Edelman has a strong foundation in the region, with deep regional expertise and client relationships, presenting incredible opportunities for growth. I look forward to continuing to elevate our work and helping our clients navigate today’s complexities to drive meaningful impact.”

Meanwhile, Thukral commented, “Christiane’s deep understanding of working in a diverse environment and a dynamic region like EMEA will be invaluable as we work on strengthening our APAC business. She brings a wealth of experience in leading large teams and building trusted, long-term client partnerships. I look forward to working closely with her to further enhance our operations and accelerate growth across the region.”

Lastly, AJ Hesselink, president and CEO, Edelman EMEA, added, “We are incredibly grateful for Christiane’s leadership and the impact she has made in Germany. She has been an exceptional leader for her team and a trusted counsellor to many of our clients. Her contributions have not only strengthened our position in Germany but have also shaped the broader region. I am delighted to see her step into this new role, where she will bring her talents to an even wider stage.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Star Media Group Berhad has promoted Lydia Wang as its new chief operating officer, effective 1 March 2025.

Lydia brings with her over 30 years of experience across diverse industries, including finance, retail, telecommunications, and education, with the last 11 years dedicated to SMG. Prior to her promotion, she served as SMG’s chief revenue officer, where she played a key role in driving corporate growth and leading business transformation initiatives. 

She is also the founder of the Asia ESG Positive Impact Consortium (AEPIC), the first of its kind in Asia, which unites media leaders from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to champion sustainability through media. 

Additionally, she has been serving on the Council of the Malaysia Digital Association (MDA) since 2020 and will continue her tenure through 2026, advocating for digital transformation and innovation within the industry. 

Speaking on her promotion, Lydia said, “I am honoured to take on this role at such a pivotal time for Star Media Group. As the media landscape continues to evolve, I look forward to working closely with our talented teams to drive innovation, enhance operational efficiencies and unlock new growth opportunities. Together, we will build on SMG’s strong legacy, deepen audience engagement and deliver greater value to our stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, Chan Seng Fatt, CEO at Star Media Group, commented, “We are pleased to announce Lydia’s appointment as chief operating officer, a role that capitalises on her extensive experience and strategic acumen. Her leadership will be instrumental in driving SMG’s growth path, strengthening revenue diversification and unlocking new avenues for expansion. With a focus on operational efficiency, disciplined cost management and profitability, she will spearhead innovation, amplify value creation and reinforce SMG’s position.”

He added, “Her appointment underscores SMG’s commitment to innovation, operational excellence and business growth, ensuring the Group remains at the forefront of an evolving media landscape.”

India – Global martech company Netcore Cloud has recently announced the appointment of Siddharth Gopalkrishnan as its new chief operating officer. In his new role, Siddharth will focus on building next-generation propositions around customer engagement, retention, and personalisation while refining the company’s go-to-market strategies.

He will also work to enhance operational efficiency and foster strategic partnerships to further expand Netcore Cloud’s presence in global markets.

His recent appointment underscores Netcore Cloud’s ambition to double its revenue in the next three years and expand its global footprint.

An IIM Bangalore alumnus, Siddharth brings over 16 years of experience from McKinsey & Co., where he led transformative digital initiatives across multiple sectors including e-commerce, automotive, financial services, healthcare, and consumer goods.

His deep understanding of both B2B and B2C business models, combined with his hands-on experience in creating and scaling digital-first businesses, uniquely positions him to lead Netcore Cloud’s next phase of innovation toward achieving US$200m ARR, while continuing its “Proficorn” track-record.

Speaking on his appointment, Siddharth said, “With Netcore Cloud’s exceptional product suite and AI-powered innovations, we have a unique opportunity to not just lead the martech space but redefine it. Having seen this space from a user’s perspective for many years, I see immense untapped potential for brands to leverage platforms like Netcore. I look forward to working closely with the very talented leadership team at Netcore, to build on the current platform and push the boundaries of what’s possible in the realm of customer experience.”

Meanwhile, Rajesh Jain, founder at Netcore Cloud, commented, “With our sights set on scaling to $200M ARR, Siddharth’s leadership will be instrumental in refining our global strategy and enhancing our brand’s value proposition. His dual expertise in consulting and business building is exactly what we need to navigate the next chapter of growth.”

Lastly, Kalpit Jain, group CEO at Netcore Cloud, also echoed his excitement about Siddharth’s appointment, stating, “Apart from being a dynamic leader, Siddharth’s deep understanding of what it takes to build profitable D2C brands, and leading tech-enabled transformations across sectors where Netcore already has a strong presence, will be invaluable to our journey going forward, as we look to expand our global footprint and deliver exceptional value to our clients and partners.”

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia – Carsome has announced that Eric Chan, most recently the regional managing director at Jardine Cycle & Carriage, will assume the roles of group president and group chief operating officer for the company. In his new roles, Chan will oversee all operations across the Group’s footprint in Southeast Asia.

He brings with with nearly three decades of extensive operational experience in the automotive sector, and his appointment underlines Carsome’s strategic direction toward bolstering operational efficiencies and sustainable growth.

Chan began his career from the ground up as a car sales professional and advanced to managing director at Cycle & Carriage Singapore, in addition to other notable roles. His corporate and board experience includes Chairmanship of the Cycle & Carriage Bintang board and Commissioner on the Board of PT Tunas Ridean TBK (Tunas Group). 

He also currently serves as an independent director at AcroMeta Group, an investment holding company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Speaking on his new role, Chan said, “Together with the passionate team, I am committed to building on the Company’s legacy and pushing the boundaries of what we can achieve in the industry. It is about strategic innovation, collaboration, and delivering tangible value to our customers and stakeholders.”

As part of his appointment, Carsome has also announced that Aaron Kee, who previously held the position of COO, will assume the role of group chief business officer (CBO). As CBO, Aaron will drive the integration of strategies within the Carsome ecosystem, lead business development, and focus on identifying and nurturing new prospects beyond Carsome’s core business segments.

Meanwhile, Juliet Zhu, who has significantly contributed to Carsome’s success journey, will transition from her role as president and assume the position of advisor to the management team, allowing Carsome to continue drawing upon her insights and experience.

Eric Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Carsome, said, “Our leadership transition is a conscious move to capitalise on our team’s deep strengths against our ambitious objectives. The leadership changes are timely and align with the company’s trajectory toward sustained growth and market leadership.”

He added, “Chan’s notable career in automotive leadership, particularly his work at Jardine Cycle & Carriage, makes the industry veteran a valued addition to our Carsome family. His innovative approach and commitment to excellence are perfectly aligned with our mission to revolutionise the automotive sector, and we look forward to his leadership in steering Carsome’s regional operational strategies.”

Singapore – Food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda has appointed Luc Andreani as its new chief operating officer. Andreani was most recently the company’s chief international officer.

The announcements were made by CEO Jakob Sebastian Angele on a recent LinkedIn update.

Andreani has been with foodpanda for over six years, starting off as the managing director for Singapore before moving to the role of managing director for Japan. During his stint as chief international officer, he also served as the acting chief marketing officer for over a year before being replaced by Anna Znamenskya.

“I’m grateful he’s stepping up to this challenge and we’ll work closely to keep growing foodpanda’s business,” Angele said regarding Andreani’s appointment.

The company has also named Jamie O’Mahony as the new chief financial officer, and will play a crucial role in leading foodpanda’s business planning, strategy and reporting divisions.

Australia – Amidst its global growth, independent marketing and communications agency Bastion has announced the appointment of Karen Powell to the newly created global role of group chief operating officer. 

In her new role, Powell will oversee the agency’s global operations across client, business, people, and marketing functions whilst ensuring that it continues to deliver world-class experiences to brands. Furthermore, she will help in maintaining the agency’s presence in major cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Los Angeles, New York City, Wellington, and Auckland, as well as its agency partnerships across 10 Asian markets. 

Powell brings with her a strong background in regional go-to-market planning, integrated digital marketing, audience intelligence, marketing automation and experiential events working across Asia Pacific and North America.

Prior to joining Bastion, Powell was with Australia’s longest-standing B2B marketing agency McCorkell and Associates since 2006. In her entire stay in the agency, she held several positions including being its general manager and managing directorwhere she has advised several multinational brands such as Salesforce, Lexus, Telstra, EMC, AIG, Harley Davidson, SAP, and AMEX.

Whilst working with McCorkell and Associates, she also assumed board director positions at Dress for Success Sydney and B2B network ICON APAC. In addition, she formerly served as managing director of B2B agency BBN for APAC. 

Jack Watts, chief executive officer at Bastion, said that they are thrilled to have Powell in their agency, especially that they have spent over a decade establishing Bastion as a global outift that delivers deep expertise.

Powell believes that the agency is unique in terms of its integrated model across business units, providing expertise from various disciplines and world-class work for clients.

“I look forward to working with the diverse, curious, and creative people at Bastion as we continue to grow the new world agency,” she said.

Hong Kong – Kevin Huang, formerly the managing director for Hong Kong at Carousell, has been appointed by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) as its newest chief operating officer. In his new role, Huang will be leading the media company’s advertising and marketing solutions unit.

He brings with him over 25 years of experience from Hong Kong and the APAC region. Amongst his many career achievements is a persistent track record of spearheading digital, mobile, and advertising businesses through high growth and profitability. 

During his stint at Carousell, Huang has driven the development of the overall business strategy whilst overseeing its operations, marketing, branding, and community engagement. 

He was also previously the head of Birdie Mobile, a local digital-only mobile operator and was the CEO of co-founded adtech Pixels between 2002 and 2018. 

Speaking on his new role, he said, “I am honoured and excited to join the South China Morning Post, a premier English news source on Hong Kong, China and Asia affairs for readers worldwide, and a trusted content and marketing solutions partner for business enterprises across the APAC region. In my new role, I look forward to deepening SCMP’s relationships with prospective and existing partners across industries.” 

Huang added, “Building on The Post’s loyal following from a worldwide audience base, I also look forward to scaling the award-winning content studio and advancing the ad tech stack at SCMP as part of the Post’s full suite marketing and branding solutions offering.”

Meanwhile, Catherine So, who was appointed as the chief executive officer for SCMP in 2022, commented, “Kevin brings with him a wealth of strategic, commercial and operational expertise, as well as an extensive local and regional network across industries. His appointment underscores our ambitions to further scale our tech capabilities to offer innovative marketing solutions to our partners. I am confident Kevin’s skill sets will help take us to new heights as we embark on the next phase of our tech-forward strategy.”

Sydney, Australia – Global media and marketing solutions group IPG Mediabrands has appointed Geoff Clarke as its chief operating officer for Australia. Clarke will retain his chief operating officer role and business growth development responsibilities for Initiative, a global media agency that is also under Mediabrands.

In his expanded role, Clarke will be responsible for driving operational and organisational improvements across the entire group. He will also continue to lead IPG’s transformation agenda throughout APAC while leading the operational integration and working system of Australian businesses. Clarke will also collaborate across the company’s entire client portfolio.

Mark Coad, CEO of Mediabrands Australia said that the expanded leadership role is a timely and well-deserved recognition for Geoff who has successfully led the Group’s transformational agenda.

Coad added, “Geoff is an outstanding leader. While still keeping his fingers 100 percent on the pulse at Initiative, he successfully positioned Mediabrands as an industry leader in the use of automation and BOTs considerably reducing repetitive and menial work and significantly improving the way we work across the entire group.”

In his three-decade media industry career, Clarke has established a background in investment, planning, and media buying. He worked for various agencies in London and eventually obtained a managing director position in Australia in 2013.

In 2015, Clarke started his role in Initiative as a client partner and later on promoted to chief operating officer. He has been instrumental in the agency’s growth and development in Australia.

For his new responsibilities, Clarke commented, “I am going to be busy, but it is an exciting time to be in the industry. My goal is for our clients to engage Mediabrands’ agencies knowing the unique business solutions we offer are fully effective and designed for ambitious growth.  This can only happen when the best operational and procedural innovations are in place and the most talented teams are available to service clients.”

Mumbai, India – BBH India, an advertising agency under Publicis Groupe, has appointed Himanshu Saxena, former executive vice president and head of integration at McCann Worldgroup India, to be its new chief operating officer and managing director.

In his new role, Saxena will be responsible for BBH India’s developing talent, organisational tools, and new services, as well as steering these to acquire future-facing businesses.

Saxena brings over 29 years of experience across the communication spectrum, including advertising, marketing and sales, brand management, digital and social, and PR, as well as design, and market research. He has helmed country and multi-office leadership for some of South Asia’s leading organisations, including Lowe, McCann, Trikaya Grey, JWT, and Edelman, as well as IMRB, and Reliance Jio.

Commenting on his appointment, Saxena said, “I am both excited and honoured to join BBH. With its legacy of creating stunning work that has transformed not only brands but also categories, BBH India is truly built for the modern age of marketing. I am looking forward to scaling this further and bringing my experience and a fresh perspective to leading such talented individuals and ambitious clients.”

Meanwhile, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO of Leo Burnett South Asia and chairman of BBH India, shared that BBH India, with its legacy of modern, creative and effective solutions that are well-entrenched in the modern Indian zeitgeist, has built a reputation as a creative firepower in the country. 

“I am delighted to welcome Himanshu onboard. A talented leader known for his deep client relationships, his commitment to business innovation, and his operational acumen, Himanshu embodies the black sheep and zag philosophy that will further fuel this brilliant creative engine,” said Sinha.

In September 2022, BBH India also elevated Priya Gurnani and Arvind Menon to become the new executive creative directors. Both Gurnani and Menon were previously senior creative directors, and will continue to report to BBH India’s CCO and CEO, Russell Barrett.

India – Dentsu Creative India has announced the appointment of Benny Augustine as its new chief operating officer, where he will oversee the agency’s operations in India. He will be reporting to Amit Wadhwa, chief executive officer at Dentsu Creative India.

His objective will be to build various frameworks, platforms, and business processes that promote efficiency and effectiveness for clients using modern creativity. 

Furthermore, he will aim to foster the company culture by leading internal initiatives and implementing training programs to help develop talent.

Augustine will be also working closely with the global operations team at Dentsu Creative led by its global chief operating officer Andrea Terrassa.

Prior to his new role, he was with the senior management team at Dentsu Webchutney as chief financial officer (CFO). During that time, he played a key role in establishing the agency as one of the largest digital creative agencies in India.

Speaking on his new role, Augustine said, “I am super thrilled to take up this new assignment. It would be both challenging and exciting to be the COO of one of the most creative networks globally. I am thankful to Amit and the dentsu senior management for considering me for this critical role.”

Meanwhile, Wadhwa commented, “While we move into this new era of a strong brand like Dentsu Creative in India, it is important to have someone to spearhead the operational transformation who understands people as well as the business. To be honest, I don’t think I could have asked for a better person than Benny to do this.”

Augustine’s appointment follows a slew of local appointments, including Bhasker Jaiswal as new COO of media and Arjuna Gaur as new chief creative officer. The appointments follow their recent wins at the Cannes Lions Festival for their campaign with media company VICE.