Australia – Enero Group, a global marketing and technology agency network, has named Ian Ball as its first chief operating officer (COO), effective February 17.

In this newly established role, Ball will report to Enero Chair Ian Rowden and succeed outgoing CEO Brent Scrimshaw. He will be responsible for the company’s operational and financial leadership and will also lead the strategic review of OBMedia.

Enero Group’s operating company CEOs—Heather Kernahan, Steve McArdle, Wai Kwok, and Raja Gupta—along with the Group’s functional heads, will now report to Ball.

Ball has more than 40 years of experience in consulting, technology, professional services, and private equity. He previously served as EY Oceania’s deputy CEO and head of markets, overseeing a $1.4b business with responsibilities spanning revenue generation, client management, business development, marketing, communications, and strategic acquisitions. He has also held leadership roles in major professional services firms and worked across key markets, including Asia, the UK, Europe, Australia, and the U.S.

Before joining Enero Group, Ball served as TEG’s COO and head of strategy and M&A. He previously held roles as an operating partner at Silver Lake and as CEO and managing director of Cardno, an ASX-listed global professional services firm.

Speaking on his appointment, Ball shared, “I am excited to be joining Australia’s only listed marketing and communications business to lead the business through its next phase of growth. In particular, the quality of the individual business units, their talented staff, global reach and exposure to growth markets provide a very strong platform for value creation. I am looking forward to working with the board, the leadership team, and meeting our people to unlock this potential.”

Ball’s appointment comes shortly after Enero introduced its refreshed brand positioning, ‘Free Thinkers United.’ The new positioning underscores the Group’s focus on independent thinking and its approach to blending strategic precision with creativity to address key challenges for high-growth clients worldwide.

Enero Group chair Rowden commented, “Ian is a highly accomplished executive with a proven track record of success in leading and growing substantial businesses. His deep understanding of the marketing and technology landscape, coupled with his experience in driving operational excellence, makes him ideally suited to lead Enero’s next phase of growth and innovation.

“I am particularly glad we have attracted someone with the qualifications and background to coordinate and fast-track our efforts to harness AI on behalf of our agencies and clients,” added Rowden.

Singapore – As part of its ongoing expansion, Havas Singapore has promoted Kenny Yap to the position of chief operating officer for Havas Play, the specialised division within Havas Media Network. 

In his new role, Yap will lead the development and execution of strategic initiatives and partnerships, driving sustained growth and innovation while managing commercial and operational responsibilities. Also, part of his key priority will be expanding Havas Play’s presence throughout Southeast Asia.

Since joining Havas Singapore in 2017 as managing director, Yap has been pivotal in achieving consistent double-digit growth for the agency. He has developed a unique offering that seamlessly integrates social media, content, public relations, influencer marketing, and social media commerce. Under his leadership, the agency has significantly expanded its client roster and garnered numerous accolades, including multiple ‘Agency of the Year’ awards.

Yap will work closely with Russell Lai, chief commercial officer of Havas Media Network Singapore, and both will continue to report to Rana Barua, the group CEO for India, Southeast Asia, and North Asia at Havas

Speaking on the appointment, Barua shared, “Kenny has been a key member of our leadership team in Singapore, significantly enhancing the agency’s capabilities and leading to numerous new business successes. We have ambitious plans for Havas Media Network in this region, and Havas Play will be key to expanding our diverse capabilities into sports, events, culture, and multiple IPs that connect with brands and consumers, allowing us to make an effective difference and deliver impactful results. Both Russell and Kenny will continue to drive growth for the agency, working closely with me.”

Also commenting on his new role, Yap said, “I’m humbled by the recognition and excited about the growth plans for Havas Play. We have such an amazing playground of talent, intelligence, and data that enables us to offer our clients a comprehensive suite of integrated services. In addition, we have strategic alliances in the pipeline to enhance and elevate our capabilities. As we continue to scale the core business, we will amplify our efforts in additional areas such as sports, entertainment, sponsorships, and activations, creating a greater meaningful difference for our clients and audience.”

New York, USA – Advertising holding company Omnicom has announced the promotions of Alex Lubar as new global CEO of DDB Worldwide and Glen Lomas as global president and chief operating officer of DDB Worldwide.

Prior to his elevation, Lubar was appointed president and COO of DDB Worldwide in October 2022 after spending 10 years at McCann.

He served several regional leadership roles in his time, including being president of McCann North America, head of McCann’s Asia Pacific region, and CEO of McCann London.

Lubar will succeed the current global CEO, Marty O’Halloran, who will continue as chairman. O’Halloran has been a leader within the DDB network for close to four decades and took over the role of global CEO in 2020.

On the other hand, Lomas was based in London and served as CEO at DDB EMEA before his promotion. He brings with him a strong client experience, building successful client teams across geographies while creating an environment where creativity and effectiveness flourish across the network.

John Wren, chairman and CEO at Omnicom, said, “We are pleased to announce these changes as DDB has reclaimed its title of being one of the top creative agencies in the world, including 2023 Cannes Network of the Year.”

“Marty’s dedication to DDB has made him an integral part of the network’s culture and operations, and we thank him for his strong leadership during the past four years as CEO. With extensive global leadership credentials within the industry, we are confident that Alex, supported by Glen, will continue to elevate the network and build upon its legacy of creative excellence,” he added.

Also speaking on the promotion, O’Halloran said, “It has been my honour to lead DDB over the past 4 years. The talent across our regions is incredible, and together we’ve been able to produce work that has achieved transformative results for our clients and has been awarded as some of the best creativity in the world. As part of this orchestrated succession plan, there is no doubt in my mind that Alex will continue to lead the DDB network to new heights. I look forward to working in a chairman’s capacity with Alex and Glen as they partner in leading the way forward with their global leadership team.”

Meanwhile, in his new role, Lubar shared, “Since its inception, DDB has unlocked the power of human emotion to make millions of different people change how they behave, feel, and transact with brands and businesses around the world. We believe that creativity, in all its modern forms, has the power to profoundly transform our clients’ businesses. I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead Bill Bernbach’s legacy into the future with such a talented global staff and leadership team who all share the same vision.”

Lomas, on his appointment, also added, “It has always been a privilege to work at DDB, and it is a great honour to take on this role. DDB has always been where brilliant, unpretentious people turn up each day to apply their creativity to solving problems. The problems and solutions change, but the culture doesn’t. I love what this network is capable of when it comes together, as demonstrated this year at Cannes, and Alex and I are here to ensure that spirit continues and the network keeps evolving to attract the most ambitious talent and clients.”

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.

Australia – Matt Sutton has recently been elevated to the position of chief operating officer at TrafficGuard, the Australia-headquartered provider of global digital ad verification and fraud prevention platform. Sutton was formerly its global chief revenue officer. 

According to his LinkedIn profile, the new COO role will see him leading the global rollout of the marketing tech’s omnichannel strategy and technology across the globe as the platform drives adoption of surgical fraud solution under its tech stack offering for advertisers across all industry verticals. 

Previously as the company’s global chief revenue officer, he led the commercialisation of the platform across the globe. 

Founded in 2015, TrafficGuard is a subsidiary of ASX-listed tech company Adveritas. TrafficGuard detects, mitigates and reports on digital ad fraud. Its platform analyses impressions, clicks, conversions, and events to mitigate ad fraud at its earliest reliable detection. 

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.”

Mumbai, India — CleverTap, an integrated retention cloud company, has appointed Anand Venkatraman as its new chief operating officer.

Venkatraman has over two decades of experience in building and augmenting global teams and P&Ls across various sales motions. He joins from Freshworks where he held the position of senior vice president and general manager of Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. In the said role, he led and scaled businesses and evolved global partnerships to independently drive business across 40+ countries, scaled the technology marketplace and embedded Freshworks deep into the worldwide startup ecosystems. Prior to that, he also held leadership positions at Akamai and Microsoft in APJ and India.

Sidharth Malik, CEO of CleverTap, said, he is warmly welcoming Venkatraman to CleverTap adding that Venkatraman’s appointment is an indication of their ambitious growth plans to be the gamechanger for user retention.

“With his successful track record in taking businesses globally, building highly engaged teams, and establishing creative approaches for customer success. Venkatraman will strengthen the Clevertap Management Team to help scale the company to the next level by bringing in excellence in execution,” Malik said.

Meanwhile, Venkatraman commented on his appointment, “I am excited to join CleverTap as they emerge as the Retention category market leader, in not just India and South-East Asia but also in markets like North America, Latin America, Middle East, Turkey, Africa and Europe. I am looking forward to being a part of their journey in taking the Indian SaaS story to the world.’’

India – Following the recent re-organization of the network, dentsu in India has finally named its CEO for the Media division, Divya Karani. Alongside this, the company has also announced a new COO, Kartik Iyer. 

The new appointments are both internal elevations. Karani is currently the CEO of dentsu X India and will have the new appointment as an additional role, handling all media agencies of dentsu in South Asia, including Carat, iProspect, and Posterscope, aside from dentsu X. She is tasked to drive the global media strategy and delivery in the region, ensuring its alignment and relevance to the market.

Meanwhile, Iyer has previously worked as the president of dentsu’s Media Brands and media investment and innovation platform Amplifi. With the COO role, Iyer will be engaging with regional teams, global teams, and all other network brands to ensure the ongoing transformation program. He will also be driving the implementation of dentsu’s new business model within the country. Iyer will be collaborating with leaders and client teams across businesses in the market to change how the network works and inculcate the culture of operational excellence.

Both Iyer and Karani will report to Dentsu India’s CEO Anand Bhadkamkar.

Commenting on the new promotions, Bhadkamkar said, “Dentsu is committed to delivering the best to its clients and Kartik and Divya are veterans in what they do. Kartik is recognized industry-wide for his media expertise while Divya is one of our finest from the industry. Her strength lies in delivering first-class, client-centric results and I am confident that their expertise and experience will only help accelerate the effectiveness, purpose, and performance offered to our clients.” 

Earlier this year, Dentsu India also announced the recent merge of Vizeum and iProspect into one to bring together the former’s media strategy and planning, storytelling, and brand-building capabilities with the latter’s digital expertise. 

Singapore – Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has announced today that OMD Singapore has tapped its own managing director Chloe Neo to take on the role of chief operating officer. 

OMD Singapore vouches for Neo’s seasoned experience in the industry, where 12 years have been dedicated to OMD.  

Neo started out in the company as business director in 2008, eventually rising up to assume the role of managing partner and later on, managing director.

“During her time with us, Chloe has been instrumental in driving growth and innovative solutions for our clients, as well as mentoring and nurturing the talent within our organization,” said Tony Harradine, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, APAC. 

Aside from full-fledged corporate work, Neo has been active in spearheading advertising associations in Singapore, having served senior capacities at the 4As in Singapore. Just this last month, she was appointed as the first vice president for the Association of Advertising & Marketing Singapore for 2020.