Tag: IPG Mediabrands

Singapore – The media and marketing solutions subsidiary of Interpublic Group , IPG Mediabrands, has announced that Kristine Biti has been appointed as the head of KINESSO in Asia-Pacific. Biti will be based in Singapore at the KINESSO Regional Headquarters, reporting to Leigh Terry, the CEO of IPG Mediabrands Asia-Pacific. On Thursday, April 11th, her appointment will become effective.

The announcement comes after Matt Ware was promoted to CEO for Japan at IPG Mediabrands. 

Biti takes over as APAC Head of KINESSO, IPG Mediabrands’ tech-driven performance agency, and leads a team of over 1000 digital experts across 11 markets. They work in digital media, marketing automation, advanced analytics, commerce, and AI. 

Biti has 15 years of expertise in advertising, marketing, and technology in Asia Pacific, and she specialises in driving regional expansion, strategic collaborations, and organisational transformation within the industry. Her previous work includes as APAC head of operations, client, and growth at Media.Monks.

Commenting about Biti’s appointment, Leigh Terry, CEO IPG Mediabrands APAC, said, “Kris has a great reputation for driving operational excellence and commercial transformation. Her deep-seated knowledge of marketing technology paired with an unrivalled passion and tenacity for the forward progress of this industry, make her the perfect hire to lead our digital performance specialists across the Asia-Pacific region. We are very excited to have her on board.” 

Meanwhile, Biti stated, “I am joining KINESSO at a time of exponential technological advancements, ever shifting consumer behaviour and heightened privacy scrutiny. More than ever, brands are seeking expertise and agility as they navigate the complexities of data, analytics, and their technology stack. The combination of KINESSO’s innovative solutions, top-tier services, and exceptional talent is the winning combination to propel our clients forward.”

She added, “It is an honour to have the opportunity to work with Leigh, his seasoned leadership team and legendary KINESSO crew across the world. I am looking forward to taking the APAC business to new heights.”

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands is a media and marketing solutions company. Interpublic Group has launched a partnership with The Insight Hive (Pvt) Ltd. for the establishment of two new organisations, UM Sri Lanka and Initiative Sri Lanka.

IPG Mediabrands and Insight Hive for UM Sri Lanka, and Initiative Sri Lanka have established a partnership agreement that will be implemented immediately.

The announcement comes following earlier this year’s revelation of new agency debuts in New Zealand and Pakistan. It expands IPG Mediabrands’ footprint in the Asia-Pacific region to 16 countries.

Speaking about the expansion, Leigh Terry, CEO of IPG Mediabrands, said, “The network’s expansion into three new growth markets this year, is not only testament to the strength and vitality of our media agencies and the demand for their services, but it also signals the health and recovery of our industry within the Asia Pacific region. Proof in point, our recent MAGNA global advertising forecast confirms that the Asia Pacific advertising economy grew by +8.2% this year, significantly higher than the global average of +5.5%.”

Meanwhile, speaking about the partnership, Peter Solomon, managing director of IPG Mediabrands Sri Lanka, commented, “This alliance with IPG Mediabrands is a major landmark for us at Insight Hive. We stand at the forefront of representing the UM and Initiative media agencies in Sri Lanka, which will contribute to the evolution of an ecosystem that is founded in our unique experience and market intelligence, coupled with the international scale and standing of the IPG Mediabrands network.”

He added, “We hope to establish new standards in consumer intelligence and effective campaign development targeted at a fast-paced marketplace.”

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands has announced strategic partnership between IPG Mediabrands Commerce and Stickler, a live commerce enablement technology provider, to produce a flexible end-to-end live commerce solution for brands across the Asia-Pacific region.

The IPG Mediabrands Commerce and Stickler live commerce solution will be launched and available to brands across 15 Asia-Pacific countries this year.

The bespoke solution which offers ‘Live Commerce as a Service’, allows brands to plug into a suite of software and service components to empower their own existing e-commerce operating framework, in addition to the ability to ‘plug and play’ any part of the live commerce stack with a complete end-to-end solution.

Moreover, the partnership between IPG Mediabrands Commerce and Stickler builds out scalable solutions for brands to establish themselves in live commerce, and create sustainable advantage by owning a greater portion of consumer spend in this emerging channel.

Leigh Terry, CEO at IPG Mediabrands, said, “With live commerce now accounting for 30% of ecommerce in China, and 15% globally, platforms across the region are taking note. Many brands understand that Live Commerce is imperative, and want to address the huge growth opportunity, but don’t feel quite ready to embrace the channel. Our unique approach with Stickler is less about trying to be full service, and more focused on giving brands what they need, whether this be full end-to-end or simply fill-in-the-gaps.”

He added, “We have combined software development and service structure to provide Live Commerce as a Service; this is an exciting evolution in our Commerce practice and an important offering for brands across the region.”

Meanwhile, Fionn Hyndman, founder at Stickler, commented, “IPG Mediabrands Commerce expertise combined with their specialised partner technology allows the scale and flexibility for marketers to optimise Live Commerce, regardless of their current structure. What we are building together is a future model, for the most significant growth channel I’ve seen in the last 10 years. We are solely focused on delivering results within our clients operating framework through Live Commerce. Our aim is to empower and enable them to achieve success.”

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands, Interpublic Group’s media and marketing solutions group, announced the appointment of Paul Waller to the newly created job of chief investment officer MAGNA for APAC. Waller will report to Leigh Terry, CEO of IPG Mediabrands APAC, and will be based in Singapore. His appointment is effective immediately.

Waller in his new position of chief investment officer MAGNA APAC, he will be responsible for leading investment performance throughout the IPG Mediabrands group’s agencies in the Asia Pacific area. MAGNA, the network’s global media investment and intelligence firm, will help to aid this endeavour. 

Waller has joined the IPG Mediabrands group, bringing with him trade and investing experience from positions held at GroupM and Omnicom in Singapore, China, Australia, and the UK. He comes to this post after serving as EssenceMediacom APAC’s chief media solutions & investment officer, where he was in charge of overseeing the department throughout 16 markets in the area. 

Speaking about the appointment, Leigh Terry, CEO of Mediabrands APAC, said, “We are very excited to welcome Paul to the IPG Mediabrands network. His track record of executional excellence and delivery, perfectly position him to help drive exponential growth for our client base through optimised trading efficiencies and services.” 

Meanwhile, Waller commented, “I’m thrilled to be joining the team at IPG Mediabrands and collaborating across such a diverse and future focused portfolio of advertisers. As leaders in data management, I believe that MAGNA are perfectly positioned to harness the technology-driven evolution of media and consumer behaviour. I look forward to building on the network’s impressive work in the responsible media communication and sustainability space.” 

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands, the media holding company within Interpublic Group, has announced the official launching of My Bot, its latest AI chat assistant today, November 16. 

This innovative tool aims to optimise the internal productivity of the workplace as well as their employees’ workstyles through gen AI technology powered by Google Cloud. 

In particular, the assistant is set to streamline day-to-day tasks, enabling easier management of multiple projects and workflows for IPG Mediabrands employees.

Some of its features include an intuitive task management support which covers the project brainstorming to agenda-making for meetings. With a dedicated space for human creativity and strategy development, it also responds efficiently to user needs with time. 

Meanwhile, its capacity to understand 38 different languages enables smooth communication in various contexts and promotes inclusivity.

Speaking about this launch, Graham Wilkinson, chief innovation officer at KINESSO, said, “We couldn’t be more excited to launch our first of what will be many products leveraging gen AI, with the support of Google Cloud.”

“My Bot will take our workplace capabilities to new heights without compromising the humanity and thoughtfulness of our client-centric approach,” he ended. 

My Bot comes after IPG Mediabrands recently partnered with Google Cloud to integrate gen AI technology into product development. 

It is developed by the product team within KINESSO which works with Google’s PaLM 2 language model and boasts enterprise-level security to protect intellectual property throughout the workflow. 

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands’s media agency Initiative has announced its recent affiliate agreement with IG Square Pakistan for its second new market launch: the Initiative Pakistan office.

The affiliate office aims to expand the agency’s network footprint across 14 different countries in the APAC region including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Speaking about the collaboration, James Smyllie, president at Initiative APAC said, “Initiative has had an exciting 2023, with our launch in New Zealand, and now our affiliate partnership with IG Square, creating Initiative Pakistan.” 

“Initiative’s continued expansion into growth markets is testament to the prevailing success of our unique proposition which is steadily building Fame & Flow for brands across the Asia-Pacific region,” Smyllie added. 

Adnan Shaikh, director and chief operating officer at IG Square Pakistan supported this particular announcement and said, “The extension of our collaboration with IPG Mediabrands by introducing Initiative to Pakistan is a dream come true. Not only does it signify another step towards enlarging IPG’s footprint in this market, but it answers the industry demand for global tools and experience with local knowledge under one single umbrella.”

The Initiative affiliate relationship with IG Square Pakistan is set to take effect immediately upon announcement.

Singapore – UM, a global media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, announced it has been named global media agency of record to handle all media duties for global food company General Mills.

With the new appointment, UM will handle all strategy, planning, buying, analytics, performance, and commerce efforts across more than 35 markets for General Mills’ suite of brands, including Cheerios, Nature Valley, and Pillsbury.

UM’s appointment as new media AoR for the global consumer foods company follows several high-profile announcements from the agency. Recently, plant-based company Upfield also named UM as its media agency of record. It also launched the industry-first Shoptimizer tool by UM Commerce.

Andrea Suarez, global CEO at UM, said, “General Mills has consistently led the consumer foods category through bold brand building, relentless innovation, and a commitment to values, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the UM family.”

She added, “We look forward to a strong relationship that uncovers new opportunities, underpinned by our industry-leading data and commerce capabilities, to connect with consumers in meaningful ways while maximising business growth well into the future.” 

Speaking on the appointment, Jay Picconatto, vice president of advanced marketing solutions at General Mills, also shared, “We are looking forward to working with IPG’s UM as our global media agency, which includes the support of our customer marketing and retail media efforts. We’re confident that UM is the right partner to continue to build our iconic brands and deliver remarkable experiences for consumers.”

Sydney, Australia – IPG Mediabrands announced the appointment of Clay Gill as the organisation’s first chief data and technology officer for IPG Mediabrands Australia. He will continue serving a role in the executive leadership team of Mediabrands in addition to this position.

Gill will be responsible for establishing and driving strategic expansion and operational excellence across the Group, with the goal of improving IPG Mediabrands into Australia’s leading digital and data-driven agency group. 

Gill’s career at IPG began in early 2020 with the transition of Cadreon into Matterkind. Following that, he rose to the position of CEO at IPG Kinesso, where he was key in advancing IPG’s programmatic capabilities and steering the agency’s growth in data and technology solutions. Under his leadership, the agency reached a milestone by introducing Acxiom’s 1PD programmatic offering in Australia, a first for the group.

Mark Coad, CEO of Mediabrands, said, “Gill will be leading the ongoing transformation of data through exploration and analysis, uncovering patterns, opportunities and insights that drive evidence-based decision-making solutions for clients. With a clear ambition for Mediabrands to lead and transform the industry’s response to data and technology, Coad said the role was paramount to the Group’s future success.” 

He added, said: “We needed a leader at Executive level to help drive IPG’s ambition to revolutionise the industry, drive innovation, and achieve unparalleled success driven on the power of data and technology. Clay has been very successful in building our data led programmatic offering, he has incredible product knowledge, is a visionary leader and will play a pivotal role in shaping the Group’s data-driven future. I am delighted he has moved into this new strategic role. 

“With Clay at the core of Mediabrands’ data and technology offering, it allows us to create the best collective thinking we can for client outcomes across our brands. No one has all the answers on the future, and some are trying to complete this unknown with badged on tools and techniques but Clay’s global experience positions him perfectly to make things happen,” Coad said. 

Speaking about his appointment, Gill said, “As data and technology continue to frame the future of our clients’ businesses, it is critical that we stay on top of this evolving landscape.I have always been strongly attracted to accelerated levels of engagement for brands and customers through the analyses of sophisticated data streams. 

He added, “The intelligence in these streams means we can share better insights with our clients and ultimately deliver better actions in media outcomes. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to strategically lead this area for Mediabrands, supported by resources from across the group.” 

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands, the media holding company within Interpublic Group, announced the launch of its newest tech-driven performance unit, KINESSO, which delivers real intelligence to move brands forward.

KINESSO is uniquely positioned to unify the data derived from a brand’s full marketing system into one renowned, intelligent, growth-driving capability.

The new unit brings together the collective power of brands Kinesso, Reprise, and Matterkind to form an engine that is expected to deliver accelerated growth for the company.

KINESSO performance solutions, end-to-end media activation and optimisation, global capability centres, and data and technology prowess are expected to provide an even more holistic and integrated approach to servicing and ensuring the success of IPG Mediabrands clients.

With its launch, it will have an extensive offering spanning performance marketing, data, and technology and is poised for digital excellence via advanced capabilities including progressive search engines, digital experiences, platform intelligence, media activation, AI, and audience development.

KINESSO, created with a deep understanding of consumer behaviour, offers an end-to-end engine of planning and optimisation. It will deliver on data-driven strategy for social platforms, actionable growth in e-commerce, and creating curated marketplaces specific to each client’s function and needs.

The unveiling of the new tech unit is rooted in the company’s understanding of the rapidly shifting media landscape brought about by developments in technology.

Jarrod Martin, global CEO at KINESSO, said, “KINESSO by definition means movement and change, and that is what we’re bringing to the forefront of this new business. We’re here to help our clients win and make sure those wins stand out above the rest. KINESSO will make up the most efficient and powerful operating system in the   marketueled by an infrastructure that allows all our agencies to function with agility and consistency in a global capacity.”

Meanwhile, Eileen Kiernan, Global CEO of IPG Mediabrands, also shared, “This is an important time in our history to build upon the collective success of Matterkind, Reprise, and Kinesso. Positioned at the heart of IPG Mediabrands, KINESSO will expand horizons for our clients by prioritising excellence in the future of media, superior value delivery, and a commitment to innovation, breaking down industry barriers. We’re excited to bring this offering to our clients and drive actionable growth for their businesses.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS), the media-fuelled creative content practice within the IPG Mediabrands network, has released PETRONAS’ festive film that commemorates the upcoming Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations.

PETRONAS’ new film is anchored on their festive theme of the year, ‘Roots of Our Future’, which highlights and embeds the richness of heritage, customs, and culture into all the festive films of 2023.

The film, titled Rai, honours the many significant things that have progressed in Malaysia since independence. Rai means to celebrate, which is in line with the film celebrating love, legacy, and lagu (song) sudirman for Merdeka and Malaysia Day.

Set with the 70s and 80s as a backdrop, Rai is a love story at heart that will showcase the remarkable journey of PETRONAS through the decades. The interracial storyline follows Amir with his small-town innocence as he joins PETRONAS in the big city, his friendship with Maniam, and his infatuation with Ah Moi, amidst a fast-changing Malaysia.

The film features local actor Faizal Hussein, popular in the 80s, as the older Amir and was directed by Kabir Bhatia in collaboration with Mastermind Group as the production house.

The film also features the late Datuk Sudirman Arshad’s song titled Warisan, meaning legacy, heritage, or bequeath. The concert by the famous Malaysian singer will serve as another central narrative in the film. 

Well-known in local history for uniting Malaysians of all races and religions, the icon organized a free mega concert at Chow Kit Street that was attended by over 100,000 fans across Malaysia and featured songs across all local and national languages. 

Iskandar Putra, group business director at MBCS, said, “The 70s and 80s was a time of immense transformation in Malaysia. Cities were blossoming with the advent of capitalism, industrialisation and commercialisation, and PETRONAS was at the very heart of our nation’s evolution. We wanted to show the resilience of our people and the strides we’ve made, not just economically, but with our thinking and harmony.”

“Using Sudirman’s concert was significant in our storyline, as music unites, and love transcends all. The song we used was also a special nod to Malaysia and PETRONAS, as all that has come before us is a legacy for future generations. Everyone from an older generation would recognise that cassette tape, and we’ve come a long way from then to now, where our future possibilities are limited only by our imagination,” Iskandar added.