Tag: Leadership

Hong Kong – Hong Kong-headquartered global news company The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has announced the appointment of Lou Wee as its new director of global strategic business. 

Based in Hong Kong, Wee’s role sits within the Post’s Advertising and Marketing Solutions (AMS) business with the mandate to build and nurture long-term partnerships with global strategic accounts. 

Wee rejoins SCMP after his move to VICE Media as vice president of sales and brand partnerships, APAC in 2022. In SCMP, he previously held the roles of head of advertising sales for Hong Kong and regional markets as well as regional director of advertising and partnerships for more than three years. 

With over 15 years of diverse media and advertising experience acquired from Hong Kong and Singapore, Wee counts VICE Media, FOX Networks Group, CNBC, and The Wall Street Journal amongst his prior career appointments where he was responsible for advertising sales and partnerships.

Commenting on his appointment, Wee said, “Hong Kong holds a very special place in my heart – not only has it been my home base for the past 8 years, I also owe much of the success that I enjoy in my personal and professional life to this city.”

He added, “My appointment and return to SCMP comes at an exciting point of the Post’s journey as it enters its 120th year of journalistic legacy, the reopening of Hong Kong to the rest of the world and a tech-forward next-phase which will continue to pave the way for SCMP’s leading role in the Asia media industry.”

Kevin Huang, chief operating officer of SCMP also said that Wee’s rich industry and regional background reflects the mission of SCMP’s global strategic business, which is to work with partners worldwide in targeting respective local markets across APAC and globally.

Huang added, “As our readers are a global community, the majority of which comprises the APAC market with a particularly strong presence in Hong Kong, Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia, followed by the North America market, Wee’s homecoming highlights the Post’s robust regional position and strong confidence in Asia as a leading global hub for media and advertising.”

This follows Sophia Yu’s appointment as managing director of SCMP’s magazine division, SCMP Hearst.

London, United Kingdom – Due to its growth across the regions of North America, EMEA, and APAC, global executive search firm Grace Blue has announced its new appointments including Sarah Skinner as its global managing director and Helen Duffy as its CEO for Asia-Pacific Region.

Skinner will be responsible for ensuring the firm’s service quality across the divisions of consumer brands, agencies, media, entertainment, and sports whilst Duffy will continue to lead the APAC operations. 

Simultaneously, Grace Blue restructures its advisory board led by its chairman Ian Priest. Juliet Timms joins the advisory board as its board advisor to help in supporting the Grace Blue team and its clients.

Moreover, the advisory board also welcomes Sherilyn Shackle, CEO and founder of The Marketing Academy and Tim Shaw, ex-commercial director of the Ryder Cup and PGA European Tour.

Global CEO Jay Haines said that Skinner has been a truly brilliant ambassador for the Grace Blue brand and their team is excited to have her to continuously grow the business worldwide.

“Our new advisory board will also continue to service our current clients and support us as we continue to broaden our client base and build our global footprint,” Haines added.

“I am thrilled to be taking on a more global role working across our three regions, and look forward to the next chapter of Grace Blue’s journey,” Skinner expressed.

Grace Blue specialises in transformational leadership talent for brands, agencies, media, entertainment, and technology organisations.

Sydney, Australia – Creative technology agency whiteGREY has appointed Reeshma Bhanji as its executive creative director. The appointment is targeted at significantly boosting the agency’s design and creative offering.

In the new role, Bhanji’s immediate focus is to lead the Scentre Group (Westfield) business with an additional responsibility to develop and deepen whiteGREY’s creative offering to drive business transformation for clients.

She also brings with her a wealth of experience from both agency and client-side to whiteGREY. Her expansive retail experience is garnered from working across brands such as Freedom, Rebel Sport, Aesop, and Glasshouse Fragrances, where she created award-winning campaigns and led strategy and creative thinking to create in-store spatial design experiences.

Prior to joining whiteGREY, Bhanji was previously with The General Store as its creative director and was also the founder of Flying Fish Designs. 

On her new appointment, Bhanji said, “While design thinking is a critical component of the creative process, my true passion lies in collaborating with my team and our clients to identify solutions that can genuinely foster the growth of their business. This human-centric approach is what drives great creative and design, and I’m thrilled to bring this perspective to both whiteGREY and its clients.”

Chad Mackenzie, whiteGREY’s national CCO also said that Bhanji’s appointment was a game-changer for whiteGREY supporting the agency’s ongoing investment in outstanding talent. He added that Bhanji will likewise provide a new perspective for clients and expands the agency’s brand design offering.

“With a career built on a strong foundation of visual arts and design, Reeshma leans heavily into design, strategy and creativity to discover what will work for her clients’ brands to make their business better. Reeshma helps see the world differently, creating powerful as well as beautiful client solutions using design thinking to grow her client’s businesses,” said Mackenzie.

He added, “She is well known to challenge conventions to create breakthrough brand experiences and her unique way of blending design, strategy and creativity is an exciting proposition to bring to market and is the next step in the evolution of whiteGREY’s already strong creative offering.”

Bhanji’s appointment is effective immediately. She will also be based in Sydney for the new role.

Malaysia – In its recently held 16th Biennial General Meeting, The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) has elected its council office bearers who will serve the not-for-profit industry body for the next two years. 

The newly appointed leaders are the re-elected president Andrew Lee, group managing director of Havas Group Malaysia, who will be serving his fourth consecutive term, and Ryusuke Oda, managing director of Hakuhodo Malaysia as the new vice president.

Both Lee and Oda will work jointly with the council members as well as Dato’ Johnny Mun, managing director of Oxygen Advertising and 4As senior advisor, and En. Khairudin Rahim, 4As chief executive officer, to accomplish the association’s objectives.

The election also saw the induction of Council members from Dentsu Malaysia, Fishermen Integrated, Geometry Global, Grey Worldwide, M&C Saatchi, Monster Interactive, NagaDDB, Oxygen Advertising, Shinajii, and TBWA Kuala Lumpur.

Speaking about his re-election, Lee said, “I feel honoured to have been asked to lead the 4As Council once again, and to have the opportunity to continue the legacy of earlier leaders including the late Dato Tony Lee, Tony Savarimuthu, and 4As Honorary Life President Tan Sri Vincent Lee.”

Lee also added that he is looking forward to furthering the steps taken in the all-important area of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DEI) that the previous council had begun. 

“Other challenges ahead of us include the continuing post-pandemic recovery, understanding and co-opting new technologies such as AI and its subset ChatGPT, and more prosaic challenges like staff retention and continuous professional development,” he added.

The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As), formed in 1971, is the Malaysian advertising industry’s foremost body engaged in promoting the value of advertising agencies in the marketing communications industry to advertisers, media, suppliers, government and the public.

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.

Tokyo, Japan – To strengthen its creative power, marketing communications agency Geometry Ogilvy Japan has announced the promotion of Yasushi Arikawa as senior creative director and creative head of experience whilst adding Naoto Nishimura who assumes an executive creative director position.

The appointments are part of the agency’s efforts to support the growth of its client portfolio and as a whole agency.

Arikawa has been an integral part of the agency’s pioneering Shibuya metaverse work over the last several years. He will now oversee the work of KDDI’s new Web3 venture, Alpha-U which was launched last month.

Meanwhile, Nishimura previously worked at Beacon Communications in Tokyo where he built a strong creative portfolio. In his new role, he will work with Arikawa to strengthen the agency, bringing creative and social together to provide a more integrated offering.

Doug Schiff, chief creative officer at Ogilvy Japan, said that it’s good to recognise some of their best talents whilst bringing great leadership from the outside. Schiff also said that he looks forward to working with the team to collectively move forward and provide bigger integrated ideas for their clients.

Geometry Ogilvy Japan works with brands both in Japan and global countries to support their business ambitions and growth objectives.

Sydney, Australia – Australian communications consultancy Honner has announced new appointments for its senior team, reinforcing the agency’s position as one of Australia’s leading specialist corporate and financial communications firms.

Equity partner Susie Bell has been appointed managing partner, focusing on leading Honner’s people and culture. In the new role, Bell works closely with founder and CEO Philippa Honner to drive a range of management responsibilities in addition to leading the agency’s relationships with key clients.

Meanwhile, Alison Kahler has joined the Honner team as its new senior consultant – content, in response to ongoing demand for ‘high-quality, strategically driven’ content programs in the financial services sector. 

In the new role, Kahler brings with her more than 25 years of experience as a financial journalist and communications adviser for major publications and institutions. At Honner, she will be working across the firm’s financial services, corporate, and technology clients offering content strategy development and delivery as well as strategic communications counsel. 

Another addition to the team is Rashmi Punjabi, who has been appointed to the newly created role of head of business development. She will work closely with the CEO and senior leadership team to drive new business efforts across traditional finance and new economy sectors, as well as lead marketing initiatives for the agency.

Honner has also formalised its senior leadership team, in recognition of the collective contribution the agency’s senior consultants make in managing a growing consultancy. 

Along with Honner, Bell, Kahler, and Punjabi, the new team includes Judith Bence, chief operating officer; Craig Morris, head of marketing solutions; Samantha Rockliff, senior consultant; Fiona Parker, chief strategy officer; and Natasha Moldrich, account director.

Speaking about the appointments, Honner said that they reflected the firm’s ambitions to continue broadening its offering across the Australian and APAC region.

“Each year we behave more like a traditional consultant – working with a wide range of stakeholders to deliver highly tailored, strategically driven programs that make a commercial impact,” she said.

Honner also added, “We’re investing in our team, digital tools and infrastructure to support the next phase of growth – as clients continue to value specialist agencies that bring deep market insights and creative ideas to the table, operating as a dynamic and flexible extension of their in-house team.”

Bell also commented that continuous learning and global curiosity were strong contributors to the firm’s culture. “The Honner team is our greatest strength, and we are extremely proud of our diverse range of talent. We’re committed to delivering relevant and future focused training and team experiences that add value and create a real impact.”

Singapore – To set its growth path, digital agency ADK Connect announces the appointment of Rie Otsuka who will simultaneously work as its chief executive officer for Singapore and emerging countries and chief growth officer for ADK Global.

In her new role, Otsuka will be responsible for unlocking the value of the markets in Australia, India, Singapore, and other emerging markets while maintaining the network’s continued success.

Her appointments are also a part of the agency’s commitment to address the post-pandemic communication landscape and prepare itself as a future-ready communications partner. 

Otsuka brings with her an experience in CRM, digital, and global marketing. Before joining ADK, she led the digital and CRM practices at McCann Worldgroup, particularly the global teams for Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi, and Panasonic. 

Yasuyuki Katagi, chief executive officer at ADK Global, said that they need a leader who will oversee the transformation and structure the change management processes to make it possible.

“With Rie Otsuka’s pedigree in agency leadership and her rich experiences in digital, her dual appointment makes perfect sense. Singapore remains a prime market for many clients as a regional hub,” he added.

Meanwhile, Otsuka added, “Teamwork is a crucial strength of the ADK network. It may not be a new buzzword, but it is an old adage that is challenging to upkeep. We must focus on fostering and empowering great talent to move forward in our highly competitive marketing industry.”

ADK Connect specialises in digital, creative and performance media. It partners with clients in solving marketing challenges by providing innovative solutions.

Singapore – Global digital agency DEPT has appointed Diphaa Nair as its director of strategic alliances for APAC. As part of her remit, Nair will be working closely with India-based Tekno Point/DEPT team to expand the agency’s Adobe Practice globally. 

Nair comes from a strong technology background and was more recently with Adobe where she spent more than six years as the head of partners for South Asia. Prior to this, she worked with CA Technologies as a channel director and spent four years with MphasiS, an HP company.

Based out of Melbourne, she will report jointly to Vishnu Mohan, partner and chief growth officer at DEPT APAC and Evan Davey, founding partner of Two Bulls/DEPT to drive the commercial development across its set of offerings both in Australia as well as other parts of APAC region.

Commenting on her appointment, Nair said, “I am happy to join DEPT with its pioneering spirit and boutique culture. Both Two Bulls/DEPT and Tekno Point/DEPT have exciting, cutting-edge offerings with great potential in the industry. I look forward to working with Vishnu, James, Evan and the Tekno Point/DEPT leadership team to manage their Strategic Alliance proposition in APAC.”

Mohan also commented, stating, “Diphaa is joining the team at exactly the right time as we’re growing the APAC region and its full-service offering.”

He also added that Nair’s over two decades of experience in digital technologies, customer experience, and business transformation will help the company provide the tools businesses need to deliver pioneering digital solutions.

The appointment follows DEPT’s recent acquisition of the 500-strong Adobe DX specialist firm Tekno Point.

India – Advertising company DDB Mudra has announced the appointment of Saad Khan as its president and managing partner for growth and strategy to lead the business whilst building on strategic capabilities for its operations in the West region.

Khan brings with him an experience in building strategies for brands. He previously worked as chief strategy officer at agency FCB Ulka, where he oversaw strategies in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

He has also worked with food and beverage brands such as Coca-Cola, ITC foods and Amul; consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser; automotive manufacturers Tata Motors, Honda and Volvo Cars; and industrial paint company Nerolac.

Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer at DDB Mudra Group, said that the company believes that its core to be great in creativity is built on strong thinking, and Khan will help in strengthening this belief.

This year, DDB Mudra has also appointed Menaka Menon as national strategy head and Nitin Pradhan as creative head for South.