Sydney, Australia – The Works, a creative agency part of the Capgemini group, has appointed Johnnie McGinness as its customer engagement lead. The agency has also promoted Jacq Henderson to strategist

McGinness will be joining The Works from Oracle CX Consulting, where he partnered with organizations in multiple sectors across JAPAC. He will be reporting to Strategy Partner Dan Pankraz

Speaking on his appointment, McGinness said, “It’s an exciting time to be joining The Works, the backing of Capgemini provides endless possibilities for data, insights, and technology to create powerful and engaging experiences for our clients and their customers.”

He added that he is looking forward to bringing new perspectives and ideas to The Works’ clients to help achieve its goals.

Pankraz further commented, “We are super excited to welcome Johnnie. At a time when we’re further developing our Accelerated Journeys CX offering, bringing in someone with his level of CX, data and digital capability will add incredible value to our clients. Johnnie is refreshingly passionate about pushing customer engagement to new levels and we can’t wait to see him elevate our CX and CRM offering.”

Meanwhile, Henderson has been elevated to strategist after joining the agency as a junior strategist in 2021. In her new role, she will be leading strategy on key accounts and helping drive growth and client satisfaction.

On Henderson’s promotion, Pankraz said, “The Works has always focused on developing people and promoting internally as a priority. We’re always delighted when both our business and team grow and it’s amazing to see young strategists like Jacq develop their skills and hone their craft.”

This follows Julie Dormand’s appointment as managing director for the agency.

London, England Global brand publishing agency Green Park Content has promoted Lesley Renton as its head of marketing and demand generation for APAC. Renton made the announcement through a LinkedIn post on January 5.

Renton is a seasoned digital marketing leader with expertise in online and offline integrated marketing campaigns, digital marketing, new business, and events.

Prior to her new role, she worked as head of new business for APAC at the agency. She also previously held the general manager and director of marketing role at event marketing agency Clearwater Communications.

“I am so proud to be part of the amazing, world-class Greenpark family and team, and to continue to build on our significant 2022 new business and growth achievements. Looking forward to great collaborations, and powering up the growth of Greenpark through the power of marketing and demand generation,” Renton’s post read.

Green Park Content has also previously bagged the digital and creative mandates for the Indonesian snack brand Maxicorn and the Philippines’ telco giant Globe.

Hong Kong – Leading telecommunications company in Hong Kong and Macau, SmarTone, has named Renee Sin as its new general manager for branding and integrated marketing

According to her LinkedIn profile, Sin will be handling SmarTone’s branding, integrated marketing, loyalty, CRM, store concept, and visual merchandising.

Prior to joining SmarTone, Sin was senior director of e-commerce and DTC at manufacturing company UCP Group, where she spearheaded its digital acceleration and acted as its COO for strategic development, e-commerce operation, and digital and growth marketing, amongst others.

She also held the senior director for e-commerce and marketing for Europe and APAC and ALDO Group, as well as the marketing director for footwear & apparel retailer Belle Worldwide Limited.

SmarTone has also previously entered a partnership with ABS-CBN Global in 2021, targeted at providing quality service to Filipinos in Hong Kong.

India – Advertising company DDB Mudra Group has unveiled key appointments to its local leadership, namely Menaka Menon as national strategy head and Nitin Pradhan as creative head for South.

Both appointees cumulatively bring over at DDB Mudra Group 40 years of experience in creative thinking and strategic planning across brands and categories.

Menaka started her journey in advertising in account management and eventually moved to other marketing roles. She has also spent time in media, consulting and social sectors, all of which have contributed to her unique perspective on culture and consumer behaviour. She has also previously worked with FCB, JWT and Leo Burnett. Her diverse portfolio included brands such as ITC foods, Amazon, HUL, Star Network.

Commenting on her new role, Menon said, “DDB Mudra Group is at an exciting juncture, having created beautiful and impactful work, with a clear focus on building on the same. I look forward to being part of a stellar team working towards a shared mission and bringing in a fresh perspective to work.”

Meanwhile, Pradhan has worked on campaigns such as the Masalas of India for Maggi noodles, Make My Trip’s ‘MMT Assured’ campaign and brands such as Samsung, Tata Sky, KBC and Sony Network. His last stint was with Cheil India with previous experiences at Ogilvy, McCann, Publicis Groupe and Leo Burnett. He is also a filmmaker, having directed popular films for Truecaller and the Government of India.

Commenting on the role, he said, “The vision of making DDB Mudra, the integrated agency of choice in the industry is something that inspired me to take up the South creative mandate. The Bengaluru office has recently proven its intent to push creative boundaries with mainline campaigns on BGMI and Indeed. And given the vast portfolio of brands that it has across categories, I’m quite excited to partner the team in its new phase of growth, where creativity will have a more central role to play.” 

Talking about the senior appointments Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer at DDB Mudra Group said, “Bernbach had said that creativity is the most powerful force in business. And those words form the core of what we’re trying to build at the DDB Mudra Group. But how strong the force of creativity is, depends on the talent that wields it and leads it. In Menaka and Nitin, we found strong leaders and wielders of this force. I look forward to working with them and creating some really exciting work on some of our biggest brands.”

Australia – SpringServe, the ad serving platform acquired by Magnite, has announced the appointment of Mete Bargmann as commercial director for JAPAC and Kok On Chew as director of client solutions.

Bargmann will be responsible for planning, developing, and implementing commercial strategies to support and accelerate the growth of SpringServe throughout APAC. He is expected to bring his 15 years of digital advertising experience to the new role.

Prior to joining SpringServe, Bargmann previously held the position of head of business development for Asia at Magnite, working with publishers and broadcasters across Europe and Asia to develop their advertising businesses and strategies.

Meanwhile, Chew will be based in Singapore and will be providing technical support for SpringServe’s product suite in the APAC region. 

He is expected to bring his experience in designing and implementing OTT video streaming solutions in the media technology sector to his new position. 

Before SpringServe, Chew previously spent 18 years working at Harmonic, Inc. as presales and SaaS manager where he handled architectural design efforts and implementation of cloud-based OTT video streaming solutions, amongst other responsibilities.

Magnite has also previously acquired revenue management platform Carbon to accelerate publisher audience activation.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Global cloud communications platform Infobip has appointed Ben Lewis as its new vice president of marketing and growth. In his new role, he will be leading Infobip’s global marketing and growth function and will be responsible for increasing the firm’s market share and brand awareness to meet its growth targets.

In addition, he will ensure Infobip is positioned as a full-stack omnichannel communications platform for every platform.

Overseeing a global team, Ben has significant experience in global omnichannel communications. He was previously the VP of strategic commercial Innovation at Infobip. Before Infobip, Ben was the director of revenue operations at U.S. messaging company OpenMarket. 

Acquired by Infobip in 2020, Ben joined OpenMarket from a tech start-up in 2016. Following the acquisition of OpenMarket, Ben managed the transition of the sales and accounts teams, working closely with Infobip’s executive team.

Speaking on his new role, he said, “Having worked with Infobip and its executive team since its acquisition of OpenMarket, I’ve seen first-hand the breadth and depth of its people. Infobip has been hugely successful to date, and it has strong relationships with customers such as Microsoft and Adobe and partners like CRM platform HubSpot and workflow platform ServiceNow.”

He added, “With a more agile and collaborative approach, we can enhance that success and ensure Infobip achieves ambitious profitable growth. I’m looking forward to working with colleagues to ensure customers understand how our full stack communications infrastructure is so powerful that other providers run their platforms on it.”

Meanwhile, Ivan Ostojić, chief business officer at Infobip, commented, “Infobip is focused on profitable growth, and the marketing and growth team is critical to our success. But to achieve that success, every team worldwide must be aligned and focused on the same objective. Combining the marketing and growth teams under Ben’s new leadership unifies our end-to-end go-to-market functions from strategy to campaigns. Now everyone is focused on how they can help our customers succeed and, by doing so, how we can achieve ambitious profitable growth.”

He added, “Ben is an exceptional marketing leader with vast industry experience. What’s more, having been with the firm for some time [who] understands our business inside out. At Infobip, we’re committed to developing our people, helping them perform at their best and make the step up, which Ben exemplifies with this new appointment.”

Shanghai, China Global growth agency Aiken Digital has appointed Kian Fong Wong as its new general manager of China

Wong made the announcement through a LinkedIn post. According to his profile, he will be based in Shanghai, China for the new role. 

Wong is an experienced leader and technology executive who co-founded digital agency Deep Focus, which was previously known as FlipScript Interactive.

Prior to joining Aiken Digital, Wong was previously the head of media and marketing solutions agency UM Studios in China. In this role, he spearheaded the startup and formation of MediaBrands Content Studios (MBCS) in the country, amongst other responsibilities.

He also held the regional director for North Asia position at public relations and communications company Isentia and was managing director for China at advertising agency R/GA.

Aiken Digital specialises in growth consulting, experience design, system development, creative & content, XB e-commerce and SaaS products.

Mumbai, India – Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R has announced the appointment of Saurabh Saksena as chief executive officer of VMLY&R India

He will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Hari Ramanathan, CEO of VMLY&R, South and Southeast Asia and Japan

In the new role, Saksena is expected to drive the integration of VMLY&R’s capabilities across India, such as creative excellence and transformational solutions at the intersection of brand and customer experience, data, platforms, and commerce.

Prior to joining VMLY&R India, he was the president of Red Fuse Communications India. He also held the CEO position at J. Walter Thompson Worldwide and brings with him experience in social, commerce, data and CRM, shopper marketing, full-funnel management, and new-age media, amongst others.

On his appointment, Saksena said, “I’m thrilled to take up this new role and lead the VMLY&R operations in India. The agency houses a great pool of talent across specialisations that don’t usually exist together in a single agency, making it well-positioned to harness creativity, technology, and culture to create connected brands.”

He likewise mentioned that VMLY&R has outstanding growth potential in India and that he and his team will continue to build on it.

Ramanathan further commented, “India is an anchor market for us in Asia and with a breadth and depth of offerings that are unmatched in the industry, VMLY&R India, under Saurabh’s leadership, is all set to help clients get their ‘unfair’ share of growth in a vibrant market.”

VMLY&R India also previously appointed Rajshekar Patil as its executive creative director last year.

Singapore – To support its growth strategy across the Asia-Pacific region, IT company Fujitsu has named its new head of marketing for APAC, Jezmynn Koh-Turner. This is a comeback for Koh-Turner who previously joined the company back in 1999. 

Koh-Turner will be based in Singapore, joining Fujitsu’s APAC leadership team. She will be focusing on supporting the company’s regional business strategy and building the Fujitsu Uvance brand.

She is expected to bring over two decades of marketing and communications experience in enterprise tech and SaaS companies across APAC, ASEAN, Greater China, North Asia, South Asia, and Australian markets in the new role.

Prior to joining Fujitsu, Koh-Turner was most recently director of marketing for APAC and MEA for SaaS solutions provider Jedox AG. Throughout her experience, she’s also held marketing and communication leadership roles at SingTel, F5 Networks, and Commvault, amongst others. 

When Koh-Turner first joined Fujitsu in 1999, she supported go-to-market strategies at Fujitsu Asia, with a role that spanned for seven years. 

On re-joining Fujitsu, she said, “I am very pleased to have re-joined Fujitsu during such an exciting period of transformation and I look forward to collaborating with the Global Marketing team and the Asia Pacific organization to support Fujitsu’s growth strategy and bring to life our purpose-led strategic direction and focus.”

Graeme Beardsell, chief executive officer of Fujitsu Asia Pacific also said, “With extensive experience in the enterprise technology market across the Asia Pacific region, she is the ideal executive to lead our Asia Pacific marketing team as we look to elevate our position as a trusted digital transformation (DX) and sustainability transformation (SX) company in the region.”

Vice Head of Global Marketing at Fujitsu Dr. Laura Bonamici also expressed her excitement to work with Koh-Turner in supporting the business strategy and financial objectives for the APAC region and building the Fujitsu Uvance brand.

“She is passionate about driving integrated marketing and communications strategies to generate market awareness, shift perception and impact purchase consideration, and will no doubt be a great asset to our company,” Bonamici added.

Fujitsu is a leading business and IT solutions provider, offering services drawn from five key technologies: computing, networks, AI, data and security, and converging technologies.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Chayenne Tan has announced that she is joining financial services company Standard Chartered as its head of consumer, private, and business banking–according to her LinkedIn profile.

She was previously with CIMB, where she was the head of sustainable finance for consumer banking. She also previously held other marketing roles in CIMB, including director of performance marketing and director of consumer marketing, among others.

Some of her work in CIMB revolved around growth marketing, integrated marketing, remarketing, martech, performance marketing, and brand management. 

Prior to joining CIMB, she was also the head of strategic planning and integrated marketing at marketing agency ROOTS Asia Pacific, where she worked with clients such as Adidas, Unilever, HTC, and Goodyear, amongst others.

In addition, she’s held other marketing and communications-related roles at companies Deloitte, Hong Leong Bank, and Siemens.
Standard Chartered recently teamed up with NTUC in Singapore and Bukalapak in Indonesia to launch respective new digital banking services in each market.