Tag: promotion

Sydney, Australia – Yury Glikin has been promoted to the recently established role of commercial director overseeing Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) by Outbrain, a technology platform operating on the open web. This appointment is effective right away. 

Glikin will directly report to Amrita de la Peña, managing director APAC at Outbrain. 

Glikin will focus on building strong relationships with agencies and brand investments in his promoted role. In order to provide Outbrain’s clients with better service, this transformation entails improving Outbrain’s technological infrastructure and value proposition in partnership with agencies. 

He joined Outbrain in 2021 as head of sales for ANZ. Since then, his responsibilities have grown to include overseeing the creation and implementation of Outbrain’s commercial and sales strategy as well as the identification of new business opportunities for regional revenue growth. His responsibilities include developing new strategic partnerships, maintaining relationships with significant clients and stakeholders, and managing the Outbrain ANZ sales team.

Glikin has 20 years of experience creating strategic business alliances and managing

sales groups. He worked as the Australian country manager for Fiverr before joining Outbrain. held positions at HotelsCombined.com, Nine, BizCover, and Booking.com.

Speaking about his promotion, Glikin said, “With continued industry changes, Outbrain’s core proposition of connecting advertisers with premium audiences in contextually relevant environments is only going to become more important. Ensuring our team is set up for success to help achieve this is incredibly important, and I’m thrilled to be entrusted with guiding the ANZ team along this journey.”

Meanwhile, de la Peña, commented, “In just a few years at Outbrain, Yury has achieved fantastic results even amongst an unpredictable economic environment. His authentic style matched with the commitment he has for the team and our partners makes him a great fit for this new, strategic position. I’m excited to see the team scale to new heights under his guidance.” 

Shanghai, China – Wunderman Thompson has announced the promotion of Carter Chow to chief executive officer of Wunderman Thompson Greater China.

Previously CEO of Wunderman Thompson China, Chow’s promotion comes as the agency focuses on building a united approach and strategy in Greater China, as more client opportunities call for a consolidated response from agencies.

With 25 years of experience, Chow returns to lead the digital transformation of J.Walter Thompson as CEO where he modernised the entire service offering – driving the agency into a state of hyper growth.

In 2019, Chow notably led the merger of Wunderman and JWT in China by combining and elevating existing teams to bring new, unique and integrated capabilities to the China market.  Since then, the market has experienced significant changes and years of economic uncertainty, but Chow continued to remain consistent – growing alongside clients such as The Estée Lauder Companies, Volkswagen, HSBC, P&G, Danone and so on.

Speaking on his promotion, Chow commented, “We have exceptional teams and excellent capabilities in many of our markets, especially within the Wunderman Thompson Greater China offices. From Shanghai to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei, each office brings its distinct and market-leading expertise. We can achieve remarkable feats when we‘re all in it together, empower one another, and harness our collective synergy.”

Meanwhile, Ewen Sturgeon, international CEO at Wunderman Thompson, said, “Carter is known for building a robust and successful business with people at the heart of it all; encouraging a culture of creativity and growth. I have no doubt Carter will take our Greater China business to new heights with a united approach.”

Maggie Wong and Evan Teng, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong and Taipei respectively, as well as Win Mak, CEO of Mirum Hong Kong (part of Wunderman Thompson), will remain leaders of their markets and will work with Chow to create a more consolidated response to the opportunities and challenges that present Greater China clients.

Indonesia – McDonald’s Indonesia has revealed its new J-Pop advertisement jingle titled ‘Nihon No Fureeba’ written fully in Japanese, to promote the relaunch of McDonald’s ‘Taste of Japan’ burgers.

‘Nihon No Fureeba’ is a full, untranslated Japanese pop song made to promote the comeback of McDonald’s Taste of Japan burgers in Indonesia. The song’s lyrics talk about crispy nori and yakiniku sauce, ingredients highlighted on the fast food chain’s Japanese flavoured-inspired burgers. 

Written in a completely different language, the message the advertisement jingle aims to highlight is that even though some might not understand McDonald’s onigiri-looking burgers, they’ll love the taste anyway. Just  like they love Japanese songs. 

Advertising agency Leo Burnett’s cultural findings on Indonesians’ adoration for Japanese pop songs propelled the idea of creating the jingle. The agency tapped Indonesian-Japanese singer Ica Zahra to create the song, which was released as a Japanese single without subtitles.

Within one week, the music video was watched more than three million times. The song became the talk of the radio, and hundreds of covers and TikTok dances were made. 

Soon after, the agency and the singer revealed that the song, which most people didn’t understand but still listened to, was actually an untranslated ad to promote McDonald’s product relaunch. The jingle has topped the country’s music charts and become the #1 search on music search application Shazam causing a huge jump on the burger’s first-week sales. 

With the launch of ‘Nihon No Fureeba’, people’s curiosity towards the burgers spiked so fast that first-week sales surpassed those of the past 3 years. 

“Because no one knew that it was an ad. The lyrics were in Japanese, untranslated, and  people thought that it was just a nice feel-good J-Pop song!” explains Ravi Shanker, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Indonesia on how an ad became a popular favorite pop song in the country. 

“Japanese pop culture is strong in Indonesia. People love Japanese pop songs and put  them in their playlists, sing along, even wearing cool t-shirts with Japanese letters—all  without understanding what they mean,” he continued. 

Meanwhile, Michael Hartono, marketing director at McDonald’s Indonesia, said, “At the end of the  day, the campaign is making people love not only the burgers but also the brand. Even after people realized that it was an ad, they still continue doing karaoke with it, and  the song–I mean the jingle–is now in thousands of Spotify playlists to this day.” 

Singapore – Tressie Lieberman has recently been appointed as Yahoo’s new chief marketing officer. Lieberman will supervise all international marketing strategies, brand positioning, user acquisition, and customer engagement initiatives in her capacity as Yahoo’s CMO. She is going to take a part in establishing the brand’s direction and growth plan, which will enable consumers to achieve their online goals for years to come. She will report to Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo.

During the time she worked as the vice president of digital marketing and off-premise at Chipotle, Lieberman launched the Chipotle Rewards program, which gathered membership of 33 million members. She also oversaw the management of integrated marketing and delivery alliances. 

Lieberman participated in directing the brand’s identity change and the development of retail partnerships while serving as Snap Kitchen’s CMO. She also worked at Taco Bell as the vice president of digital innovation and on-demand, where she was responsible for launching influencer and social media campaigns.

Lanzone said, “To say Tressie stood out during our search process would be a massive understatement.” Tressie’s combination of core marketing skills, leadership and people skills, and strategic creativity – especially in digital and social channels – are extremely rare. She is also uniquely inspired by the chance to take the Yahoo brand to new heights, just like myself and the rest of our executive team. We can’t wait to give the keys to Tressie and watch her drive the brand forward in the years ahead.” 

Speaking on the appointment, Lieberman said, “I have always been drawn to the Yahoo brand – not only for its strong legacy, but for its immense potential.” 

She added, “The opportunity to push the boundaries and take the brand into the future is a dream. I couldn’t be more excited to work with Jim and his team to steer the path they’ve set forth through disruptive campaigns that engage with culture in new and exciting ways. With a wealth of beloved and compelling brands, the sky is truly the limit for the new Yahoo and I can’t wait to get started.”

Singapore – Creative agency BLKJ Havas has announced the promotion of Guilherme Machado as its executive creative director to strengthen the agency’s creative offering whilst pursuing more clients and campaigns on a pan-regional level.

In his new role, Machado will work closely with the leadership team to further drive the creative work by combining advertising with authentic storytelling and unique perspectives.

In 2021, Machado joined BLKJ Havas as an associate creative director where he was able to deliver critically acclaimed works for the agency. Before joining BLKJ Havas, he also worked as an associate creative director at agency McCann Australia.

Rowena Bhagchandani, CEO and co-founder at BLKJ Havas said that as the agency expands its regional remit with clients, it will continue to strengthen its position as the APAC Havas creative flagship of the region.

Meanwhile, Machado added, “Creating work that doesn’t look like traditional advertisements has been a key motivator since I started my career, and I can’t think of a better place to continue pushing myself creatively and nurture a team with shared ideals.”

BLKJ Havas is a creative agency that works with brands in culture, entertainment, and media.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Global media and marketing solutions group IPG Mediabrands has announced the promotion of Cindy Eliza Vaz as its chief digital officer for Malaysia. Vaz has previously worked as the head of digital for Universal McCann in the country.

In her new role, she will be responsible for expanding the digitisation of the group in Malaysia whilst leading the digital transformation to provide a comprehensive suite of qualitative programmatic, performance, and tech solutions. 

Moreover, the group has also promoted Debica Sigamani as its chief technology officer to work closely with the executive leadership team in driving business growth and success.

Bala Pomaleh, chief executive officer at Mediabrands Malaysia, shared that Vaz has played an important role in driving business and digital efforts during her stint at UM.

“Her strengths in digital innovation, strategy, data, and tech capabilities will help us continue to drive digital excellence to meet our clients’ business needs, whilst focusing on transparency, accountability, and brand safety,” Pomaleh added.

Meanwhile, Vaz herself expressed, “I look forward to raising the digital profile of Mediabrands, collaborating closely with UM and Initiative on our digital strategy and empowering clients to be more digitally savvy, while continuing to cultivate an ecosystem that nurtures more mentorship and coaching of young digital talents.” 

Last month, global content studio Mediabrands Content Studio has also appointed Marshall Campbell as its general manager of client service and Luke Simkins as its group creative director.

Australia – Havas Media has announced the promotion of Kevin Fernandes as its national head of partnerships and adtech across all media channels. The appointment coincides with the restructuring of the partnership team, where it fuses online and above-the-line channel planning and buying to focus on engaging with audiences across all channels in all formats.

The restructuring also emphasises the agency’s focus to find the greatest opportunity for marketers to engage audiences along the customer decision journey. Moreover, this allows more seamless delivery of integrated audience data collection and meaningful insights to be activated at speed across multiple media platforms to drive online or in-store purchases.

In his new role, Fernandes will be responsible for leading the newly merged team to develop integrated thinking across all channels. He previously worked as head of data solutions and adtech for Havas Media where he led the delivery of innovative client solutions across addressable and digital offerings. 

Virginia Hyland, chief executive officer at Havas Media Group, said that Fernandes’ promotion is their natural next step as the company experience the integration of digital and data employment across all media channels.

“I am looking forward to leading the team on our integrated digitisation journey, as we look to deliver solutions for the now and future. Utilising data points and technology to continue to evolve advertising innovation, efficiency, and effective results for our valued clients,” Fernandes added.

This month, Havas Media has also named Rebecca Tos as its new managing partner to lead the new Havas Market× business division.

Australia – Creative agency Host/Havas has announced the promotion of Anthony Moore as its managing director to continue being hands-on with the agency’s clients including Reckitt, Tourism Fiji, and the Australian Federal Police, whilst expanding his responsibilities more broadly for the agency.

In 2015, Moore joined the agency as its managing partner. He became an integral part of its projects including the creation of Australia’s second most popular podcast for the Australian Federal Police. He also contributed to the win of the hotly contested Tourism Fiji pitch and helped Air New Zealand become Australia’s most trusted brand five years in a row.

James Wright, chief executive officer at Havas Creative Network, said that Moore has been a crucial player in the agency’s success, from developing strong client relationships, supporting the delivery of their iconic campaigns, and building a fun culture. 

Meanwhile, Moore said, “I’m really proud of everything we have achieved together, particularly over the past few years and the culture we continue to build at Host/Havas. The team here are incredibly talented and certainly make my job easier every day.”

Host/Havas specialises in blending creativity and technology to solve real business problems, from brand thinking and design to innovation, CX, tech consulting, and digital development.

India – With its commitment to maintaining growth and maximising business outcomes for clients, marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson South Asia has promoted Raji Ramaswamy as its chief growth officer and Joy Chauhan as its chief client officer. They will report to Shams Jasani, chief executive officer at Wunderman Thompson South Asia. 

Ramaswamy will retain her CEO role at Contract India, Wunderman Thompson India’s group company and Chauhan will simultaneously work as a managing partner of Wunderman Thompson in Delhi.

In their new role, Ramaswamy and Chauhan will lead strategic growth for the group, focusing on new business and key clients across the region. They will also oversee client retention and business development, nurture teams of talent and drive strategic growth initiatives including the development of new client services and capabilities.

Ramaswamy brings with her over 25 years of experience in marketing and brand management. During her stint in Contract India, she maintained its vision to create the most integrated agency model for the future with a seamless multi-dimensional structure. 

Meanwhile, Chauhan brings with him experience in managing people across multiple business units. In his stint at Wunderman Thompson Delhi, he was responsible for driving the growth of the agency’s brands, people and business.

CEO Jasani said that Ramaswamy and Chauhan’s appointments come at a perfect timing when the agency can drive good impact for clients and business whilst delivering transformational work that builds Wunderman’s capabilities in creative, data, tech, and commerce.

“With India as one of our fastest growing markets and being uniquely poised to provide integrated solutions to our clients, we are on an ambitious growth trajectory with Raji and Joy as enablers to chart the best course for the next growth phase,” Jasani added.

This month, Wunderman Thompson also elevated Gavin Bain as its chief executive officer for Australia.

Singapore – Global, performance-driven content leader Green Park Content has announced the promotion of Fe Husaint as managing director for APAC to strengthen the agency’s operations, power up its growth, and accelerate its success across the region. Husaint previously held the creative and global brand head position at the agency.

Husaint brings with her strong experience in developing a creative and strategic approach to managing brands’ creative remits. She became an integral part of Greenpark’s growth in APAC whilst helping to grow the agency’s revenue with global and regional business.

Marcelo Bittencourt, departing managing director for APAC, said that Husaint deserves the promotion because she has been pivotal in growing the agency’s business and culture.

Meanwhile, Husaint commented, “I plan to inspire a strong, inclusive, and diverse culture—to do my part in powering business growth to the next level. I am also excited to usher in a new era of Greenpark—my vision is to have a holistic approach with creativity and innovation at the core.” 

“I envision a business model that’s driven by innovation such as Generative AI Creative Solutions. This is my future-forward vision to continue pushing the boundaries of creativity, while being able to offer cost-efficient solutions to our Client partners,” she added.

Greenpark has been growing its operations in seven APAC countries with over 130 digital experts within its team.

Earlier this year, Greenpark has also announced the promotion of Lesley Renton as its head of marketing and demand generation for APAC.