Tag: Universal McCann

Singapore – Universal McCann has named former chief innovation officer at EssenceMediacom Sasha Savic as the company’s new chief executive officer. In his new role, Savic will galvanise the UM community around a growth mindset and leverage the agency’s industry-leading data capabilities to optimise and energise its go-to-market strategy.

In addition, he will be setting the vision for the agency’s global growth while also overseeing the strategy, product, operations, and management of clients including American Express, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Nestlé and Sony, amongst others. 

Savic will report directly to Mediabrands Global CEO, Eileen Kiernan.

Prior to his C-suite role at EssenceMediacom, he also served as the chief executive officer for the US team at MediaCom for a decade. He also served several leadership roles at McCann New York and UM, leading media efforts for brands like Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Intel, and Mastercard.

Speaking on his appointment, Savik stated that building connections is what drives him– from strengthening the community and partnering with clients to connecting consumers’ needs to a brand’s purpose and value.

“The role of media is timeless, and I am excited to join the global leadership team at UM, the undisputed leader in unlocking the power of data to enhance the purpose and longevity of brands,” he said.

He further added, “I look forward to bringing together content, data and brand meaning to create sustainable, long-term growth at UM, where I first got my media chops and fell in love with this industry.”

Kiernan commented, “A tenacious and dynamic leader who cares deeply about people, clients and community, Sasha is a consummate relationship builder who has driven results for some of the world’s most iconic brands. Sasha’s love of the business complements our strong, values-driven global culture, and his will to win and commitment to excellence will supercharge how we show up in the marketplace and for our clients. We are thrilled to welcome him back to the IPG family.”

Canberra, Australia – After a highly competitive process, the Government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT Government) has chosen to hand its overall media mandate to Universal McCann (UM) in Canberra. The remit covers all media strategy, planning and buying for the brand as well as digital and functional advertising across all channels. In addition, UM will be providing digital and creative content services. 

Brett Elliott, managing director of UM Australia, said that his team were thrilled for its appointment and for adding government client roster to the agency. He also said that they are excited to improve the lives of Canberrans by contributing to the ACT economy.

Elliot added, “Having one supplier with a clear line of accountability for all media placement needs means we can bring holistic reporting, deeper category understanding and the ability to drive shared learnings to the account, ultimately providing a more effective set up and efficient use of taxpayer funds.”

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of ACT Government expressed, “We were impressed with UM’s experienced team of media practitioners and their breadth of understanding of our needs and their enthusiasm for the task at hand. We look forward to working with the team to drive efficiencies and value for money in the way our Government engages with Canberra’s community.”

In 2021, the national government of Australia renewed its partnership with UM to be its agency of record through 2024. 

Sydney, Australia – UM’s consultancy practice, Business Analytics Engine (BAE), announces the appointment of Nimesh Chaturvedi to the newly-created role of associate director of data and technology. He brings in a decade of in-depth experience working with data and analytics in cloud-based platforms.

His immediate remit is to lead the data and martech solutions for brands realising the value of their first-party data and data science and optimising audiences and paid media, to drive growth.

Most recently, Chaturvedi was the senior data and analytics manager with Middle Eastern telco Etisalat and prior to that data and analytics manager with Reprise Digital MENA (Middle East and Africa). 

His experience creating digital transformation strategies and roadmaps is crafted from a deep understanding of a range of martech tools and technologies, including CDP, attribution solutions and first-party data warehousing in cloud and on premise, to help brands become more digitally mature.

He has also gained a solid understanding of identifying and proposing digital transformation strategies. working across a very diverse media landscape, audience base and level of digital maturity in sectors including retail, CPG, banking, telecom, travel and hospitality, media and entertainment.

Chaturvedi reports directly to Michelle Yeates, head of BAE and will work alongside Adam Krass, chief digital, data and technology officer at UM.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “Opportunities to build and evolve a MarTech practice don’t come around very often. My mission is to help BAE deliver results for our clients through innovative growth strategies based on precision targeting high value audiences. In a world of big data, that means technology and analytics.”

Meanwhile, Yeates said that Chaturvedi’s appointment supports BAE’s ambition to invest in the critical skills and expertise to accelerate clients’ digital transformation and roadmaps beyond cookie-based media.

“With experts like Nimesh on our team we now have additional capabilities to build on the strong data & analytics foundations of the practice. His expertise futureproofs BAE’s offering, providing unparalleled experience in first-party data; propensity modelling; and digital measurement through privacy first clean rooms, ultimately unlocking client growth through more effective audience targeting and measurement,” she said.

Singapore – Global media agency network UM from IPG Mediabrands is expanding its presence in Asia-Pacific with a new affiliate office in Pakistan, launched in agreement with IG Square Pakistan.

The affiliate partnership takes effect immediately, and adds up to the 14 existing markets UM is in the region, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Speaking of the new affiliate office, Muhammad Sarwar Khan, chief executive officer at IG Square Pakistan, said, “We are very excited to be a part of IPG Mediabrands and I believe this relationship will bring a fresh perspective to the media landscape in Pakistan with data, technology and commerce playing a key role in reshaping consumer journeys and experiences.” 

He added, “I would also like to thank all of our clients and media partners for extending their support and I assure them that this new partnership will further equip us to deliver on our promise of imagining growth globally.” 

Meanwhile, Adnan Shaikh, director and chief operating officer at IG Square Pakistan, commented, “I am humbled and excited to share news of IG Square’s affiliation with IPG Mediabrands to represent Universal McCann (UM) in Pakistan, and introduce other agency brands in the future. We are extremely thankful to our team members, clients and vendors for their trust and confidence. We are committed to magnifying the UM brand image in Pakistan, and extend UM’s regional and global experience and expertise to our clients.”

Kasper Aakerlund, president at UM APAC, commented, “I am delighted to be in a position to confirm our official affiliate partnership with IG Square for UM Pakistan. An important growth market for many of our regional and global client brands; the launch of UM Pakistan will serve to future-proof our regional efficiencies and expand our competitive remit and opportunities across the Asia-Pacific region.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Top online food and grocery delivery platform, foodpanda, has appointed Mediabrand’s media network, Universal McCann (UM), as its new media agency of record.

As part of the remit, UM will be overseeing foodpanda’s media duties including strategy, planning, buying, and research, as well as data and analytics.

Bernard Chong, foodpanda’s marketing director, commented, “We were especially impressed by the people we met, and the commitment of the UM team. We are confident their insightful expertise across data, analytics, and storytelling will help us drive more brand love for foodpanda.”

Audrey Chong, Universal McCann and UM Studios’ CEO, shared that UM aims to help build brands that disrupt through data-led integration, digital acceleration, and content creation through a consultative lens, and this aligns with foodpanda’s vision of the media partnership. 

“The team is excited to get started on this fun, daring brand and we look forward to collaborating and building more buzz together,” said Chong.

The appointment of UM will commence in the first week of December 2021.

Just recently, foodpanda has announced a new vertical within its platform, partnering with Chinese tech giant Xiaomi to now deliver consumer electronics and appliances starting with Singapore and Thailand.