Hong Kong The Marketing Society, a global community for marketers, has announced new leadership appointments for Hong Kong which include Natalie Truong as its chair and Hina Wainwright being the new vice chair. The appointments aim to accelerate marketing leadership in the city and across the Asia-Pacific region upon entering the post-pandemic era. 

In their new roles, Truong and Wainwright will lead the society in Hong Kong by curating programme of events, conducting trainings, and mentoring marketing leaders and teams which is aimed to be a step for them to perform well for brands, business, partners and wider society.

They will be working with the non-executive board which includes Edward Bell, general brand manager at Cathay Pacific Airways; Nellie Chan, director of customer solutions at Google; Karl Gregory, head of digital channel, sales and customer engagement at HSBC Asia; Kiri Sinclair, founder and CEO at communications agency Sinclair; Seraphina Wong, co-founder and CMO at Women Workplace Index; and environmental service The ESG Consortium.

Truong brings with her experience in leading B2C and B2B organisations from various industries including professional services, financial services, superannuation and telecommunications across Australia, New Zealand and Asia whilst Wainwright also carries with her leadership experience working at global organisations in Asia from various industries including marketing services, life sciences, engineering and the arts.

Whilst serving the organisation, Truong is simultaneously the current chief marketing officer and partner at consulting firm Mercer. Meanwhile, Wainwright is concurrently with independent marketing service adm Group, similarly holding a chief marketing officer position.

Darren Chuckry, outgoing chair of the society said that it is an honour to serve the society in Hong Kong, knowing that they became connected with inspirational marketers.

Sophie Devonshire, chief executive officer at The Marketing Society, added, “As we look towards exciting times ahead, we are delighted to have two formidable marketing leaders at the helm. Natalie and Hina each have a wealth of rich experience, and are ready to steer new energy into our community.”

Founded in 1959, The Marketing Society is a non-profit organisation that builds community of marketing leaders around the world, with its hubs in England, Scotland, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and New York.

Singapore – Global communications firm Edelman has appointed Jamshed Wadia as its newest vice chair for digital in Asia-Pacific, where he will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s growing digital practice and Edelman Studios’ operations in the region.

For his role, he will be reporting to Tristan Roy, global chair of digital at Edelman; and Stephen Kehoe, APAC president and CEO. He takes the role over from Matt Collette, who returned to Canada in January to take on the role of head of digital for Edelman Canada, as well as global managing director for digital growth at Edelman.

Wadia brings over 20 years of experience to his new role, having led businesses through digital transformation and reinvention, established marketing centres of excellence, acted as an advisor to start-ups and multinational organisations, and served as a guest lecturer on digital transformation and marketing at prestigious universities and management institutes, including INSEAD.

Previously, in his 17-year stint at Intel Corporation, Wadia rose through the ranks of the sales and marketing team to serve as APJ marketing director, as well as serving in digital marketing and media. He was responsible for establishing and leading the company’s strategy in Asia-Pacific across modern marketing, media, content, web, social and performance marketing.

Speaking about his appointment, he said, “Edelman has built up impressive digital capabilities across the Asia Pacific region, encompassing a robust offering that has delivered innovative digital work for its clients. I am excited to be joining such a talented network of practitioners in the region, working with them to further develop and elevate the digital agenda for clients, and deliver truly integrated solutions that take their marketing and communications to the next level.”

Meanwhile, Kehoe, commented, “Over the past two years, our digital practice has undergone significant growth and transformation under Matt Collette’s leadership, allowing our clients to benefit from industry leading offerings. With Jamshed’s impressive track record and leadership skills, we will continue to build on our strength in this domain and provide clients with leading expertise to unlock new growth opportunities with digital.”

Singapore – Edelman, a global communications firm, continues to strengthen its senior leadership lineup in the Asia-Pacific region, as it has recently expanded the role of Michelle Hutton, currently the CEO of Edelman Australia and vice chair for APAC to expand her remit in her vice chair role to now cover client and growth responsibilities. Meanwhile, the firm has also promoted Susan Redden Makatoa, currently the group managing director at Edelman Australia, to the role of head of corporate for APAC at Edelman.

The new announcements follow the firm’s recent senior appointments of Adrian Warr as CEO of Edelman SEA, and John Kerr as the vice chair for technology at Edelman APAC, effective by 1 October.

In her expanded role, Hutton will leverage her experience in building Edelman’s integrated solutions offering in APAC to evolve the firm’s client-centric approach, ensuring Strategy, Creative, Data and Digital sit at the heart of all client business and growth efforts. 

As such, Hutton will now also oversee the firm’s regional client leadership, new business and marketing initiatives going forward, ensuring each of these areas build on the firm’s vision to deliver truly integrated work for its clients. 

Meanwhile, Redden Makatoa will lead Edelman’s reputation and advisory practice across the region, reporting into Stephen Kehoe, Edelman’s CEO for APAC, and Dave Samson, global vice chair of corporate affairs. She brings over 20 years of experience in leading reputation management and advisory services across business, government and not-for-profit sectors. Having joined Edelman in February 2020, she has already led the firm’s Australia clients through the unrelenting challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With these moves, we are creating a more powerful, client-centric organization than ever before in APAC. We’re an agency that has never stood still; our pioneering spirit continues today and we have a collective hunger to deliver impactful and effective integrated work for our clients, with a One Edelman mindset,” said Stephen Kehoe, president and CEO for Asia-Pacific at Edelman.

Other notable Edelman corporate moves in the region include updating the lineup for Edelman China, as well as updating its creative team for its APAC team.

Singapore – Global communications firm Edelman has announced the promotion of Adrian Warr as CEO of Edelman SEA, and John Kerr as the vice chair for technology at Edelman APAC, effective by 1 October.

Warr was previously the CEO of Edelman Hong Kong and Taiwan, while Kerr was previously the CEO of Edelman Singapore.

Kerr’s appointment comes at a time when technology continues to play a larger role in daily life, and yet, trust in the technology sector continues to decline. As one of Edelman’s most senior client leaders and with unrivaled experience in this sector, Kerr will navigate Edelman’s teams of technology sector practitioners and clients in Asia Pacific through the fast-changing consumer landscape. 

Meanwhile, Warr’s appointment entails him to lead Edelman’s operations across Southeast Asia, and will be focusing on driving local expertise and cross-border collaboration across Southeast Asian markets, in order to deliver broader capabilities for Edelman’s clients. He will continue to lead the firm’s regional Employee Experience offering as well.

Stephen Kehoe, Edelman’s President and CEO for Asia Pacific, says, “As we continue to advance our plans towards our desired future, we are making important changes to our APAC leadership team today, in order to accelerate the growth of our people and our work, while creating a simpler structure that’s designed around the needs of our clients. 

He added, “Both John and Adrian are renowned leaders with proven track records for developing talent and driving business growth.”

Edelman’s latest appointment follows a slew of appointments by the firm across the region, ranging from updating the lineup for Edelman China, as well as updating its creative team for its APAC team.