Move and win roundup: OMD, Criteo, Ogilvy, Noisy Beast, Microsoft, more

PEOPLE MOVES

OMD promoted Aimee Buchanan to CEO in Australia following the promotion of Peter Horgan to CEO of Omnicom Media Group, Australia and New Zealand, in July. Buchanan joined OMD Sydney in 2011 as business director, rising to GM in 2013 and MD in 2014.

Edelman Digital Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APACMEA) has created two new roles. Martin Shaw, formerly of Maxus, has been hired as Performance EVP in Hong Kong. He’ll take over the overall paid media offer and key data and analytics functions.  Stuart Edwards has been named regional COO after previously serving as Australian MD.

Text100 Australia has revamped its leadership team, with Karen Coleman moving into the managing director role. She was previously VP of integrated marketing, a position that is now filled by Simon Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, Terry Whitaker joins as senior director from his previous role as head of marketing and communications at Major League Baseball in Australasia.   

Jonathan Sanchez has been appointed the new managing director of Hive Consulting in Singapore. He will leading the agency’s business development, focusing on long-term partnerships with existing and new clients. Hive has also signed a partnership with niche leadership comms consultancy STAND, which Sanchez remains chairman of.

Noisy Beast opened a China office in Guangzhou and appointed Kit Cao-Lam as China business director. Lam has worked with Y&R, Ogilvy Action & Always (JWT Group) on retail and FMCG brands. Yibo Li, senior digital art director, will lead the agency's creative function, having spent the last 10 years in Shanghai with Isobar and MRM (McCann Relationship Management). 

Ogilvy Melbourne appointed Alistair Bruyns as head of digital. He returns to Melbourne after eight years in Toronto, where he worked for agencies including Y&R and Isobar. Most recently, he was head of digital and operations at inVentiv Health.

Frost*collective appointed Graham Humphreys as head of Frost*Design for its brand and design division, a newly created position. UK-born Humphreys has relocated from San Francisco where he was VP and director client services at Fuseproject.

Microsoft has announced the appointment of Tara Bal as its new communications director for Asia Pacific. She will lead the communications team and be responsible for communications across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and South Korea. Bal joins from NetApp, where she spent the past three years as head of communications for Asia Pacific and Japan.

DSM has appointed Christina Celestine as director regional communications and external affairs Asia Pacific/China. In this role, she will be responsible for developing and driving communications and external affairs strategy and will work closely with the leads of China, Asia Pacific, India and Japan in shaping the communications agenda and its implementation to strengthen the brand and reputation of DSM in the region.

Andrew Jiang has a new job as associate planning director at Mediavest Spark China. Previously, his business director position at BlueFocus Communication Group had him serving clients in the online gaming, e-commerce, and mobile app industries. His expertise is within digital media planning and buying, SEM, programmatic and social marketing.

Criteo has named Elie Kanaan as executive vice president of marketing. Previously the VP of marketing EMEA for VMware, Kanaan and his team will helping advertisers deliver on the mass personalisation challenges of modern marketing. 

McCann Health Shanghai appointed Henry Shen (沈翰) as head of strategy, reporting to David Shen, president of Greater China. Before joining McCann, he was most recently head of planning at McGarryBowen Shanghai. He has over 10 years of experience in planning from prior roles at agencies including JWT and TBWA.

WINS AND DEALS

FrieslandCampina announced that MEC will be responsible for strategic planning and offline media buying for its Consumer Products Europe, Middle East & Africa group and its Consumer Products Asia group. Digital agencies Essence and Pervorm will deliver digital media planning and online procurement for the same business groups. Carat will handle strategic planning, offline and online media buying, and digital planning services for the China and Hong Kong Consumer Products group.

S.P.A.G. a specialised PR, public affairs and digital marketing consultancy, acquired Giga Health, a healthcare focused digital marketing and social media agency, which will continue to operate as Giga Health.

Gilead Sciences appointed McCann Health Japan to launch a consumer-awareness campaign encouraging people with Hepatitis C to visit their doctor. The company offers a medicine that it claims can cure the disease in as little as 12 weeks.

Eurosport has partnered with the International Surfing Association (ISA) in the ISA’s first deal since surfing was officially welcomed into the Olympic program by the International Olympic Committee in August. Eurosport Asia-Pacific, broadcast in 47 countries, will show highlights from each of the four ISA World Championship events during the 2016 season, as well as a number of other surfing competitions.

Vizeum has been confirmed as the media agency of record for Feld Entertainment’s Disney on Ice. The DAN agency will handle media planning and buying strategies acros multiple platforms for Disney on Ice Singapore in 2017.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Eleven Sports Network announced a multi-year broadcast partnership to bring NBA games and programming to Singapore, beginning with the upcoming 2016-17 season.

The Hoffman Agency (Singapore) has been appointed as the AOR for USG Boral, a leading manufacturer and supplier of building materials such as gypsum-based wall and ceiling lining systems. The appointment was made following a competitive pitch and the agency will be the Asia Pacific PR hub for USG Boral, providing strategic counsel and public relations outreach.

Turkish Airlines has hired FleishmanHillard as its PR agency in Hong Kong. The firm will seek to raise the airline's profile in Hong Kong through media relations services and strategic communications.

OTHERS

Iris has created a new global team – Work.Life – focused on helping its business clients drive commercial advantage in the ‘era of participation’, with the goal to bring new B2B clients into the global network. The new unit brings together B2B experts from across the agency’s network, including business consultancy arm iris Concise, and from recent acquisitions and investments Founded, Pepper and Unrival. For the APAC region, Natalie Cooke, business director at iris Singapore, will lead the team.

PR agency Lewis has completed the final stage of its 2014 acquisition of Chinese counterpart EBA by rebranding the agency Lewis. It has 40 staff across three offices in China: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

AdAsia Holdings announced the launch of offices in Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City.

Xaxis has announced the launch of native ad specialist Plista in Singapore and Taiwan. The agency now boasts a presence in 19 markets including existing operations in the US, UK, Europe, China, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand.