Move and win roundup: RG/A, Y&R, Google, AIA, GroupM, more

PEOPLE MOVES

Google Singapore appointed Stephanie Davis as country director. She was most recently New Zealand country director and has been at Google for more than a decade. She takes on the role from Joanna Flint, who was promoted to managing director of Google’s APAC agency business.

Havas Singapore promoted Andrew Hook to chief creative officer. He was previously ECD at the agency.

R/GA named Bob Mackintosh as VP executive creative director, APAC, based at R/GA Sydney, a newly created role. Mackintosh, formerly ECD at Host Sydney, will take creative stewardship of R/GA’s Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo offices.

Y&R Singapore named Troy Lim executive creative director, to work in partnership with recently appointed CEO Shirley Tay. Lim was most recently ECD at Publicis Singapore and has worked with clients including Audi, Scoot, Nikon, AXA, and Singapore Health Promotion Board.

11K Consulting appointed Alice Au Yeung as managing director for Asia and China, based on Hong Kong. She has experience as a consultant and at SPRG, and has worked with West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Hong Kong Arts Development Council (Hong Kong), Shell Hong Kong, Capella Singapore, Wing Tai Asia, Sun Hung Kai Properties, and MTR Mall.

TIBCO Software hired Alan Ho as marketing director for APAC and Japan. Ho joins from Intel, where he was APAC lead of the global demand centre, and has previously worked at Red Hat for eight years in various senior marketing roles.

WPP AUNZ announced the launch of Hogarth Australia, which unites its production agencies Agile, One20, Paragon and Carnival into a “super production group”. Hogarth Australia will be led by Justin Ricketts as CEO and David Fleer as COO. Ricketts also continues in his current role as chairman for Australia and New Zealand with Prism. Fleer was formerly MD of One20.

The New York Times opened an advertising office in Tokyo, led by commercial director Shigeo Yushita. He has been head of B2B subscription and circulation sales at The Times in Tokyo for the last six years.

Vivek Misra joined AdAsia Holdings as VP for corporate strategy. Misra will lead the ad tech company’s corporate planning, partnerships and sales function. He arrives from AppNexus, where he was APAC senior engagement manager.

Communications agency Way to Blue announced expansion to Australia, by rebranding the recently acquired The Project Factory. Katherine Robinson, former CMO of Roller Software has been named MD. In addition, Laura Vozzo joins as the head of entertainment and culture. She has previously held senior publicity and talent management positions at MTV Networks Australia and NBC Universal in London. Jennifer Wilson of The Project Factory will continue as a consultant.

Jance Chan joined RoadShow as senior sales vice president for its new bus-shelter business, which will be operational from 1st July 2017. She was previously group sales manager for Buspak.

BUSINESS WINS

BBDO Singapore won the APAC mandate for AIA’s group brand ambassador programme. The agency will help support the launch of a new global campaign with the insurer’s latest brand ambassador, David Beckham.

Pizza Hut Malaysia appointed Zeno Malaysia as its agency of record. Zeno will lead Pizza Hut’s 35th anniversary campaign ‘35 years: For the love of smiles’, responsible for campaign messaging, communications strategy, creative, digital and PR.

Pizza Hut Pakistan appointed MWM Studioz as its email marketing agency. MWM Studioz will use email marketing tactics to elongate customer lifetime value and curb attrition. The conversion marketing agency also won creative duties for Champion Mango, tasked with its digital go to market strategy in the APAC market.

New Zealand kiwifruit brand Zespri chose Interpublic Group agency Golin for integrated communications in Hong Kong, following a competitive pitch.

Uber hired RFI Asia, Ruder Finn Asia’s digital arm, to run a new social media campaign in Hong Kong. The “#IChooseUber’ minisite launched in June and aims to drive social media conversation about Uber. Additional phases of the campaign will be rolled out in due course.

Following a competitive tender process, Ikon Group Sydney won the media services business for Horticulture Innovation Australia’s brands, including Australian Bananas, Australian Avocados, Australian Mushrooms and Aussie Apples. The win extends an eight-year partnership and covers strategy, data, media planning and buying.

Thrive PR + Communications was appointed by Asus across New Zealand and Australia, to drive a region-specific PR strategy. Thrive will oversee all aspects of PR including media and influencer strategy and integrated communications, and will lead PR across the lifestyle and technology arms of the business,

Malaysia’s Themed Attractions Resorts & Hotels (TAR&H) has appointed Mindshare as its media agency following a competitive pitch, effective 22 May. The assignment includes TAR&H’s portfolio of properties including Desaru Coast, KidZania Kuala Lumpur, KidZania Singapore, Puteri Harbour Retail Precinct , Sanrio Hello Kitty Town, Thomas Town, The Datai Langkawi and The Els Club Malaysia.

OTHER NEWS

Tencent and Singapore Tourism Board signed a memorandum of understanding to promote Singapore as a travel destination among Chinese consumers using Tencent’s targeted advertising platform.

GroupM China signed a memorandum of understanding with its clients L’Oréal, Nestlé, Mars, Wrigley, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, Huawei, Honor, Shell Helix, GSK, Colgate and Darlie surrounding brand safety. The initiative is meant to urge these brands to inform GroupM of any ad verification needs they may have in order to consolidate its tech assessment efforts; and to involve GroupM agencies when they’re getting into discussions around brand safety.

Publicis Groupe announced a partnership with Alibaba to become the first agency partner to have priority access to Alibaba’s Uni-desk DSP platform. Bertilla Teo, Publicis Media Greater China CEO, said several of Publicis’ clients in the FMCG category have rolled out trial campaigns.