Move and win roundup: Week of March 18, 2024

Campaign compiles a new 'Move and win roundup' as each week progresses.  This edition will cover March 18 through March 22, 2024.  Catch up on past people moves and business wins.

22feet Tribal Worldwide has appointed Axon Alex to lead strategic planning for the agency. Shikha Davessar has been promoted to EVP and head of client business. Both will report to Vanaja Pillai, president, 22feet Tribal Worldwide. He joins from Jack in the Box Worldwide, where he was managing partner. Before that, he was strategy director at BBH India. Davessar joined DDB Mudra Group in 2014 as group business director. She was most recently vice president and business partner since 2021. 

Aiko, an energy technology company, has appointed Ogilvy China as its agency partner, with Ogilvy Advertising and Ogilvy One forming an integrated team to serve the client partnership. As part of the remit, Ogilvy Advertising first completed new brand and website work. Ogilvy will assist Aike on end-to-end digital tracking and conversion from advertising, offline brand initiatives, industry conferences, trade shows and community group management and more.

Mandarin Oriental has appointed Alex Schellenberger as senior vice president global brand.
In this newly created role, Schellenberger will support the strategic vision of Mandarin Oriental to elevate its brand presence and increase its desirability as a luxury hospitality brand. Before joining Mandarin Oriental, Schellenberger was chief marketing officer premium, midscale, economy brands at Accor. Prior to Accor, he also worked for Swarovski, Coty, and P&G.

Experience Commerce (EC), an integrated digital agency within Cheil, has secured the social media mandate for Nissin Geki Korean Noodles in India. The agency aims to elevate Nissin Geki's digital presence by deploying targeted social-media initiatives to enhance brand awareness, engage its target audience, and drive organic growth across platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. 

Greenpark has announced key promotions for three women across strategy, social media, and creative divisions.

• Que Ramli, who joined the agency in 2019, takes the helm as head of strategy, APAC. In this role, Ramli will lead strategic initiatives, drive innovation, and spearhead Greenpark market growth in the region.
• Jianne Orcelada, who was previously the country social lead for the Philippines, steps up to deputy head of social, APAC. She will expand her expertise beyond the Philippines to drive social innovations and champion best practices across the region.
• Trina Enriquez has been promoted to associate creative director, APAC. She aid in developing strategic and impactful campaigns.

Channel Factory, the global brand suitability and contextual advertising platform, has appointed Kartik Mehta as head of Asia-growth markets. Since 2013, Mehta has gained experience across technology sales in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa for Vserv and YouAppi, as well as contributed to Silverpush’s expansion into North America and the UK. His most recent role was chief revenue officer and chief operating officer at Silverpush. Prior to this, Mehta spent over a decade in advertising agencies such as JWT, Ogilvy and Cheil. 

AS Watson Group has appointed Clarice Au as managing director of MoneyBack, one of the largest loyalty programmes in Hong Kong. She will continue to hold the position of managing director at Fortress. Clarice has served airport retail and Fortress for 26 years. Since joining AS Watson Group in 1998, she was appointed as general manager of operations and business development of Fortress in 2013 and was subsequently promoted to general manager in 2014 and became the MD in 2018. 

Ykone, an international influencer marketing agency, has announced the acquisition of 70% of the Indian agency Barcode, a content and influencer marketing agency. Founded in 2008, Ykone first launched its headquarters in Paris and now has a presence in 18 cities including Hong Kong, Dubai, and Milan.  

Claxon, independent growth agency,  has been appointed as digital performance agency of record for global cosmetic clinics brand, Sisu Clinic, following a competitive pitch. Sisu Clinic is Ireland's leading cosmetic clinics brand, with flagship locations throughout Ireland, UK and USA. Charged with building a new SEO strategy for Sisu Clinic’s refreshed website, Claxon’s focus will be to implement Sisu’s global SEO strategy, increasing organic traffic to drive performance for their clinics globally.

Edelman has appointed Nia Pratiwi as managing director for its operations in Indonesia, effective immediately. Pratiwi will partner with the firm's clients on evolving, promoting, and protecting their organisational and brand reputations in increasingly challenging times. In a career spanning over 20 years across corporate communications, public affairs, and government relations, she held leadership positions at several respected firms, including Burson Cohn & Wolfe, Burson Marsteller, Fleishmann Hillard, and Pfizer. 

UM Australia has elevated Adam Russell to the newly created role of general manager in Melbourne, effective on April 1, 2024. He will report directly to the CEO of UM Australia, Anathea Ruys. Russell joined UM in 2017, most recently holding the role of group account director. Prior to that, he worked for MediaCom for over five years. With nearly 15 years of experience in media, he has experience in multiple categories, including FMCG, retail, alcoholic beverages, automotive, utilities, wearables and tech sectors. 

NP Digital has announced its ongoing expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Kris Casey joins as the new SEO APAC lead. Casey brings over 12 years of extensive experience leading SEO teams across agency and in-house settings in the US, Australia, and Asia, working with renowned brands such as Expedia, Travelocity, NAB, Suncorp, and Nissan and leading the SEO efforts internally for Redbubble. 
• Arjun Singh takes the helm as group account director. Singh will lead strategic initiatives and develop the group's digital marketing strategies.
• Rizwan Kamil joins as the head of performance marketing APAC. Kamil will spearhead the strategic direction and implementation of digital marketing campaigns to drive client business results.
• Keith Ho will be the strategy lead. He will focus on new businesses, especially pitches, and assist with existing accounts while overseeing award submissions and strategic initiatives.
• Lee Weiye joins as the senior SEO manager. Lee will drive NP Digital's SEO efforts in Malaysia and the APAC region, focusing on strategy development, implementation, analytics, and client satisfaction.

Paul Murphy, the former managing director of Dentsu's iProspect Melbourne, has launched his own media agency, Kookaburra Riot, a full-funnel media agency offering services for consulting, advising on process, portfolio investment strategy, partnerships or unique product launches. He was among Dentsu’s senior redundancies last December. Murphy joined iProspect in 2022 from independent agency Cummins&Partners, where he was chief media officer. He also worked for Mindshare and OMD prior to that.

EMG and Gravity Media have appointed Scott Kinlyside as managing director, Australia, two months after the global merger in January this year. Kinlyside Scott will oversee strategic leadership and operational and financial management to drive the company’s continuing development in Australia. With 30 years of production and operational experience across media, technology and creative industries, he was business administration and commercial director before the promotion.  Kinlyside joined Gravity Media in 2019 as head of operations in Australia. Before that, he was chief operating officer of Chief Entertainment. 

BBDO Bangkok has appointed two creative directors, Pratchya Vilaipol and Vuttichai Chongsanguan, under the leadership of chief creative officer Thasorn (Pete) Boonyanate.

• Vilaipol joins the agency with 19 years in the advertising industry, working with global and local brands including Ford, Nissan, Uniqlo, Ikea, McDonald’s, Samsung, Unilever, Coway, Lazada, and PSG (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.), among others. 
• Chongsanguan joins BBDO after working for 14 years and winning over 100 awards, both locally and internationally, including D&AD and Spikes Asia. Chongsanguan has served a wide range of clients such as KFC, Heinz, PTT, and Ikea. 

Nathan Petralia announced on a LinkedIn post that he has joined Silk Commerce as the vice president of international market following his departure from Dentsu at the end of 2023. At Silk Commerce, he will work with brands such as  Hamilton Beach, Pantone, Harvard Business Review, H&M, Under Armour, TireHub, Ikea, and Bulgari. Petralia served as managing director of Merkle Hong Kong since 2022. He first joined Isobar Commerce Hong Kong in 2018 and stepped up to general manager when the group launched Merkle Hong Kong in 2021.

Fever-Tree Australia, a beverage brand, has appointed Bohemia, M&C Saatchi Group’s media agency, to manage its  media planning and buying following a competitive pitch. Fever-Tree has a range of mixers including tonic, sodas, cola, gingers and cocktail mixers, and operates in the on-premise and retail sectors.

AS Watson Group has appointed Fred Chan and Vivian Nie as co-managing directors of Watsons China, effective April, to succeed Kulvinder Birring, current CEO of Watsons China. Birring has been appointed as CEO of Marionnaud Group, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings. Chan joined Watsons China in 2011 as operations director of South China and was promoted to general manager of sales operations in 2023. Nie joined Watsons China in 2018 as the marketing director and was later promoted to general manager of customer growth in 2021. In 2023, she took on additional responsibility for the trading function.