The agency has also named Ian Folkes as regional finance director for Southeast Asia and Lin Yin Ling as associate director in charge of the Johnson and Johnson account.
Tilley has been tasked to provide strategic direction for existing clients, drive the use of Initiative proprietary research and business development, as well as oversee the company's operation in Singapore and its regional accounts. She moved to Singapore when her husband was offered a position in an advertising agency in the city. She joined Initiative Media after settling in with her family and having had her second child.
"It was a challenging management position which was overseeing a great mix of clients from IT through to FMCG. In my position (I am spread) across most of our clients' business. In particular Johnson & Johnson, Elizabeth Arden, Borland and Ikea," she said. Tilley was involved in the launch of AOL and re-launch of Compaq with FCB. She also ran McDonald's multi-million dollar business across Australia and negotiated the chain's sponsorship for the 2000 Olympics when she was with DDB prior to FCB.
Lin will manage one of Initiative's biggest clients, Johnson & Johnson, an account she also managed during her five-year career at Universal McCann Shanghai. "China is an important growing market for us and Yin Ling's expertise will greatly benefit our clients," said Guy Beach, Initiative's regional director. Lin has been in the media industry for 12 years, working with brands such as Gillette, L'Oreal, Australian Tourist Commission and Motorola.
Newly-appointed regional finance director Folkes oversees Initiative's financial performance across five South-east Asian markets. Folkes was regional finance director for the Financial Times Group based in Hong Kong in 1997 before establishing his own media consulting business in Singapore, working with the now-defunct XS-Media.