Dey will manage Neo’s daily operations, which had been under the care of Alex Lee, MD, OgilvyOne, and will also handle the agency’s Maxis account. Dey’s appointment was timely, said Lee, as Neo has expanded rapidly since its inception last year (Media, 14 Dec).
“Soumitra has extensive knowledge in brand engagement and strategic planning. Also, given that we have grown to 20 staff since Neo began in Malaysia, it’s time for me to hand the responsibility to someone who will focus on growing it further,” said Lee.
The staff count of Neo is set to increase to 35 by next year, he noted, making up 40 per cent of OgilvyOne’s team.
Before joining Ogilvy, Dey had a dual role at IPG Media and McCann Worldgroup’s MRM as group strategist and CRM specialist, respectively. Prior to that, he was also a brand development director at PepsiCo in New York.
Meanwhile, Ogilvy has also appointed Janet Teo as business director of OgilvyOne.
Teo joins from Slipknot, the sister agency of local digital shop Arachnid. Her brief is to drive OgilvyOne’s ‘consumer-centric innovation agenda’ for Diageo and assist Lee in business development.
The appointments follow the departure of Ken Mandel, regional chief executive officer of Neo@Ogilvy and OgilvyOne VP of digital, to Yahoo Southeast Asia (Media, 15 November).
