Move and win roundup: Wunderman, OMD, Outbrain, DT, GolinOpinion, J Walter Thompson, more

PEOPLE MOVES
 

Wunderman promoted Alexandra Beneville to MD of Wunderman International Tokyo. She previously served as SVP, account services.

Outbrain appointed Fionn Hyndman as commercial director, APAC, and Daniel Kundeus as head of strategic brand partnerships, APAC. Hyndman was most recently partner at Asia Pacific Growth Management, while Kundeus previously worked at Network Ten, Seven Affiliate Sales and Nine Network Australia.

Following its recent merger with Tongue and announcement of new ventures in Singapore and Southeast Asia, DT appointed 10-year veteran Alisia Muscat as managing director of the Melbourne office. She was previously client service director. In addition, the agency promoted Jeremy Smart to GM sales and marketing, covering DT’s offices in Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Tim Matheson, chief operating officer, will be focusing further on DT’s Indian operation, working with new India GM Satajeet Deo.

Akihiko Imai will succeed Yuzo Sato as president and CEO of TBWA Hakuhodo from October. Imai has been with the agency since it launched 10 years ago and has played a key role in its development, forging relationships with Nissan United, TBWA’s Digital Arts Network, and Omnicom Media Group.

OMD Australia appointed Kenny Stewart as group managing director for OMD Brisbane and OMD Western Asutralia. He was most recently CEO of Dentsu Mitchell & Vizeum, ANZ.

Jen Loong (龙晓灵), China brand director at Toms, is moving on to pursue her own photography venture WanderSnap.co after two years with the shoe brand.

Chubb Life Hong Kong appointed Ben Ng as its chief marketing officer to direct and manage product development, branding, advertising, corporate communications and customer relations. Ng previously held the position of assistant vice president of product development and management team at FWD Life Insurance.

J. Walter Thompson Manila promoted Dave Ferrer to chief creative officer from executive creative director. He has worked at Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Manila and BBDO Guerrero Ortega and with clients including FedEx, Adidas, Smart Telecom, Pizza Hut, Pepsi, and Visa. The agency also hired Brandie Tan as ECD. Tan has been ECD at Lowe Vietnam, BBDO Guerrero, Lowe KL, and Publicis Jimenez Basic.

HeathWallace appointed Sharon Fernandes as managing director for Asia. She was most recently head of client engagement, strategy and operations at HeathWallace for nearly two years. She succeeds Maria Sit, who has moved to a new position with an international financial-services company.

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific made several appointments in Southeast Asia:

• Gerald Ang as director, audience engagement
• Ivy Esquero as director, head of consumer insights
• Au-Rin Phongsobhon as creative director
• Rohit Tharani as director, content curation
• Vina Limanto as manager, strategy
• Davina Tan as manager, corporate communications.

The above join Elliot Renton, who was recently appointed as head of sports. Esquero, Limanto and Tan will report to Louis Boswell, SVP and GM, Southeast Asia. Ang, Phongsobhon and Tharani will report to Charmaine Kwan, head of products.

DigitasLBi has appointed Mark Teal as the digital agency’s business development director for Singapore. He brings 14 years’ industry experience to the role and joins from Ogilvy & Mather, having also previously worked at Leo Burnett, Bates and Batey.

DEC PR in Australia has bolstered its team with the arrivals of Aideen McDonald as group client director and Tammi Ireland as an account manager. McDonald has a decade’s experience in the UK and Australian communications scene, while Ireland has particular expertise in luxury brands, FMCG, hospitality and lifestyle.  

WINS AND DEALS

Kuala Lumpur’s Ignite won social-media duties for Acer Malaysia following a pitch that also included Publicis One and M&C Saatchi. Ignite has been the primary agency in charge of ATL creative duties since early this year.

Essilor Amera has turned to Vizeum to be its regional media agency across Asia-Pacific. The remit spans five markets—Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China—and covers all online and offline media.

GolinOpinion has won the PR mandate for Budweiser India. The agency is tasked with leveraging Budweiser’s strength in the Indian market to create new integrated experiences, online and offline, for its consumers.

MullenLowe Mediahub, the media planning and buying entity from MullenLowe Group, was appointed global media agency of record by Western Union.

The Creativity Principle, a new independent full-service agency, opened its doors in Sydney. The agency is founded by CEO Matt Daunt, innovations director Tim Bloore and ECD Mike O’Rouke, who together boast more than 60 years of industry experience at Telstra, BWM, DDB, M&C Saatchi and McCann.

Australian boutique DEC PR has announced a host of new business wins. These include automation services company Crestron, family entertainment solutions provider Innovative Retail and Netbase, a real-time social analytics company.