
Effective immediately, DiGiovanni will work closely with Chris Riley who was recently appointed director for the growth market unit (GMU), IBM Brand Services.
The appointment is in line with Ogilvy’s shift of its core leadership IBM team to Singapore.
The new agency hub, managing over 140 countries for IBM, will be fully operational in February 2011, with key leaders relocating from Sydney to Singapore to include Todd Krugman, director for advertising growth markets; Rowan Avis, digital director for growth markets and Jeff Curry, creative director for growth markets.
DiGiovanni returns to Singapore from New York where he was responsible for the digital stewardship and growth across the entire Unilever brand portfolio. He first joined Ogilvy in New York in 1997 as a charter member of the IBM Interactive team, then moved to Singapore and spent 2006-07 with Ogilvy Asia-Pacific as the regional digital and card marketing lead for American Express International.
Riley commented that he was delighted to welcome DiGiovanni back to Asia. "He will bring his combined experiences with IBM, Demand Generation, digital communications and Ogilvy team leadership that will be put to very good use. It is an exciting time of change and growth that will require innovative thinking from the agency and I am confident that Rob will help lead the way in this respect.”