O&M appoints Chris Riley to lead IBM business globally

The appointment comes at a time when Ogilvy is shifting its core leadership team from Sydney to Singapore. The new team will be operational as of February 2011 in Singapore.

Key leaders, who are currently based in Sydney, will join Riley in Singapore to continue their work on the IBM business. This includes Todd Krugman, director, advertising growth markets, Rowan Avis, digital director, growth markets and Jeff Curry, creative director, growth markets.

Paul Heath CEO Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific said: "Consolidating our leading IBM growth markets team in this location is further evidence of the importance of Singapore as a global office in the Ogilvy network."

He said that Riley's knowledge of emerging markets, integrated digital campaigns and demand generation will help take what is already a winning team to the next level of performance.

"I’m very excited to become involved in the IBM business," stated Riley. "There are plenty of challenges ahead on how we develop marketing in different and innovative ways to drive both geographic expansion and IBM revenue."

Riley takes over the reins from Andrew Scott who has lead the IBM GMU relationship in Shanghai for the past two years. He will lead the IBM business for the Ogilvy Group both in Asia Pacific and across over 140 defined growth markets globally.

Riley will report into both Asia operational and global IBM brand management functions at Ogilvy in New York.