Anita Davis

With an abundance of nonprofit organisations, from women's rights in China, to clean air in Cambodia, Asia's ad agencies have the opportunity to create some of the most socially meaningful advertising and marketing campaigns worldwide.

Find the best match for your brand, and the aspirational consumer will reward you.

SEOUL - The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has appointed Weber Shandwick as its PR agency-of-record, charged with promoting the organisation's marketing activities in Korea and improving its image in the country.

SHANGHAI - SapientNitro has been added to Unilever's digital agency roster in China, charged with managing the digital aspects of Knorr's KCP chicken powder across China.

SHANGHAI - Vice-president and digital director of Starcom MediaVest Group in the US, Jonathan Hsia, has been tapped to take on the role of GM of Starcom IP China following the departure of Tim Haynes (pictured) earlier this month.

TOKYO - Former head of Mindshare and MEC in Japan, Matt Eaton (pictured), has resurfaced at Naked Communications as the agency's business director.

GLOBAL - As Yahoo prepares to move into the next phase of the 'It's Y!ou' campaign, the company's global executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Elisa Steele (pictured), discuss the campaign's creative direction and addresses the challenges it has faced in the past months.

GLOBAL - As Yahoo prepares to move into the next phase of the 'It's Y!ou' campaign, the company's global executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Elisa Steele (pictured), discuss the campaign's creative direction and addresses the challenges it has faced in the past months.

BEIJING - Qatar Airways has tasked digital marketing firm SinoTech Group with building its brand and managing its online marketing promotions across China.

BEIJING - Revenue for China's radio, film and TV industries in 2009 rose by more than 17.5 per cent from the previous year, reaching Rmb 195.95 billion (US$28.7 billion), according to a report by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

SINGAPORE - Hill & Knowlton's general manager of its Qatar and Kuwait operations, Sara Gourlay (pictured), will relocate to Singapore to assume the role of director of transnational business and the Asia-Pacific director of the agency's technology practice.

SHANGHAI - A month and a half after TBWA created its Greater China region, the agency has bolstered its management team across disciplines to oversee operations in the zone.

SYDNEY - Software company Mincom has appointed Hill & Knowlton as its corporate PR agency in Australia.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Microsoft has consolidated its communications account under Weber Shandwick across Asia-Pacific, minimalising the roles of roster agencies Edelman and Waggener Edstrom in an attempt to streamline regional operations.

SHANGHAI - Shanghai Volkswagen has awarded its CRM account in China to Dentsu's online ad agency &C. following a competitive pitch.

SHANGHAI - Euro RSCG has reorganised its Shanghai management, rehiring Jowell See (pictured) as the agency's executive partner and promoting Kitty Gu to the role of business director.

SINGAPORE - Leo Burnett and Arc have bolstered their executive talent in Singapore, promoting Chris Chiu (pictured left) to group ECD and hiring Saatchi & Saatchi's John Kyriakou (right) as deputy CEO of Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide Singapore.

BEIJING - Dirk Eschenbacher (pictured), executive creative director and managing director of Tribal DDB Asia-Pacific, is set to take a "step back" from his role at the agency in order to pursue a doctorate at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing later this year.

MUMBAI - MS&L Group has promoted partner and head of the agency's PR, digital and events division, Jaideep Shergill (pictured), to CEO of Hanmer MS&L India, effective immediately.

WELLINGTON - Rapp Wellington has appointed Sean Keaney (pictured) to the newly created role of general manager.

SYDNEY - Forbes has appointed Weber Shandwick as the public relations partner for its Forbes Global CEO Conference, held in Sydney in September.

BEIJING - Online advertising sales house .Fox Networks has inked a strategic collaboration with AdChina to expand its reach in the mainland market.

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian PR firm Essence Communications and Burson-Marsteller (BM) have engaged in a strategic alliance that enables Essence to become BM's affiliate partner and point-of-contact for clients in Malaysia.

Two years ago, Tencent's president of online media SY Lau detailed the company's plans to shift its business strategy to become a more mature portal. Since than, the online giant has not only graduated from that stature but also taken its first big step to extend beyond the Chinese roost.

BEIJING - China has encountered a publicity setback in its fight to promote anti-smoking initiatives after Philip Morris tapped one of its top entrepreneurs, Baidu's Jennifer Li Xinzhe, to become an independent director.

HONG KONG - Senior vice-president of Fox One Stop Media at Star TV, Jonathan Ellis (pictured), is departing the network to assume the role of CEO of TheTMSway, a Hong Kong-based mobile-technology company.

SYDNEY - Fleishman-Hillard and corporate communications firm Rowland have entered into a strategic partnership to share resources and bolster their capabilities to enhance their client base.

BEIJING - Alibaba Group has taken a further step to extend its Taobao brand internationally by inking an e-retail partnership deal with Yahoo Japan that allows Taobao to provide 50 million Chinese product listings on Yahoo Shopping.

SHANGHAI - Wrigley has appointed TBWA's Integer and Hong Kong-based Fish Group with its retail marketing account across China.

SINGAPORE - Interpublic Group digital agency R/GA has officially opened in Singapore, initially launched to service global client MasterCard.

First came Research in Motion and Apple, and then Google through HTC. Acer and Lenovo have dabbled in it, and last year Dell finally took the plunge. Microsoft has failed to make inroads in a tough mobile market but will the Kin change that?

SYDNEY - Nutrition brand Tony Ferguson has appointed Fleishman-Hillard as its public relations agency-of-record in Australia

SHANGHAI - A Bates 141 spokeswoman has confirmed that the agency has restructured its management in China following the departure of CEO of Bates China and Taiwan, Arthur Yu, who exits the agency to become president of fellow WPP marketing agency Soho Square across China.

NEW DELHI - PR consultancy Text 100 has promoted managing consultant of Text 100 Delhi Sunayna Malik (pictured) to the role of managing director for India.

SEOUL - Korean advertising and marketing network Cheil Worldwide has been selected to manage communications for the Seoul G-20 Summit meeting following a competitive PR pitch that began earlier this year.

SINGAPORE - eBay has awarded digital marketing agency The Upper Storey its online direct marketing business in Southeast Asia without a pitch.

SYDNEY - Weber Shandwick has appointed Jye Smith (pictured) as digital strategist in Australia, assuming duties previously held by Matthew Gain, who departed the agency to join Edelman.

SHANGHAI - Rob Campbell (pictured), the managing partner and brand strategist for M&C Saatchi's brand consultancy Sunshine, has been named Wieden + Kennedy's regional head of planning.

BEIJING - MS&L Group has appointed Hill & Knowlton China's SVP Benjamin Tan (pictured) as managing director of its China operations, effective immediately.

SYDNEY - Match.com has appointed Fleishman-Hillard as its public relations agency-of-record in Australia following a competitive pitch.

SHANGHAI - General manager of Starcom IP Shanghai, Tim Haynes (pictured), has departed the agency one year after he was appointed to the position.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Regional head of marketing at Reebok, Celine Del Genes (pictured), and regional senior VP of Reebok Asia-Pacific, Dave Mischler, are to take on global roles for the brand.

SHANGHAI - Managing director of G2 Greater China, Tony Ip (pictured), has departed the agency to head up Blue Greater China, replacing MD, Stephan Chabanel, who passed away in March last year.

AUCKLAND - DDB New Zealand has appointed DraftFCB's Justin Mowday (pictured) to the newly created role of managing director, a post created to meet the agency's growth in the market.

SINGAPORE - AIA has shortlisted Blue and Iris for its digital business in Singapore in a review that began last month and initially included at least five agencies.

TOKYO - In line with the agency's ongoing efforts to strengthen its digital practice in the region, Euro RSCG has named Linus Heilpern (pictured) its business director in Tokyo, charged with driving Euro's digital practice across the market.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Brian Stoller (pictured), partner for invention at Mindshare Asia-Pacific, has departed the region to take on the role of leader of digital strategy for Mindshare North America.

SINGAPORE - Chime Group's financial public relations arm Pelham Bell Pottinger (PBP) has opened an office in Singapore, its first in Asia-Pacific.

Although search has been steadily growing in prominence for marketers over the last two years in Asia, this year search-specific agencies within holding companies have mushroomed.

SHANGHAI - Microsoft has shortlisted agency teams from WPP and Interpublic in its pitch for Windows 7's media, creative and digital business in China.

GLOBAL - UK-based fashion label Burberry has appointed Universal McCann as its media planning and buying partner in several markets across Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe.

SYDNEY - Executive media director of Neo@Ogilvy Kevin Walsh (pictured) has been appointed managing director of iProspect Australia.

BEIJING - The number of young Chinese internet users rose nearly 17 per cent to 195 million from the end of 2008 to 2009, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported in its annual behavioural report.

TOKYO - Weber Shandwick has hired PRAP Japan's Ian Messer (pictured) as its senior vice-president in Tokyo.

SHANGHAI - Timberland has reportedly appointed Wwwins Consulting as its digital agency in China following a multi-round pitch.

SHANGHAI - Text 100 has promoted managing consultant of Text 100 Shanghai TT Yang (pictured) to the role of managing director for China, charged with overseeing Text 100's Beijing and Shanghai offices as part of a wider management restructure that sees the agency create a central leadership role for the market.

SHANGHAI - ad:tech organisers have postponed the 2010 event in Shanghai until the second or third quarter of next year due to conflicts associated with the World Expo.

SYDNEY - Weber Shandwick has hired Edelman Australia's head of lifestyle, Elke Pascoe (pictured), to lead its lifestyle practice in the country and parts of Asia-Pacific, heightening the recruiting rivalry between agencies in Australia.

GLOBAL - Seven months after Facebook launched its 'Lite' site - a simplified version of the site that was more accessible on mobile phones and in markets where bandwidth is slow - the social networking giant has reportedly closed its service.

SINGAPORE - Saatchi & Saatchi has appointed ECD of Ogilvy & Mather Australasia Bruce Matchett (pictured) as executive creative director in Singapore and Malaysia.

HONG KONG - British fashion accessories retailer Accessorize has appointed TBWA Tequila as its digital agency-of-record in Hong Kong for its launch in the market.

BEIJING - Online video site Youku has charged CR-Nielsen, Nielsen's joint venture in China, with the third-party auditing for all in-video advertisements on its site with the aim of creating a transparent model for its advertising partners.

SYDNEY - Electronics and technology-services company Cisco Systems has appointed Text 100 Sydney as its public relations agency-of-record for its Consumer Products account in Australia.

GLOBAL - Days after Microsoft announced it would enter the mobile smartphone market through the launch of its Kin handset, the company revealed that Razorfish - its former digital subsidiary - is the lead digital agency for the Kin account worldwide.

India's new voice social networking service Bubbly offers advertisers potential. Here is everything you need to know.

SEOUL - The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare has aligned its communications business under McCann Worldgroup Korea following a competitive pitch, contracting McCann Erickson, Universal McCann and MRM Worldwide with its creative, media and digital account in the market.

BEIJING - The Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing has appointed Ogilvy PR to develop communications initiatives that popularise and raise awareness of Chinese art domestically and abroad.

GLOBAL - InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has consolidated its customer-marketing agency services with Ogilvy & Mather worldwide, including key Asia-Pacific regions, Asia Australasia and Greater China.

SINGAPORE - Weber Shandwick has promoted Ben Reed as its technology-practice leader and senior vice-president in its Singapore office.

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has reportedly shortlisted digital agencies to create a campaign aimed at drawing new clients to its races.

BEIJING - UK design and branding consultancy Bell will launch an office in Beijing under the leadership of Christiane Travers (pictured), corporate marketing and international PR manager at DHgate.com, as managing partner.

GHANGZHOU - Alibaba Group will invest $732 million into its online payment service, Alipay, over the next five years to upgrade capabilities across its global e-commerce network.

SHANGHAI - Nivea has extended its digital relationship with TBWA in China with Tequila Digital, the agency's branded digital arm, winning the account for Nivea's Body brand following a competitive pitch.

SINGAPORE - Weber Shandwick has appointed the manager of group media relations at Emirates Airline, Valerie Tan (pictured), as vice-president of the public relations agency's health care practice in Singapore.

SHANGHAI - Unilever has contracted communications firm Dream Worker to launch a creative and media initiative for its Rexona brand across China following a competitive pitch that included both international and local agencies.

With the Shanghai World Expo set to launch in May, brands have been ramping up their marketing activity and revelling in the sponsorship and advertising freedom they were not afforded during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

KUALA LUMPUR - Media sales shop Catcha Digital has been appointed as the exclusive sales representative for TripAdvisor across Asia-Pacific, following a management overhaul including the appointment of former Aktiv Digital CEO Alex Khan.

BEIJING - The number of Chinese netizens watching online videos reached 240 million by the end of 2009 according to the China Internet Network Information Center's (CNNIC) latest report.

SINGAPORE - GroupM's former regional head of search, Robbie Hills (pictured), has resurfaced at social media content distributor RockYou, where he has been appointed general manager of Asia-Pacific.

Western media platforms have shown a sharp change of heart toward micropayments this year.

BEIJING - Monster.com has invited advertising agencies to pitch for the creative business of its ChinaHR.com domain, its arm in the mainland market.

HONG KONG - TBWA Worldwide is to restructure its operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, combining its resources in the markets to create a Greater China region that will be headed up by executive vice-president of TBWA Asia-Pacific, Ian Thubron (pictured).

GLOBAL - Grayling has appointed six worldwide industry-sector heads to streamline its global operations and concentrate its expertise across sectors.

SYDNEY - Weber Shandwick's regional head of digital, Matthew Gain (pictured), will depart the agency to lead Edelman's digital operations in Australia.

BEIJING - Google has confirmed that its mobile services are being partially blocked in China in what is believed to be a further repercussion following its decision to shut down its search engine in the market.

BEIJING - Google has confirmed that its mobile services are being partially blocked in China in what is believed to be a further repercussion following its decision to shut down its search engine in the market.

BEIJING - German corporate design house MetaDesign has appointed Rupali Steinmeyer (pictured) as managing director of its Beijing office.

SINGAPORE - The digital marketing event ad:tech Singapore has appointed performance-marketing firm Blugrapes as its Facebook solutions partner, charged with engaging and educating regional marketing professionals about ad:tech Singapore via Facebook.

SHANGHAI - BBDO Guerrero/Proximity Philippines and OgilvyOne Worldwide, Mumbai, won big at the Asian Marketing Effectiveness (AME) Awards show in Shanghai last night, each taking home a Gold Award in the category Most effective use of interactive marketing.

HONG KONG - Macanese resort and casino City of Dreams has appointed M&C Saatchi as its lead creative agency for Hong Kong and mainland China, effective immediately.

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) hired mobile-technology provider TheTMSway to create a mobile portal for the event across the region to promote its featured films.

BEIJING - In the days leading up to Google's move to end its censorship activities in China, Tencent received major press predicting that, outside Baidu, it had the best position to snatch Google.cn's market share, but Sohu has come out of the shadows and voiced its strategy to do the same.

SHANGHAI - Recently departed CEO of TBWA China, Donald Chan (pictured), has been appointed CEO of JWT China.

SINGAPORE - Five digital agencies are reportedly vying for AIA's digital business in Singapore.

BEIJING - Chinese authorities have reacted to Google's decision to end censorship of its searches in China and reroute users to its Hong Kong arm by partially blocking access to Google.com.hk's search results in the mainland.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Burson-Marsteller has appointed its former Singapore market leader, Christine Jones (pictured), to the newly created role of managing director for Asia-Pacific.

BEIJING - Tangla Hotels and Resorts, a luxury hotel brand under the Hainan Airlines Group, has appointed Ruder Finn as its PR agency-of-record following a pitch.

BEIJING - Google has stopped censoring its search services in China following the identification of alleged cyber attacks at the start of the year, and has started to redirect users to servers based in Hong Kong.

JAKARTA - Fleishman-Hillard has launched an office in Jakarta, a move that supports the PR agency's goal of bolstering its presence in emerging markets and in Southeast Asia.

SINGAPORE - Wildlife Reserves Singapore has appointed Icon International Communications as its public relations agency-of-record.