Kate Nicholson

Corporations in every sector are reviewing their product portfolios and divesting those brands which no longer fit.

Kimito Uemura, Nikon HK general manager international marketing, concedes getting the Nikon message across can prove difficult.

SHANGHAI - Carat Media has won the planning business for Chinese herbal tea brand Wanglaoji's red can in China.

Applying individual marketing philosophies and eschewing conventional norms is paying off for some brands in Asia.

SINGAPORE - Mercedes-Benz is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year with a 'First thoughts' contest to commemorate the invention of the first automobile and spur reinvention for the future.

SYDNEY - Ogilvy Sydney has appointed Gerry Cyron as its new brand strategy director.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Visa has appointed Coca-Cola's David Fielding as its new head of Asia-Pacific country marketing, replacing Dee Dutta who left the company suddenly in September last year.

GLOBAL - Facebook has admitted hiring top public relations firm Burson Marsteller to spread negative articles about Google in the US press.

SINGAPORE - Mercedes-Benz is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year with a 'First thoughts' contest to commemorate the invention of the first automobile and spur reinvention for the future.

ASIA-PACIFIC - OMD has appointed Jaydeep Chaudhuri as the managing partner for OMD International, OMD’s specialist unit that manages multi-national client assignments.

GLOBAL - Chris Thomas, chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia, has been named to the additional role of chairman of Proximity Worldwide, effective immediately.

SYDNEY - Whybin TBWA Tequila has announced today a further two new senior creative hires for the Sydney office; Asheen Naidu and Daryl Corps, who join the team as creative heads.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Isobar Asia-Pacific has made a number of significant promotions to accelerate its global strategy in Asia.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Mediabrands has appointed Daniel Simon to COO of Asia at UM and Initiative.

NEW ZEALAND - TBWA has appointed Anita Waugh and Natasja Barclay as group heads in Auckland.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Mediabrands has restructured its regional client services team with Clinton Simpson taking charge of account servicing, Natalie Pidgeon taking responsibility for strategy and Arun Kumar continuing as head of digital.

Telecommunications technology is all set to turn retail on its head, as consumers in Asia catch up with the rest of the world and use their phones to shop.

ASIA-PACIFIC - MSL Group Asia, Publicis Groupe’s flagship speciality communications, PR and events network, today announced two regional senior appointments to support the network's growth plans in the region.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Publicis' regional CEO Kevin Ramsey and CEO for Thailand and Asia-Pacific director of business Mark Ingrouille have resigned from the agency.

ASIA-PACIFIC - The Secret Little Agency (TSLA) has featured highly in Campaign UK's list of the World's Leading Independent Agencies 2011.

ASIA-PACIFIC - The Secret Little Agency (TSLA) has featured highly in Campaign UK's list of the World's Leading Independent Agencies 2011.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Asian agencies have featured highly in Campaign UK's list of the World's Leading Independent Agencies 2011.

BEIJING - Edelman has expanded its China consumer marketing practice with two key hires and the promotion of another executive to a newly created national consumer brand role.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Digital agency R/GA has transferred Mark Kozlowski from New York to its Singapore office to serve as creative director for Asia-Pacific.

MUMBAI - Creativeland Asia has won the creative mandate for the entire model portfolio of Audi India.

SYDNEY - Text 100 Sydney has hired former Amnesia social media manager Karalee Evans as its senior director and digital strategist for Asia-Pacific.

SINGAPORE - Puneet Arora, former head of P&G planning team at Starcom MediaVest Guangzhou, has joined Maxus Asia-Pacific as regional management partner, based in Singapore.

SINGAPORE - Puneet Arora, former head of P&G planning team at Starcom MediaVest Guangzhou, has joined Maxus Asia-Pacific as regional management partner, based in Singapore.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Mediabrands has appointed Ashley Nin as research and tools manager for Asia-Pacific.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Olivier Pluquet, CEO for Euro RSCG Asia-Pacific, will step down in June to take over a new role as heading luxury communications for parent company Havas.

SYDNEY - Whybin TBWA Group has launched Eleven PR Sydney, which the group is touting as a 'sexy consumer' PR agency.

SYDNEY - OMD Australia has been appointed to the national media planning and buying account for online dating site eHarmony.

CHINA - President and CEO Dick van Motman says the significant changes made to DDB Greater China's management structure will allow the group to benefit from its own network and provide the best in class work for its clients.

SOUTHEAST ASIA - French cosmetics giant L'Oreal has launched a review of its media business in Indonesia and Malaysia as part of an ongoing regional review.

SHANGHAI - TBWA Greater China has appointed Edmund Choe as co-president and head of creative.

SHANGHAI - Announcing its third senior management hire in China, Thoughtful Media Group (TMG) has appointed Frederic Dominioni as global chief operating officer, a function that will also include management of the company’s growing China business.

SINGAPORE - Pushkar Sane, chief digital officer at Starcom MediaVest (SMV) for North and South Asia, is to leave the agency.

In the March issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific out today, Kate Nicholson reports procurement is no longer the necessary evil it once was; instead agencies have developed ways to make it work for both parties.

SYDNEY - Starcom MediaVest Group has appointed strategy director Emma Montgomery to the newly created role of global product director based out of its Sydney office.

SYDNEY - Ogilvy PR’s consumer practice, Pulse Communications, has won the PR business for removal company Grace Group and leading national charity Legacy Australia, after recent competitive pitches.

ASIA-PACIFIC – OgilvyOne has appointed AKQA's group creative director John Jakubowsk as its regional ECD.

SEOUL - ZenithOptimedia has opened a stand-alone office in Seoul headed by Cheil's Jessica Lee.

SYDNEY – Unilever Australasia has appointed Hill & Knowlton Australia to manage public relations and communication strategies for its Omo laundry brand.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Lowe + Partners agencies across the Asia-Pacific region have launched new agency identities today.

SINGAPORE – Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands has appointed Steve Blakeman as global chief integration strategy officer.

BANGKOK – Saatchi & Saatchi's Bangkok office faces a major staff overhaul as its biggest client Procter & Gamble (P&G) prepares to begin its transfer to the agency's Singapore office.

BANGKOK - Kannadhee Dejkert has joined Publicis Bangkok as creative director, heading up the agency's expanded digital creative department.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Warc, the global marketing intelligence service, has opened a new office in Singapore as part of its international expansion.

SYDNEY - JWT Sydney has hired Mark Harricks as joint ECD from DDB Sydney to work alongside current ECD Angus Hennah.

Gyehyun Kwon, tells Kate Nicholson how a desire to fulfill his public duty led him to Samsung’s door running the company’s global sponsorship of sporting events.

SINGAPORE - Omnicom Group agencies DDB China Group, PHD and Tribal DDB, all based in Shanghai, each walked away with Agency of the Year for the Greater China region in their respective categories at the 2010 Agency of the Year Awards held in Singapore last night.

SINGAPORE - Agency Head of the Year, Creative Agency of the Year and Digital Agency of the Year for the Southeast Asia region all went to Ogilvy in Singapore at the 2010 Agency of the Year Awards held in the Lion City last night.

SINGAPORE - Omnicom swept the board and took the grand prize of Parent Company of the Year at the Agency of the Year Awards, which took place at the St. Regis in Singapore last night. Here are the winners and the first of the photos from the event.

Shumone Chatterjee, Levi's new VP for marketing in Asia-Pacific on how people watching has enabled his to move the brand forward.

GLOBAL – Hilton Worldwide is set to call a global PR review for its loyalty programme Hilton HHonors.

SYDNEY - PHD Australia has won the media planning and buying account for energy provider Natural Gas, replacing the incumbent media agency Mitchell & Partners.

SYDNEY – PHD has won the media planning account for National Australia Bank (NAB). ZenithOptimedia is the incumbent media agency on the account.

SINGAPORE - Jonathan Sanchez, brand marketing director at Edelman Asia-Pacific, has quit the agency.

SYDNEY - Asia-Pacific online travel agency Zuji has appointed UM Sydney in preparation for the brand’s 2011 activities.

SINGAPORE – A team consisting of Marcus Lim from Singapore, Sammy Ma from Hong Kong and Khushboo Harma from India have won the top prize for the campaign they developed during the Spikes Academy at Spikes Asia 2010.

SINGAPORE ­– Haymarket Media unveiled the launch issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific to a star-studded industry audience last night at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore. Campaign Asia-Pacific caught up with some of the industry’s leading figures at the launch party to gage their reactions to the new-look magazine.

Alex Crowther, the newly installed CEO of MediaCom Asia-Pacific based in Singapore, says he buys into GroupM's corporate culture.

GLOBAL - Alan VanderMolen, president of Edelman Asia-Pacific, has been appointed to the newly-created role of president and CEO, global practices and diversified insights businesses.

Advertising to children is an issue that vexes the marketing industry, as parents, as concerned citizens and as professionals.

Advertising to children is an issue that vexes the marketing industry, as parents, as concerned citizens and as professionals.

Advertising to children is an issue that vexes the marketing industry, as parents, as concerned citizens and as professionals.

Asian brands should be paying more attention to the retail environment.

Asian brands should be paying more attention to the retail environment.

GLOBAL - Public relations consultancy Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE) has been appointed as the agency-of-record for Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co.

GLOBAL - Public relations consultancy Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE) has been appointed as the agency-of-record for Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co.

HONG KONG - Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE) has expanded its food and beverage (F&B) portfolio with three big project wins in Hong Kong. The new clients include Maxim’s, one of Hong Kong’s largest F&B groups; 7-Eleven, the world’s largest convenience store chain; and Porterhouse, a boutique Irish brewing company.

Yu Sasamoto devises his own cluster marketing to spread the Microsoft brand across the region. Sasamoto is the consumer and online marketing officer of Greater Asia-Pacific at Microsoft based in Singapore.

Yu Sasamoto devises his own cluster marketing to spread the Microsoft brand across the region. Sasamoto is the consumer and online marketing officer of Greater Asia-Pacific at Microsoft based in Singapore.

Yu Sasamoto devises his own cluster marketing to spread the Microsoft brand across the region. Sasamoto is the consumer and online marketing officer of Greater Asia-Pacific at Microsoft based in Singapore.

NEW DELHI – French automaker Renault has called a pitch for its creative business in India.

Whether for fund raising or mud slinging, politicians are on social media.

Whether for fund raising or mud slinging, politicians are on social media.

KUALA LUMPUR - Dutch Lady has handed the CRM account for its Friso infant milk powder brand in Malaysia to Arachnid Group’s sister agencies – Slipknot and Arachnid.

Whether for fund raising or mud slinging, politicians are on social media.

KUALA LUMPUR - Dutch Lady has handed the CRM account for its Friso infant milk powder brand in Malaysia to Arachnid Group’s sister agencies – Slipknot and Arachnid.

HONG KONG - ICICI Bank, India’s second largest bank is believed to be looking for a creative agency in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG - ICICI Bank, India’s second largest bank is believed to be looking for a creative agency in Hong Kong.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC has called a pitch for its regional integrated activation business.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Luxury jeweller and designer Tiffany & Co has shortlisted incumbent Universal McCann, agency-of-record for China PHD and Carat for its regional media account.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Luxury jeweller and designer Tiffany & Co has shortlisted incumbent Universal McCann, agency-of-record for China PHD and Carat for its regional media account.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC has called a pitch for its regional integrated activation business.

NEW DELHI - A bitter fight has erupted between Reckitt and the advertising industry in India over the past month, after the consumer goods company's decision to impose a pitch fee for its media buying business.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Luxury jeweller and designer Tiffany & Co has shortlisted incumbent Universal McCann, agency-of-record for China PHD and Carat for its regional media account.

SINGAPORE – Ian Stewart, the former head of Asia at social network Friendster, has been appointed by Converse as its regional marketing director for Asia-Pacific.

SINGAPORE – Ian Stewart, the former head of Asia at social network Friendster, has been appointed by Converse as its regional marketing director for Asia-Pacific.

MUMBAI - Carat India has won the media duties for Scandic Food India which markets processed food products under the brand name Sil.

Rob Gilby, senior vice-president and managing director at Disney Media Distribution Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong, explains why this is the brand's most important region.

ASIA-PACIFIC - Luxury jeweller and designer Tiffany & Co has called a regional media review across six key markets.

BANGKOK - Maxus Thailand has appointed Suwanna Chokdee-anand (pictured) as Maxus Thailand's managing director.

Victor Visot, CEO of Lagardère Active, is excited rather than unnerved by recent challenges in print media.

MUMBAI - Grey Mumbai has hired Karan Rawat as ECD of Art to partner ECD Rohit Malkani.

SINGAPORE - Ruder Finn Asia has appointed Ng Chip Keng (pictured) as managing director of its Hong Kong and Singapore operations.

GLOBAL - Edelman has appointed Michael Slaby as executive vice-president and global practice chair of the firm's digital operations.

BEIJING - Grey Beijing has been appointed by Yingda Taihe Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (Yingda Life) to handle its strategic brand development and creative duties.

SHANGHAI - Jenny Low (pictured), former director of client services, and Yewfei Cheong (pictured), former group creative director, have been promoted to managing director and ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi Shanghai, respectively.