Move and win roundup: Week of August 12, 2019

Publicis Groupe appointed Umesh Nair as managing partner of MSL Malaysia, reporting to CEO Tan Kien Eng. He joins from Edelman Malaysia, where he led the reputation practice. Prior to that, he was with FleishmanHillard in Malaysia and India.

Cheil Worldwide appointed Steven Moy as CEO of Barbarian, effective immediately. He was most recently EVP and US chief technology officer at R/GA and has also worked at Isobar and SapientNitro. He has over 30 years of multi-disciplinary experience creating teams focused on profitable digital transformations, strategic acquisition of capabilities (M&A) and high-growth partnerships. He has worked with McDonald’s, Mass Mutual, Carnival, Marvel, Shiseido, Express Scripts, Girl Scouts USA, Johnson & Johnson, Huawei, CVS Health and many others.

Imagination Australia appointed Justine Marino as digital executive producer in its Sydney and Melbourne offices. She has led production teams at agencies such as Holler, McCann, The Brand Shop and Clear Blue Day and has worked with brands including Coca Cola, Johnnie Walker, Blackmores, Subaru, CommSec, Telstra, Audi and Nestlé Australia.

Zebra Technologies Corporation selected Archetype as its PR agency of record in Asia Pacific and EMEA and Zeno Group as its agency of record in the Americas. The win represents an expansion of remit for Archetype, which has been the brand's agency in APAC for nearly four years. Archetype and Zeno Group will be charged with building deeper engagement with key audiences, integrating PR more centrally into the broader go-to-market approach and offering Zebra’s perspective on current trends such as the on-demand economy, intelligent automation and workflow collaboration, according to the company. The agencies will collaborate with Zebra on driving its integrated global campaign strategy. Both agencies officially kicked off their work with Zebra in July and will engage team members from multiple offices in each region. 

Sydney-headquartered technology and digital agency Engaging.io and Auckland digital agency Done By Friday have entered into a joint venture to become the biggest HubSpot partner across Asia Pacific. As a new business called Engaging Partners, they will offer a complete suite of strategic, technical, creative and media services across the HubSpot ecosystem, according to the companies. Engaging Partners will be led by Michelle O’Keeffe and Boyd Wason. In addition to its Sydney and Auckland offices, the combined agency, which has more than 30 employees, has also opened in Singapore. Engaging Partners is already working with clients including the Professionals Real Estate Group New Zealand, Servcorp and The Rawson Group.

Indian experiential marketing and brand activation agency, Geometry Encompass, has appointed Ranjit Raina as chief executive officer, effective August 13th. Raina, with 27 years across production houses, television and the experiential industry has been leading his engagement design consultancy since 2014 but previously served as Geometry Encompass COO as part of a decade long stint at the agency.

AKQA has handed Sam Sterling an expanded remit to manage both its China and Japan outposts as AKQA Tokyo managing director Aika Sawai steps down from the business. Sawai is leaving the business due to personal reasons, the agency said, and will stay on till the end of September to ensure a smooth transition. She only took up the Tokyo MD role in May.

Hill + Knowlton Strategies has appointed Marcel Chu as SVP, auto and mobility, where he will take on an expanded tole as WPP’s Ford China lead, supervising all aspects of work to H+K, BCW, Content Factory, and other communications. He will be wearing many hats including corporate communications, product communications, media, CSR, and social/digital marketing.