Move and win roundup: Week of January 11, 2021

Campaign compiles a new 'Move and win roundup' as each week progresses.  This edition will cover January 11 through 15, 2021.  Catch up on past people moves and business wins.

Esports venture Ampverse has forayed into Vietnam and Myanmar and made several top level appointments and promotions to support this growth. For starters, Tim Roemer, who joined the company last year, has been promoted to chief operating officer. Roemer joined from performance marketing agency Heroleads, a company he founded and scaled to 200 across the region. Other senior hires include Jackie Tangngumvitayakul, director of revenue and customer success at Ampverse, Kate Siriwattanakul, head of client solutions, hired from GroupM, and Athiti Sujarit, head of strategic initiatives manager hired from Garena. Ampverse has said it has hired ten new members across multiple business units as its growth continues to accelerate across Southeast Asia, bringing its headcount to 44 across the region. 

Essence, a data and measurement-driven media agency which is part of GroupM, has introduced Essence Media Health Check service, developed to help marketers achieve effective business outcomes from their digital media campaigns by delivering measurable performance improvements over current baselines. Essence Media Health Check is a service product developed through Essence Global Ventures (EGV), the agency’s innovation, research and development hub based in Singapore and supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). The product was incubated during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic as a strategic aid for marketers facing tectonic shifts in consumer behaviour, market-wide volatility and budgetary pressures. The agency has since piloted the Media Health Check for brands in the financial services, retail, technology and telecommunications industries across APAC. Part of Essence’s consulting offering, Essence Media Health Check enables marketers to access the agency’s digital media capabilities, technologies and automation tools. The solution is designed for both in-house marketing teams and external agency service providers. 

Ipsos has appointed Annie Chan as managing director of its Hong Kong office, starting on January 1st 2021. Reporting to Lifeng Liu, chairman for Ipsos in Greater China, Chan will head Ipsos' business and teams and replaced Mick Gordon, who will move on to a different role at the firm.
Chan joined Ipsos in Hong Kong in 2011 with the integration of Synovate, where she had been working since 1998.

Richie Butterworth has joined M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment as head of Sponsorship, effective immediately. In his new role, Butterworth will take ownership of clients that span sport and entertainment sponsorship, working in close partnership with Krystyna Frassetto, who joined the business in early 2020 as head of Communications. Joining from TLA Worldwide, Butterworth most recently acted as general manager, Sydney, leading sponsorship and sports marketing programs for brands such as Woolworths and Ampol. 

Mindshare Australia has strengthened its senior leadership team with several promotions. Kerry Field, formerly managing director of Mindshare Melbourne, has been promoted to chief growth officer. She is tasked with driving client and agency growth and business development for Mindshare Australia. Field has been with Mindshare and WPP for more than 25 years holding senior leadership, management, innovation and digital roles during her time with the agency and before that with Ogilvy. Meanwhile, Chris Solomon has been promoted to managing director of Mindshare Melbourne to replace her. He joined Mindshare in 2018 as managing partner and has been leading the NAB business. Solomon will now oversee the day to day running of the agency, as well as driving growth for clients. 

Influencer marketing and social content platform, Vamp, has become an official Creative Marketing Partner of TikTok. This partnership will support new and existing Vamp clients tapping into the brand engagement and conversion opportunities on TikTok. 

To elevate its international image, the Hong Kong Fire Services Department has appointed Chinese film star Donnie Yen to become its international image ambassador. Yen was chosen for his heroic image which strongly resonates with the intrepidity of the Fire Services personnel. His dedication to work and perfection-seeking professionalism also coincide with the HKFSD's spirit to constantly strive for improvement and excellence. He will help promote the department's professionalism and commitment through various media and platforms.

Weber Shandwick promoted Vanessa Ho Nikolovski to chief client and growth officer for Asia Pacific and Albert Shu to president for Hong Kong and Singapore. The roles are effective immediately. In her newly created, cross-region role, Nikolovski will oversee regional practice leadership, marketing, and new business development. She was previously managing director for Singapore and chair of client services for Asia Pacific. Shu, currently MD of Weber Shandwick Hong Kong, will assume responsibility for Weber Shandwick’s Singapore operations. He will also work to provide a unified workflow for the firm’s regional clients both within Singapore and Hong Kong.

Havas Group Greater China appointed Kevin Choi as head of strategy, reporting to Karl Wu, co-chairman and CEO. Choi was previously Ogilvy Shanghai's director of brand strategy, and replaces Dennis Potgraven, who has moved on to a role in New York.

GroupM Hong Kong appointed Kenny Ip as head of investment and Fergus Chan as ecommerce director. Ip was formerly country sales lead for Greater China and Korea with Oracle. Chan was previously ecommerce lead with Puyi Optical.

Joanna Ong-Ash announced that she has left AIA Singapore after more than 10 years as head of brand and corporate communications and has formed her own communications practice, Bravery Communications, which aims to help brands create compelling narratives that connect bold ideas with the right audience. She has also been appointed as the consulting lead in Singapore for Hong Kong-based marketing consultancy Neon Leaders.

Dentsu Hong Kong is promoting Simone Tam to CEO of Dentsu Hong Kong, in addition to her role as creative CEO. She takes over the role vacated when Pauline Chu announced her retirement in November. (Full story)

Gusto Luxe appointed Sunny Lai as creative partner. Lai has 18 years of communication experience across ATL, digital, social media and ecommerce and has worked with agencies including JWT, Lowe, Razorfish, Publicis133, Reload andd Leo Burnett. His client portfolio includes Taobao, JD.com, Ford, DS-automobile, Audi, Volvo, Rolls Royce, BMW, The North Face, Nike, Unilever, ABinbev, PT Platinum, Kraft, Philips and McDonald’s.

Lion & Lion Digital Group appointed Ham Maghazeh as head of social media. He will be charged with fueling future social innovation for business growth across the company’s key markets and offices, reporting to Cheelip Ong, regional chief creative officer. Maghazeh has 15 years of digital and social media communications experience working with agencies such as  BBDO, Publicis, Leo Burnett and isobar. His brand portfolio includes Mondelez, Pepsico, Diageo Unilever, Samsung and RHB.

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) agency PHD has promoted Joey Zhao to chief executive of its China operations, from his former post of chief operating officer, filling the spot vacated by Anna Chitty last year. (Full story)

Concluding one of the biggest pitches in China in recent memory and taking a massive client away from GroupM's Mindshare, Publicis Groupe has won L'Oreal's media planning and buying in China. (Full story)

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has appointed Metia Group to manage, as well as develop and produce content for its We Are Aviators Facebook page. The page is designed to raise awareness and interest on aviation and related careers among Singapore's youth. Metia Group's contract includes content development and production, community management, and media buying and monitoring within Facebook.

Epsilon, a global connectivity service provider, has appointed Warren Aw as its managing director of Asia-Pacific to lead its commercial strategy in the region. Aw joins Epsilon from Colt Technology Services where he was country director of service provider, enterprise and capital markets, and sales. Prior to Colt Technology Services, Aw was sales director at StarHub for over 13 years. At Epsilon he will help to develop and execute the company’s commercial plans and drive profitable growth in APAC.