Move and win roundup: Week of March 5, 2018

Campaign compiles a new 'Move and win roundup' as each week progresses.  This edition will cover March 5 through 9, 2018.  Catch up on past people moves and business wins.

Newgate Communications launched an office in Shanghai, led by Hong Kong partner and co-founder Grace Zhang, managing partner Shanghai and head of China. The strategic communications consultancy is a division of Porta Communications.

AdParlor APAC hired Suppakit Limboonsong as Thailand country director. He joined from Spark Foundry, where he was general manager. Limboonsong will seek to drive new business for AdParlor in Thailand, and help develop new creative and technology services. 

Lighting company Ledvance hired One9ninety as its social media agency of record. The brief initially covers Singapore and Malaysia, with potential to expand into other Southeast Asian markets. One9ninety is charged with building Ledvance's presence in the region on digital channels. 

Omnicom Media Group Taiwan's Jason Chen has been promoted to head of digital and investments for the group’s agencies in the market. As such, Vivian Lu will take over Chen's previous role as OMD Taiwan's new general manager. She was previously the deputy general manager of MEC ( now Wavemaker)Taiwan.

Dennis Eng has been promoted to senior vice president, group strategic marketing and communications, at DBS Bank Hong Kong. He joined DBS in 2013, and was charged with elevating DBS’ profile and public perception in the bank’s second-biggest market. 

Serena Schellino has relocated to Shanghai from Hong Kong for Safilo. In her extended role as PR and Communications Director, Greater China, she now covers all comms initiatives and media outreach. Prior to her move to Hong Kong in 2015, Serena handled PR for The Woolmark Company in Europe. 

WPP AUNZ appointed Lee Simpson, most recently managing partner at M&C Saatchi, as CEO of WhiteGrey. He replaces joint CEOs Paul Worboys and Miles Joyce, who both left the business last month. It's a return to WPP for Simpson, who worked at Grey London in the past and has also held senior roles at AMV BBDO London and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne.

April Six, a UK-headquartered marketing agency specialising in enterprise tech, has hired Gary Chin as vice-president of business development based in Singapore.  Chin was formerly international ad sales director for Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific. The April Six Singapore office has also recently appointed Tim Ang as account director; and Dharshana Kumarawatte as senior art director.

BMF promoted Jen Speirs to the newly created role of deputy executive creative director and Dantie van der Merwe and David Fraser from associate creative director to creative director. The moves follow Alex Derwin’s appointment as ECD.

Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne hired Lee Sunter, previously with Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, as creative director. In addition the company recently appointed creatives Helene Colin and Samantha Alexandre, who were previously with BETC Paris.

Australian food brands Doughnut Time and Huxtaburger both signed Frank PR as their retained agency. Frank will work to publicise Doughnut Time's limited edition and original doughnuts as well as build its brand with bigger stunts. For Huxtaburger, the remit is to reinforce the brand’s experimental taste credentials with media and influencers. The agency already won global notariety for the chain with the Bugstaburger, a Halloween-themed burger with edible mealworms and ant mayo.

Malaysian telecoms firm Axiata Group hired Entropia Noir as its digital agency of record. The remit includes handling digital creative work, apps, websites and social media across Axiata's corporate, digital and enterprise businesses.

Hotels.com appointed DDB Group Hong Kong for regional brand strategy and creative duties across Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan, following a pitch. Chie Ikoma, senior manager of APAC brand marketing for the brand, said that DDB impressed with a "grand vision and ambition" within a long-term sustainable platform.

McDonald's appointed Alistair Macrow, formerly senior vice-president and chief marketing officer at McDonald's UK, to a global marketing role, based in London, overseeing several high-growth markets including China, Hong Kong and South Korea. He joined McDonald’s in 2007 as UK marketing director, later becoming vice-president of marketing and food, then senior vice-president in January 2014. In 2016, he was named Marketing Society Leader of the Year, recognising his contribution to McDonald's achieiving consistent growth since he joined.

Singapore personal finance comparison site MoneySmart hired David Harling as CMO. His previous roles include leading the APAC marketing and media business at OMG for Google, and digital marketing director of MoneySuperMarket Group in the UK. 

AdRich appointed former Accenture China manager Sisi Liu as chief brand marketing officer to be in charge of AdRich's overall brand advertising and operations business. Liu was Accenture China's senior strategic consulting manager responsible for large corporate clients such as CNOOC.

TGV Cinemas hired AdParlor APAC as its media agency in Malaysia. The agency will handle communications and media strategy, winning the account ahead of six other agencies involved in the pitch.  

Mobile attribution firm AppsFlyer appointed Antony Wilcox as director of agency alliances, APAC. Wilcox was previously with Datalicious as regional director where he was involved in the expansion of the company in Southeast Asia, India and South Korea.

WPP AUNZ appointed David Fox as chief transformation officer, creative agencies. He will oversee eight advertising agencies across Australia and New Zealand—Ogilvy, Y&R Group, J Walter Thompson, whiteGREY, The Brand Agency, Spinach, Assignment and IM Advertising—while continuing in his current role as CEO of Ogilvy Australia. The appointment is effective immediately, reporting to Mike Connaghan and the WPP AUNZ Board.

LOKi Media and Persuasion Technologies have merged to form a new agency focussed on creative and data-driven CRM and business solutions. The new group will be rebranded as LOKi. It has plans to expand and consolidate its regional footprint across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

Online financial-services marketplace BankBazaar International appointed Ariff Communications as PR agency and Stellar Group Malaysia as social and digital agency in Malaysia. Both agencies will be responsible for brand development, execution and strategy implementations. 

Engage Hub appointed former Opera Software APAC head Felix Wong as VP of sales in APAC, based in Singapore. He will operate across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and his native Singapore.