Move and win roundup: Week of May 19, 2025

Assembly, a Stagwell media agency, has appointed Susanna Mak to the agency's newly created role of VP of partnerships, APAC. Mak will be reporting directly to Assembly's APAC CEO, Richard Brosgill. Mak brings over 20 years of agency experience to Assembly. She previously served as chief investment officer at GroupM Singapore. Throughout her tenure, Mak has collaborated with global and local brands across FMCG, automotive, property, luxury, government and more.

Uniplan has appointed Eric Chan as executive creative director of its Hong Kong office, effective immediately. Chan will report directly to Judd Christie, CEO of Uniplan Greater China, and will take on the creative leadership role across all Uniplan Hong Kong projects and experience design projects across Greater China. With over 15 years of global experience in advertising, branding, content design, product design, and experiential marketing, he joins Uniplan after eight years with George P Johnson as creative director in Singapore and group creative director in Shanghai.

Polestar, a Swedish electric vehicle brand, has appointed Manifest Group as its communications agency of record in Australia. The indie network takes on a broad-ranging brief encompassing consumer and corporate communications, with Manifest's Melbourne team leading the charge, supported by its team in Stockholm, Sweden.  

Do Agency has elevated Tom Ormes, formerly Do Australia's executive creative director, to the new role of group chief creative officer (CCO) to oversee creative operations across Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the group’s UK-based agency, scheduled to open later this year. With close to three decades of experience across Asia, New York, Dubai and beyond, Ormes worked for Iris, Y&R Asia, FCB, Publicis, Lowe Partners Worldwide and McCann Erickson before founding Do Agency in 2017.

Montieth SPRG has been appointed the integrated communications and marketing agency for Hoiana Resort & Golf (Hoiana), an upscale resort located in Central Vietnam. Montieth SPRG will lead an integrated communications programme for Hoiana in key APAC markets, including Hong Kong and Singapore.  

The Marketing Society welcomes a new addition to its Hong Kong board: Ewa Stachurska, chief marketing and sustainability officer at Simpson Marine /Sanlorenzo Asia-Pacific. In charge of brand reputation and business volume for Simpson Marine Group, a yacht dealership, brokerage, charter and services company, Stachurska brings 18 years of experience in developing and executing comprehensive multi-dimensional marketing strategies for global luxury yacht and superyacht brands, including Sanlorenzo, Bluegame, Nautor Swan, Fairline, Axopar and many more.

Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song, has appointed Michael McEwan as director of Droga5 Melbourne, effective late May 2025. With nearly three decades of experience in the marketing industry, McEwan joins the Droga5 ANZ leadership team from M&C Saatchi Group, where he spent five years, most recently serving as CEO of M&C Saatchi AUNZ. Before that, he worked at Ogilvy, DDB and BBDO in Australia and Singapore.

OpenAI has appointed Grace Chua as head of communications for Singapore and Southeast Asia. Chua was most recently corporate communications lead at Google Singapore. Before joining Google over five years ago as its APAC corporate communications manager, she worked at Experian, Uber and Harper’s Bazaar as communications lead or marketing manager. 

UltraSuperNew, Asia’s independent creative agency, has appointed Diana Ganea as art director. In her new role, Ganea will be based in the Tokyo office, reporting to creative director Yousuke Ozawa. She joins from Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo, where she created work for global brands such as Samsung, Google, IKEA, Nike and most recently Netflix. Prior to moving to Tokyo, Ganea worked with London-based creative events agency My Beautiful City and creative studio Object & Animal.

Prose on Pixels (POP), Havas' AI-powered content at scale agency, has appointed Joris Knetsch as EVP, Prose on Pixels APAC, effective May 2025. Based in Singapore, Knetsch will lead the launch and expansion of Prose on Pixels across the region. He brings over a decade of experience in digital production, creative content, and scaling operations, including eight years at MediaMonks.

EternityX Marketing Technology has announced executive leadership teams across key growth markets: Thailand, Malaysia, Guangzhou, and Shanghai.

• Meera Thuraivel has been appointed as managing director, Malaysia, with over 20 years of industry experience.
• Thresa Thian has been appointed executive director, Malaysia, with over 20 years of expertise in digital media, social listening, and strategic partnerships. 
• Valerie Tan will be senior client growth manager, Malaysia.
• Chalida Raksanaves has been named as business development director, Thailand, with over a decade of strategic advertising experience, including working for Havas and Teads.
• Nitiwat Jiraphatthasiri will be senior business development manager, Thailand.
• Simon Zhong has been appointed as head of Insights and product innovation, Guangzhou. Zhong is a veteran of marketing science, who has led strategies for BMW, Burberry, and Nestlé, and co-developed Tencent’s consumer journey analysis framework.
• Celin Chen has been appointed as deputy general manager, Shanghai. She is a hybrid strategist-operator with over 12 years of experience spanning Sony, Friso, and Dentsu China.

KC Global Media Asia has announced a strategic expansion of its leadership team. Both will report to George Chien, co-founder, president, and CEO of KC Global Media.

• Denise Tham has been promoted to vice president and head of programming. She joined the company over 16 years ago, with experience across various English general entertainment Pay TV channels.
• Sari Trisulo has been appointed as vice president and head of production & creative. Trisulo brings with her extensive experience in multi-platform storytelling from Vice Media and Viacom.  

Zenith China has announced a series of new appointments. All of them will report to Christina Lu, Zenith China CEO.

• Emily Xue has been promoted to head of the Guangzhou office. Xue joined Publicis Groupe from Wavemaker in 2022.
• Cindy Wang has been promoted to head of the Beijing office and client partner. Wang has been working for Zenith for over two decades. She was named Campaign’s Women to Watch Greater China in 2022.
• Riki Li has been promoted to chief strategy officer. Li was named Women to Watch Greater China in 2023, and later, she left Wavemaker to join Zenith as managing director, platform solution.

Redhill has appointed Sunita Kaur Gill as its regional senior director. In the newly created role, Gill will be overseeing Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Japan, reporting directly to Manisha Seewal, president of Redhill. Before joining Redhill, Gill worked at Priority Consultants and PRecious Communications among other agencies in Singapore and Malaysia.

Zoo Group has appointed Shermin Sim as art director in Singapore, reporting to Joel Chin, Zoo's creative irector. Sim brings a decade of industry experience at agencies including Dentsu Creative, TBWA, MullenLowe, and Huge. Her portfolio spans both regional and global campaigns for companies and brands such as Unilever, P&G, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Tourism Board, Ministry of Health and Prudential.  

Team Lewis has bolstered its B2B technology credentials with a trio of retainer client wins in Australia, including global professional services and technology company Cognizant, hot cloud storage provider Wasabi Technologies, and automated endpoint management platform NinjaOne, following competitive pitches. The agency will provide strategic consultancy and implementation across their communications efforts in Australia and New Zealand.

Taboola has elevated Shivani Pant to the position of regional publisher director, APAC, based in Sydney. Pant, a Taboola veteran with nearly 15 years of digital media experience, will lead publisher partnerships across the region effective immediately. The promotion comes on the back of Taboola's strong growth in APAC, driven by new client partnerships and the launch of its Realize platform, which delivers performance outcomes beyond search and social. Key deals include a five-year extension with Sky News Australia and a record six-year renewal with New Zealand’s Otago Daily Times. Pant will oversee the expansion and alignment of Taboola’s publisher partnerships across the APAC region. Her career spans Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, China, and India, and she comes with a deep understanding of the region’s complexities and opportunities. She was most recently ANZ director, Publisher Partnerships, where she played an important role in securing long-term agreements with key publishers like Sky News Australia and the Otago Daily Times.

Ogilvy New Zealand’s executive creative director Kristal Knight has announced her departure after three years with the agency. Sharing the news on LinkedIn, Knight reflected on her time at the agency, calling it a privilege to work with “some of my favourite people in the industry” and part of “the most formidable creative network in the world.” With over 20 years of experience in London and New Zealand, Knight’s career includes roles at Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland, Colenso BBDO, and OgilvyOne London. Her next move has yet to be announced, as she hints at “new adventures” ahead.

Andrew Gilbert has been appointed VP of advertising ecosystem for Afterpay in Australia and New Zealand. Gilbert joins from Yahoo DSP, where he was director of commercial and solutions for AUSEA. He has already worked closely with Afterpay through a partnership where Yahoo DSP powered the buy-now-pay-later platform’s media network. Gilbert’s career also includes roles at IAB Australia, Eyeota, Integral Ad Science, and Vodafone Australia