Move and win roundup: Week of May 26, 2025

BYD Australia has appointed its first-ever chief marketing officer—Kate Hornstein—effective May 1. Hornstein, who has been the driving force behind BYD’s steep rise in Australia as head of marketing at distributor EVDirect, steps into the newly created role after a record-breaking 2024, with 2025 already on pace to surpass it. BYD is the world’s largest new energy vehicle maker having surpassed rival Tesla in several markets including APAC and Europe. The EV maker is doubling down on its push into the Australian market. 

Publicis Media China has announced an upgrade to its Omni Performance strategy and appointed two senior executives to lead the transformation in the market. Junjie Shi has been named managing director and head of Publicis Omni Performance China. Shi, is a digital marketing executive with over 13 years of experience at firms like Xiaoxiandun, Shanghai Jahwa, ByteDance and GroupM China, will handle end-to-end performance marketing revamp. He has previously supported leading brands such as Unilever, adidas,Honor, L’Occitane and Danone.

Meanwhile, Sean Huang joins as general manager, Publicis Media China, overseeing capability development and partnerships. With more than 18 years of experience, including roles at China Ping An, Rolex China, and most recently, Shanghai Jahwa, Huang will focus on sharpening the agency's alliances and operational efficiency. Both appointments report to Mickey Zhang, president of Publicis Media China.

Gilles Detanger has announced that he has started a new position as media-advertising consultant at Anova Asia, a business consulting and services firm.   Detanger was most recently chief commercial officer of EssenceMediacom APAC, who left the agency network last year. He joined MediaCom in 2015 as its chief commercial officer of APAC before the merger of MediaCom and Essence in 2023. Prior to that, he was regional CEO of Publicis Groupe.

24 Hour Business Plan (24HRBP) has appointed Vijay Solanki as a senior advisor.
With a three-decade-long career spanning executive roles at Unilever, Philips, Shazam and recently as CEO of the IAB, Solanki joins 24HRBP to drive rapid impact for not-for-profits and health organisations via sustainable growth strategies.

-lution, a marketing evolution consultancy, has appointed Mike Worden as its first chief media officer and partner. Bringing over two decades of experience from across both agency and client-side roles, Worden joins the -lution team from Endeavour Group. Prior to this, he served as managing director of EssenceMediacom, Australia.

Slik, a creative and innovation agency, has appointed Kim Verbrugghe as managing director. With experience at integrated agencies and consultancies for over 15 years, she has worked with major Australian brands including Aldi, Qantas, CBA, Westpac, Hyundai, Merlin Entertainments and Hoyts. She has held senior strategy, product and experience design roles at a number of agencies such as Orchard and Deepend.

Havas Media Network has announced the launch of CSA, its global technology, data and analytics consultancy arm in Southeast Asia, with James McNeely appointed to lead as the head of CSA, Southeast Asia. With over 13 years of experience across data, analytics, and MarTech, McNeely will lead CSA’s growth in the region. Based in Singapore, he will report directly to Pankaj Nayak, CEO of Havas Media Network Singapore and president, SEA, Havas Media. Since its launch in June 2023, CSA has rapidly scaled to more than 20 markets, including the Middle East, Australia, China, and India, with a team of over 400 specialists spanning data science, AI, behavioural economics, MarTech, and digital strategy. 

ICON1C, a luxury lifestyle group backed by Catcha Group, has appointed Michelle Ong as group partnerships director in a strategic move to drive growth across the luxury portfolio.
Ong joins ICON1C from Vogue Singapore, where she served as group commercial director for over five years. With over a decade of experience in media and advertising, she has held senior roles at Singapore’s most notable media titles, such as Time Out, Buro., Robb Report, and Nylon Magazine.

Hearts & Science, part of Omnicom Media Group agency, has bolstered its pharmaceutical portfolio after winning the media businesses for Hyphens Pharma in Singapore and Allergan in Taiwan. The agency network is responsible for integrated media planning for Hyphens Pharma Singapore. In Taiwan, Hearts & Science won the Allergan media business following a competitive pitch. These wins continue the agency's growth in the Asia Pacific region, following recent contracts with Warner Bros. Discovery and AS Watson. 

Ipsos has appointed Daren Poole as its new creative excellence leader in Australia, effective immediately. He will lead Ipsos’s creative development in Australia. He joins Ipsos from analytics business Morning Consult, where he was associate VP of campaign measurement. Before that, he spent over 20 years at global research agency Milward Brown, including when it was acquired by Kantar. He was then Kantar’s global head of creative for over three years.

Dentsu Queensland has retained The Lottery Corporation's media account, continuing its role as the agency of record for media strategy, planning, investment, and optimisation. Having partnered for over 14 years, the contract extension follows a market review with Dentsu extending the relationship for another three years.