Move and win roundup: Week of May 3, 2021

Campaign compiles a new 'Move and win roundup' as each week progresses.  This edition will cover May 3 through 7, 2021.  Catch up on past people moves and business wins.

Wavemaker has promoted Chris Lo, current general manager of its Taiwan office to managing director effective immediately. Lo has led the transformation of the agency since his joining in 2019. He has has two decades of experience in media related roles across Greater China in Taiwan, Beijing, and Shanghai. Prior to Wavemaker, Lo was the client & strategy lead of Volkswagen at Mediacom China 

The Hoffman Agency has appointed Kijung Kelly Kwon as general manager of its South Korea office. With over 20 years’ of experience in media, marketing and communications, Kwon joins the agency from Allison+Partners, where she led the communication data service. 

Quantum Consumer Solutions has promoted associate partner, Monica Mulhotra to partner, Singapore. Mulhotra joined Quantum in New Delhi in 2009 and relocated to Singapore in 2017. She has been the architect of client partnerships in Singapore, notably Google and Unilever.

Tessa Conrad, global director of operations for TBWA\Worldwide has been appointed to the role of head of innovation for Asia with immediate effect. Tessa will move from New York to be based out of TBWA\Singapore and will be responsible for accelerating the collective’s innovation strategy across the region for client partners, the Singapore agency and the Asia collective. Conrad began her TBWA career in Hong Kong where in addition to clients projects she helped launch Disruption LIVE (D LIVE), a platform connecting changing cultural shifts to clients’ businesses that was scaled globally.  Recently, as global director of operations, Conrad helped lead TBWA initiatives like innovation platform 10X, upskilling accelerator D-Cell, future trends analysis Next and its Knowledge Hub. 

Branding agency DesignStudio has promoted former APAC partner Mark Liney to the group CEO role, responsible for overseeing its Sydney, London and New York offices. Liney joined DesignStudio Sydney in May 2019 where he built the business across the region, working with clients including Grab, ExpressVPN, Ant Group, owners of China’s largest digital payment platform Alipay and Go1. In March 2020 he returned to the UK and was replaced by former Interbrand managing director David Storey. As part of the new leadership team DesignStudio’s CFO James Corney has become group chief operating officer. DesignStudio, which developed the Airbnb, Deliveroo and Premier League brands, opened its APAC office in Sydney three years ago.

Entertainment industry veteran Francis Coady has been promoted from general manager Havas Sports & Entertainment to the newly created role of Havas Media Group chief marketing officer in Australia. Coady joined Havas five years ago to establish the Havas Sports & Entertainment division, where he bagged clients such as Bupa, Gillette, LG, NRMA, CGU, Virgin, Red Bull and most recently, the six-part digital-first series THE LONG ROAD, for Destination NSW. An  announcement on Coady's replacement will be communicated shortly.

Havas Group Indonesia appointed Sumit Kanungo as group strategy director. He will lead the growth strategy for the group and report to Satyajit Sen, CEO of Havas Group Indonesia, and Charu Aggarwal, chief strategy officer for SEA and India. He joins with over two decades of experience in strategic planning and buying, having worked at Starcom Mediavest Group, Crest (Platinum Advertising), Lintas Media Group, Emami and Mediaedge: CIA India. He has launched and built large brands across food and beverage, personal care, homecare, healthcare and fintech.

Style Theory apppointed Singapore-headquartered PR and communications agency Redhill as its strategic PR partner in Singapore. The agency will plan and execute a communications strategy for the brand, driving awareness of Style Theory’s offerings and supporting the brand’s upcoming
launches, business extensions and market expansions from Singapore.

Creative studio Kojo has promoted Jess Hill to the position of head of Kojo Creative, the studio’s full service brand, marketing and experiences agency, stepping up from her position as executive producer. In her new role, Hill will lead the Kojo Creative business nationally, contribute to agency growth, develop new talent pathways and drive creative and business outcomes for clients across Australia. She will spearhead the team to deliver work for clients such as BMW, MINI, Wesfarmers, BHP as well as several soon to be announced new client wins.

Ladbible Group has promoted Joseph Summers to GM of APAC, after growing the Australian arm from start-up to over 28 employees, working with global brands including Amazon Prime Video and Microsoft. Summers will split his time between Auckland, and the Group’s Australian offices in Sydney and Melbourne. LADbible has also opened an office in New Zealand, following a year which saw it become the biggest publisher in Australia, less than 18 months after launch, the publisher claimed. 

MullenLowe Sustainability has appointed Oriana Brine as associate director, to lead client management and drive business growth. Brine joins MullenLowe from NGO Forum for the Future where she was a senior sustainability strategist. 

Marketing consultancy R3 has partnered with the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) to further develop diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) in marketing. R3 will work with the 4A’s to collect and apply data on diversity in talent, leadership, and operations. The focus is ultimately the building of business frameworks that help agencies and marketers create DEI programs that are measurable and drive meaningful change.

MullenLowe Group appointed S. Subramanyeswar (known as Subbu) to chief strategy officer for the Asia-Pacific region. He will continue to lead strategy for brands at MullenLowe Lintas Group as its group chief strategy officer. Subbu joined Lowe Lintas in 2011 as national planning director and has more then two decades of experience including at Wipro, Publics, Rediffusion Y&R and Saatchi & Saatchi in India, the US and the UK. He will be based in Mumbai and takes up the APAC charge with immediate effect.

GroupM Australia appointed Sebastian Rennie as chief investment officer to lead the group's investment and partnerships function. Rennie returns to Australia following the past three years as GroupM Canada's chief investment officer. Prior to that he was in the same role at GroupM ANZ from 2015 to 2018 and with MEC for several years. He has more than 20 years of experience, including stints at MediaCom and OMD. Rennie will relocate to Sydney with his family and start the role in June.

NielsenIQ Hong Kong announced it renewed a regional retail cooperation deal with Dairy Farm. The two-year agreement means NielsenIQ will continue to provide Dairy Farm with insights and analyses about its business across six Asian markets: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. NielsenIQ said it provides a complete picture of the complex and changing retail landscape, with holistic coverage of the supermarket, hypermarket, convenience, and emerging channels.

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government responsible for attracting foreign direct investment and supporting overseas and mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong, has appointed Sinclair to lead the communications efforts for its sixth annual StartmeupHK Festival, as well as launching a series of six international StartmeupHK Salons—virtual events in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, India, ASEAN and the Greater Bay Area. Sinclair teams in Hong Kong and Shanghai will work with InvestHK to expand the profile of the StartmeupHK initiatives, strengthen brand reputation and drive participation. The remit includes media relations, social media, direct marketing, SEM, and content creation.

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has appointed Celeste Campbell-Pitt to be its new chief policy officer effective Monday May 3rd, to be based in Singapore, a first for the role. Campbell-Pitt initially joins Hong Kong-based John Medeiros, who has been chief policy officer since 2013. Campbell-Pitt was previously VP and head of business development and advertising sales at Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, after her stint at Endemol Shine Asia Group as the director and head of commercial and operations. She has also held senior legal counsel positions in international media companies including Star, Turner and Channel Four in the UK.