Move and win roundup: Week of November 25, 2019

Wunderman Thompson has promoted Suzanne Sarkis to its Melbourne leadership team in the position of partner. Sarkis will return from maternity leave to take up the position in December, retaining her senior role of head of CRM and marketing automation. John Gutteridge, CEO of Wunderman Thompson ANZ, said Sarkis has been an integral player in the unity of Wunderman Thompson culturally, while  boosting national digital capabilities.

GroupM data-driven agency Essence has won integrated media agency of record duties for live online learning platform Vedantu in India. The mandate covers offline and digital media, including performance media. Led out of Essence’s office in Bengaluru, the Vedantu business will be supported by the agency’s practice leads across strategy, analytics, integrated media planning, media activation and advertising operations.

Hygiene products maker Vinda Group has appointed Havas Group's Malaysia agency, Havas Immerse, as its agency of record (AOR) for its feminine care brand – Libresse. The account was won through a pitch and the remit covers creative, and integrated brand communications.  Vinda Group SEA marketing director Evelyn Chan said he team at Havas Immerse demonstrated a solid understanding of our brand and a passion to narrate their story fearlessly.

The South China Morning Post is appointing Adrian Lee as senior vice president of marketing and events to lead audience development across Asia and globally, effective December 2nd. Lee’s responsibilities include raising brand awareness, increasing traffic to SCMP’s digital platforms, overseeing product and digital marketing, as well as driving SCMP’s events business. Lee was previously head of digital client solutions at Wavemaker in Hong Kong and prior to that was global digital strategy and innovation director for Vizeum in London.

PR specialist Katy Denis has rebranded her Sydney-based communications-consultancy business from KTG Creative to Extollo. She has also launched a dedicated executive leadership profile package, dubbed Clarus, to meet what she calls growing demand for the curation of the personal brands of agency leaders and client-side brand managers. The service is designed to run separately to, or complement, company-focused PR efforts in line with key business objectives. Denis has more than 20 years of experience in PR, and she and her team have worked with agencies including Leo Burnett, GPJ, Clemenger BBDO Sydney, Publicis Sapient, Versa and VMLY&R.

Ruder Finn Asia announced senior appointments in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia:

• Winnie Lai, most recently VP for Greater China at Waggoner Edstrom, joins as vice president and general manager of Ruder Finn Hong Kong. Prior to WE, she was senior reporter at ComputerWorld and senior consultant at Hill & Knowlton.
• Brian Witte has been promoted to deputy general manager at Ruder Finn Singapore. He has led the firm’s corporate and technology practice since 2014 and previously held senior positions at Porter Novelli and Burson-Marsteller China.
• Elya Eusoff joins as general manager of Ruder Finn Malaysia. He was most recently director of digital PR at Bonsey Jaden
• Gao Ming was named senior vice president and managing director for the luxury practice at Ruder Finn Greater China. He has led the practice in China since 2015 and has been with Ruder Finn since 2005, prior to which he was founder and partner at West Village Agency in Shanghai.
• Long Xi has been promoted to leader of the integrated marketing practice at Ruder Finn Greater China. She launched the practice in China in 2017 and previously held roles at Michael Kors, Edelman and Giorgio Armani Group.
• Will Yuan joins as leader of the automotive practice at Ruder Finn China. He was previously general manager at Genedigi Group and deputy general manager at HighTeam Marketing Communications. 

Archetype Hong Kong appointed Shenel Moore-Bick as a senior consultant. She has over 12 years of experience in corporate and consumer communications and joins from the British Consulate-General, where she was campaigns manager for Greater China. She will oversee strategic communications, PR and content marketing campaigns for clients including Cigna, Tricor and Xero, as well as play a leading role new business, the company said. In addition, Archetype appointed CRM specialist Rachel Ao Leong as digital consultant.