Move and win roundup: Week of October 29, 2018

Content marketing agency IMMedia opened a new office in Australia as part of its expansion plans. The company also hired Kritika Srinivasan as head of editorial, who joined from King Content where she was managing editor. IMMedia also has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. 

Leading Malaysian MotoGP racer Hafizh Syahrin appointed Dentsu Sports Asia as his exclusive commercial partner. Syahrin is the first Southeast Asian rider to compete in the MotoGP, and Dentsu will manage all non-motorsports-related commercial contracts globally, including endorsements, promotional contracts, non-MotoGP media activities and event appearances.

TBWA\Hakuhodo appointed Kohei Ikeda as content planner in charge of planning and production of social-media content. Ikeda is creator of “Chii-tan☆”, the sightseeing ambassador for Susaki, a city known for its mascots. Ikeda's work for the character has garnered more than 800 million YouTube views and nearly 1 million Twitter followers and an average of 10,000 retweets per post. Along with Ikeda’s appointment, the agency has launched a new online content channel called ‘THE_’, where it will post short films about cultural topics in Japan, including emerging trends, technology or behavioural shifts in society.

Brand-experience agency Amplify opened an office in Australia, which will be led by Gareth Davies as managing partner and executive producer. He has been at Amplify since 2010, and has moved back to Australia to take on the role. The agency is located in Sydney and has nine staff.

Finnair hired Mango PR as its Singapore communications agency. The remit is to build brand awareness and affinity for the airline, with Mango handling media relations, influencer engagement and event activations. 

J Walter Thompson Manila promoted Bob Cruz to creative director (from associate creative director), Albert Millar to senior writer (from copywriter), Sofia Lobregat to senior account manager (from account manager) and Catherine Lee to account manager (from account executive). Cruz joined JWT in 2008 from Creative Juice\Manila and has worked with Johnson & Johnson, Mondelez and Globe Telecom. Millar joined in 2015 from Guerrilla Advertising, and he has worked on Globe Postpaid, and Manulife. Lobregat joined two years ago and has worked on Johnson & Johnson and Del Monte. Lee has been with the agency for almost two years, working on Globe Platinum and Postpaid.

Lewis announced the opening of Shenzhen and Melbourne offices as part of its APAC 2020 expansion plan. Both offices will be fully operational on November 5th. Lewis Shenzhen will be headed by Keso Kendall, GM of Greater Bay Area, in conjunction with associate director, Kate Kwan. Lewis Melbourne will be opened by GM Steven Reilly, based in Sydney. 

SpotX hired Tri Meyliana Sadewi (Dewi) as demand facilitation director in Indonesia. Based in Jakarta, Dewi will help brands connect with premium video audiences, as part of SpotX's continued Indonesia expansion. Dewi previously worked for ad tech companies including AdColony, Big Mobile and Vserv.

Hong Kong broadcaster Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) will launch TVB Anywhere SG, a mobile app exclusively for Singapore. The app provides viewers with legitimate access to a collection of TV programmes which are produced and owned by the broadcaster. It's already available in a number of Chinese-speaking communities including Macau, Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe, and plans are underway to launch the app in other Southeast Asia markets.

Independent media agency Nunn Media has invested in global independent media agency network Local Planet, with Nunn Media founder and director Matthew Nunn taking one of 11 seats on the Global Local Planet board. Local Planet has a network of 54 independent media agencies around the world, with 117 offices in 67 markets and global media billings of $15.7 billion. Other shareholders include The Media Shop in Singapore and Blue Focus Communications Group in China.

Customer-experience agency MercerBell Australia promoted managing director Julie Dormand to CEO, effective January 1. She takes over from current CEO and founding partner Nick Mercer, who is appointed chairman. David Bell remains in his role as executive creative director. Dormand will report to Michael Rebelo, CEO of Publicis Communications ANZ.

Chinese smartphone brand Vivo selected Taboola as its strategic partner to power news recommendations on its Android devices. When users swipe right on the phone's homescreen, Taboola will surface relevant personalized news and content, out of which approximately 20% is sponsored, from its network of premium publishers throughout Asia. 

BBDO Guerrero promoted Cristina Buenaventura to executive director of strategy and Roshan Nandwani to executive director of transformation. Beunaventura has been with the agency since 2007, starting as a junior planner. Nandwani previously served as head of digital. The agency also promoted Leah Gonzales to finance controller.

TBWA\New Zealand appointed Shane Bradnick as its new chief creative officer across TBWA, Digital Arts Network and Eleven PR. He joined from DDB, where spent four years as ECD, and before that worked in Sydney for M&C Saatchi and in South Africa for TBWA. Bradnick has won numerous awards over the year, and was at DDB last year when it was New Zealand's most awarded agency at Cannes. 

FreakOut, a marketing-technology company, announced its expansion to Australasia and appointed Tasneem Ali as managing director of FreakOut Australia and New Zealand. 'Tas', as she is known, has over 15 years of experience and was previously country manager for Australia at Kiosked. She will report to Narayan Murthy Ivaturi, vice president.

FOX Networks Group Asia appointed Andy Baek to a dual role as head and vice president of National Geographic Channels, effective immediately. He continue in his current position as FOX Network Group Asia’s head and vice president of Hollywood movie channels, which includes FOX Movies, FOX Action Movies, FOX Family Movies and Star Movies. He will remain based in Hong Kong, reporting to Keertan Adyanthaya, executive vice president of content and communications.