Move and win roundup: Week of September 2, 2019

Ogilvy appointed Jeremy Webb vice president of customer engagement and commerce for Southeast Asia, based in Singapore. He was previously senior vice president with Ogilvy China in Beijing. The agency called the role a pivotal one in developing its customer engagement and commerce capability (CE&C), which focuses on data-driven personalisation and precision marketing along with CRM and loyalty services. Webb is an 11-year Ogilvy veteran who started Ogilvy China’s first social team in early 2009. He was featured in Campaign Asia-Pacific's 40 Under 40 in 2014.

WE Communication's Aaron Petras relocates from Seattle to Singapore to the fill the role of EVP of global operations. In his expanded role in Singapore, he will partner with WE leaders, including global COO and president of international Kass Sells, to establish operational consistency across WE offices worldwide. 

Digital out of home (DOOH) verification platform Veridooh appointed Jordan Scott as account director. He joins from Go Transit Media where he was agency sales director for more than three years. Prior to that he was group sales manager at Val Morgan and also spent seven years at Multi Channel Networks as senior account manager.

Mindshare won the search and social account for NAB. The agency has held the client's media planning and buying account since 2012 and now handles all channels including traditional, digital, search, social, programmatic and performance.

Tourism Australia appointed WPP AUNZ agency OPR to support its global and regional marketing efforts, following a pitch. OPR will complement the work of Tourism Australia’s global creative, digital and media buying agencies. A key objective will be to develop and drive creative PR-led activations, according to the agency. The contract is for a period of 24 months with the option for a 12-month extension. 

Tourism Australia appointed Reuter Communications as its PR and social partner for China. The agency will be responsible for PR strategy, talent and media management, international media hosting programmes, business events and thought leadership, as well as social media strategy and operations. China is Australia’s biggest inbound traveller group and Chinese tourists are worth US$7.8bil a year to the economy.

Google has made a trio of appointments, including Stephanie Davis as managing director, sales and operations, Southeast Asia; Ben King as Singapore country director; and Jackie Wang as country manager of Google Thailand. Davis will be responsible for Google’s sales and operations across the region. Prior to this, she held positions such as country director for Google in Singapore and New Zealand, as well as managing industry director for Travel for Google in the United States, looking after many of the company’s largest travel partnerships. King will be responsible for Google’s sales and business development for Singapore-based clients. Prior to this appointment, he ran sales and business development operations for Google Thailand. He has also worked with various Google businesses across South and Southeast Asia including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Wang was most recently Google’s industry head in Thailand after working as a brand manager for key products like Nest Thermostat and Nest Cam in the United States. She joined Google Thailand’s sales team, transferring from McCann Worldgroup in 2014. 

Creative studio and production company Stink announced its first office in Japan. Stink Tokyo will be led by executive producer Reiko Mori. The company has 10 offices, including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, São Paulo, Berlin, Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing and Prague.

WhiteGrey Melbourne won an appointment from Sensis as media and creative agency for the Yellow brand, Australia’s largest online business directory. The account will be led by group account director Alice Tschuchnigg supported by the agency’s core management team including head of strategy Nathan Rogers and creative duo Garret Fitzgerald and Joe Hill.

Digital recruitment agency Salt appointed Erin Loh as Singapore country director. She brings more than 15 years' recruitment experience, and will seek to grow Salt's presence both in Singapore and regionally. 

Consulting firm Prophet announced the opening of a Singapore office, joining Hong Kong and Shanghai. Previously based in Hong Kong, partner Jacqueline Alexis Thng will be returning to her home country to lead the office.

Weber Shandwick hired Andrew Darling as SVP client experience in Singapore. He was previously director of global communications and marketing at Blis, and is also managing director of West Pier Ventures strategic communications consultancy. At Weber Shandwick, Darling will oversee strategy for the agency's fintech clients.

Singapore's EZ-Link appointed global brand agency Superunion to develop a refreshed brand strategy, visual identity and positioning following a pitch. The client chose Superunion based on its strong record of collaborating with organisations in a state of transformation, according to the agency.

Hill + Knowlton Singapore has appointed Matthew Briant as its MD. Briant was most recently head of digital at The Walt Disney Company APAC where he built the digital practice from himself to a team of 30, as well as transformed Disney content assets to drive consumer demand. Prior to that, he was director of mobile at Dentsu Aegis Network APAC where he assisted both consumer and B2B brands in implementing their social, media and commerce strategies.

AnyMind Group appointed Punsak Limvatanayingyong as country manager in Thailand. He will be responsible for driving business growth for the AdAsia and CastingAsia business lines. Limvatanayingyong was managing director and founder of Mobile Indy, a YouTube multi-channel network that was acquired by TV Thunder in 2017 and renamed Moindy. AnyMind acquired a majority stake in the business in March. 

Australian furniture designer and manufacturer King Living appointed Go Communications to handle all PR and communications tasks for the official opening of its first standalone flagship showroom in Malaysia. The brand has showrooms in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Shanghai and Singapore. 

Wunderman Thompson announced the official launch of Wunderman Thompson Tokyo, with the following leadership positions:

• Hironobu ‘Chief’ Kitajima, formerly managing director of J. Walter Thompson, as CEO.
• Takayuki Niizawa, formerly senior creative director at TBWA Hakuhodo, as chief creative officer.
• Takumi Ichihara, formerly GM of JWT, and Alexandra Beneville, formerly MD of Wunderman Japan, as joint managing directors.
• Kazuhiro Iguchi as chief financial officer and Ayumi Sakai as chief human resources officer.

Imagination Australia appointed David Mugford as senior digital art director in its Sydney office. He was most recently with Deutsch Los Angeles and has also held roles at Leo Burnett Sydney and Creata Digital. His portfolio includes Volkswagen, McDonald’s, Target, Uber, Canon, Bundaberg Rum, Smirnoff, Coca-Cola, Samsung and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. He specialises in design, UI and concept development and has expertise in mobile games, augmented-reality apps, social campaigns, ecommerce sites and packaging.

Following a pitch, Sun Life Financial selected Lion & Lion as its digital marketing agency in Indonesia. The agency will handle integrated digital strategy, social, creative, campaign production, influencer management and media.