Move and win roundup: Week of September 30, 2024

Campaign compiles a new 'Move and win roundup' as each week progresses.  This edition will cover September 30 through October 4, 2024.  Catch up on past people moves and business wins.

Bassam Abdel-Rahman, who joined Singapore-based smiles cosmetic company Zenyum in 2019 as an advisor during its startup phase, is stepping down as CMO.  He took to LinkedIn to announce his departure. During his tenure, Abdel-Rahman progressed from advisor to senior vice president of marketing in 2020, culminating in his appointment as CMO in March 2023. His responsibilities at the startup included managing an eight-figure marketing budget across multiple products, countries, and channels, while meticulously tracking ROI and reporting to the board. On his LinkedIn post, he cites building Zenyum into Asia's largest homegrown smile cosmetics brand as his key achievement.

Digital marketing agency Rocket Agency has been selected as the digital agency for URBNSURF, a surf park organisation. This partnership means Rocket will oversee and manage URBNSURF’s digital media channels and performance marketing operations. Specifically, the agency will work across various platforms within the surf company’s digital media mix, including programmatic advertising, YouTube, social media ads, search engine marketing (SEM), display, and TikTok.

Billups has appointed Nicci Loudon as business director, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), and Kirstie Caldwell as account director, ANZ, as part of its strategic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Loudon, based in Melbourne, will oversee regional operations and growth strategies, while Caldwell, based in Sydney, will enhance client engagement and campaign performance. Both report to Ben Milne, CEO of APAC, who joined from Dentsu. These appointments are part of Billups' ongoing global expansion, focusing on Out-of-Home (OOH) media performance and analytics.

Kazoo Sato TBWA Hakuhodo’s chief creative sustainability officer, has been appointed CEO of Earth Centric Design Lab, a subsidiary of TBWA Hakuhodo. Kazoo made the announcement via a LinkedIn post. Sato has over 14 years of experience at TBWA Hakuhodo, where he served as chief creative officer and later as chief creative sustainability officer for both TBWA Hakuhodo and TBWA Asia. In his role as CCSO, he tackled sustainability challenges through innovative design thinking, creative campaigns, products, experiences, and communications for the agency’s clients. Prior to his career in advertising, Kazoo was a music producer and is a celebrated creative within the agency. The highly-awarded Nippon Foundation’s The Tokyo Toilet project is one of his many accomplishments.

Dentsu has appointed Dan Pantumsinchai as its Asia Pacific managing director of gaming. Reporting to APAC chief business officer Yusuke Kasahara, Pantumsinchai will lead Dentsu's gaming strategy across the region. A 15-year veteran of the gaming industry, Pantumsinchai joins Dentsu from Google, where he was the strategic partnerships development manager for Google Play. His previous roles include head of strategic partnerships at Riot Games and international esports lead at Twitch.

McDonald’s Philippines has appointed Ada Almendras-Lazaro as chief marketing officer,  effective 1 November. With over 13 years of experience within the company, Almendras-Lazaro is a seasoned marketer, most recently serving as regional marketing director for the fast food giant—a position she held since January 2022. Throughout her tenure, Almendras-Lazaro has led various marketing initiatives, including refreshes of brand, menu, and family marketing. Prior to joining McDonald’s, she worked at NutriAsia for over three years in roles such as assistant brand manager and key accounts manager. Almendras-Lazaro also gained experience in the financial sector as an account manager at Deutsche Bank Group from 2006 to 2008.

Chinese automobile manufacturer Chery Motors has appointed creative agency M&C Saatchi to launch the Jaecoo brand of SUVs in Australia. The win came in effect in August and comes after a competitive pitch. Earlier this year in February, UM was appointed as Chery's media agency of record.

M&C Saatchi’s work for the China-based group will be via a bespoke team across creative, PR, influencer and social, launching with the J7 in early 2025 and new models after that. The J7, is an all-wheel drive SUV and will compete with models like the Subaru Forester and Jeep Compass in the market. Jaecoo debuted at the Shanghai International Auto Show in April 2023 with the J7, an urban and adventure-oriented SUV. This win expands M&C Saatchi’s recent client roster in Australia that includes business management platform MYOB and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.

Amplify has appointed Steph Balme and Kate Boekhorst as business directors amid the agency’s expansion in Australia and the APAC region. Balme, who previously served as UK business development director at Imagination, brings over a decade of experience in experiential marketing, having worked with clients such as Rolls-Royce and MDLBLAST. Boekhorst joins from Seed, Amplify’s specialist youth creative agency, where she worked with brands like Adobe, lululemon, and New Balance. Their appointments follow new business wins, including Afterpay, Netflix, Nike, and Samsung, with both set to oversee senior client relationships.

Goodstuph Singapore has been appointed the creative agency for Science Centre Singapore’s Untame Festival. As its annual flagship event, Untame aims to highlight the significance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in everyday life. This partnership sees Goodstuph spearhead the festival’s engagement campaign and rebranding of Untame, starting with its 2024 edition, ‘More Than Meets the Mind’, launching this October. Goodstuph is tasked with reimagining the festival’s identity, including a revamped logo and new tagline, while driving digital engagement through fresh, innovative social assets.

Atomic 212 Sydney has promoted Ashleigh Carter to general manager. Carter has been at the agency for over a decade and was most recently head of client service. Before Atomic 212, she spent over two years at Mediacom (now EssenceMediacom) in Australia.

Architectural interior design agency Ctrl Space has hired PR agency Tonic Communications to help increase its brand awareness, industry profile and international new business leads. Tonic is tasked with supporting the design agency across media relations, social media and events, and previously worked on a project to support Ctrl Space’s 15-year anniversary and new brand launch earlier this year.

Independent digital marketing agency Orange Line has been appointed Skyscanner’s SEO agency across the APAC region. Orange Line’s immediate remit is to improve Skyscanner’s SEO in APAC. Both parties previously worked togther on a technical SEO audit which saw positive results. The agency will serve Skyscanner with teams based in Australia, USA and Europe.

IPG Mediabrands has appointed Harry Preston as managing director of MBCS Australia. Preston, who most recently served as the national general manager of Hogarth, returns to IPG after previously working as managing director at Ensemble. Preston will be based in Sydney and reports to Mark Coad, CEO of IPG Mediabrands Australia.

The Guardian has hired Shannon Hollis as head of advertising for Australia. Hollis joins The Guardian from News Corp, where she spent more than five years with the publisher in Australia in various roles, with her most recent role being acting general manager of audio. Before News Corp, Hollis worked with Hearst in the UK for over five years.