Move and win roundup: Week of October 9, 2023

Dentsu has announced two major new appointments within its group management team.

• Giulio Malegori has been appointed as group chief operating officer, Dentsu Group Inc. Malegori brings great depth in industry experience and an international mindset to this newly created role, which brings together our global business to enable growth. Malegori has been CEO of EMEA since 2017.
• Jean Lin has been appointed as group president—global practices, Dentsu Group Inc. In this newly created role, Lin will draw upon her multi-disciplinary industry experience to build the core capabilities and long-term competitiveness of Dentsu. Lin was appointed as executive officer at Dentsu Group to guide the development of Dentsu Sustainable Business Solutions in 2021. She also became global chief culture officer earlier this year. 

Awethentic Group has fully acquired Green is the New Black (GITNB) and The Conscious Festival. This strategic move strengthens Awethentic Group's commitment to advancing sustainability, wellness, and conscious living in Asia, and reflects the group's dedication to fostering positive change and promoting sustainable living choices on a global scale. Awethentic Group CEO Sean Lee-Davies will take on the role of CEO for Green Is The New Black and The Conscious Festival, continuing to work closely with GITB Founders Stephanie Dickson and Paula Miquelis. The former editorial director for Tatler Asia, Lee-Davies founded Awethentic Studio in 2016. The agency has a strong track record of working with transformative food tech brands.

Martech platform SparkXGlobal has announced the appointment of Chen Ling as chief solutions officer. He will be responsible for the commercialisation process of SparkXGlobal's next-generation products and services in the martech sector in China. During his seven-year tenure at Google, Ling served as the industry sales general manager and the head of insights and data team for the Greater China region. He led Google's business growth in verticals like gaming, apps, e-commerce, and branding. His role aims to help SparkXGlobal establish an industry-leading business system centered on ‘intelligent digitalisation’, covering both marketplace and DTC strategic tracks, propelling Chinese brand enterprises onto the global stage. 

GOVT has launched of Ministry, a hybrid consulting and agency model dedicated to driving digital growth and transformation tailored to the contemporary needs of business owners and marketing leaders, with Kelvin Koo at the helm as its managing director and partner. Leveraging Koo's extensive expertise, Ministry aims to integrate strategic advisory and data with creative storytelling, design, tech, and digital performance to deliver tangible, impactful results. Koo previously worked as CEO at Falcon Agency and was MD at ADK Connect.

Dept is bringing together its teams under one brand, to deliver pioneering digital experiences for clients and support them across the full digital customer journey. Dept's digital product studio Two Bulls and digital marketing team Feed are joining forces to bring its solutions to new and existing clients, which include eBay, Ancestry, Beyond Blue, Service Victoria, and Meta.

Iris Singapore has been appointed the agency of record (AOR) for a year to handle the social media mandate for Far East Malls’ key brands, such as Orchard Central, the upcoming One Holland Village, and the corporate account for Far East Malls. Speaking on the appointment, Rebecca Nadilo, managing director, Iris Singapore, said, “Iris Inc. was created exactly for briefs, brands, and clients like Far East Malls, where we have such vibrant communities to tap into to create content with us, and where we are focused on creating ideas that will earn their engagement, not just pay for it."

Performance marketing agency NP Digital has announced a list of new clients. The new clients are:  

• Deluxe Bathrooms: A specialist bathroom design and renovation company renowned for their build quality, professionalism and reliability based in Ireland  
• Hair & Skin Science: A national company of clinics based in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Perth, Canberra & Adelaide  
• Little Bellies: A producer of organic, natural, age and stage-appropriate baby and toddler snacks
• LaCorium Health: An Australian pharmaceutical company that specialises in developing healthcare products supported by clinical data  
• Monster Health Food Co: A family-owned heritage brand based in Sydney that has been in operation for more than 30 years, specialising in ‘homemade’ products that are "free from" gluten, nuts, preservatives and wheat  
• Kloudify: An award-winning IT solutions provider offering digital transformation services for organisations  
• Skimlinks: A content monetisation platform that helps publishers monetise editorial content through automated affiliate links for products based in the UK 

Corporate and public affairs consultancy Bastion Reputation has announced the appointment of Katrina Shute as principal consultant leading its training and capability practice.

Centuary Mattress, has chosen PAD Integrated Marketing & Communications as its creative agency partner. This marks the second consecutive year of collaboration between the two parties, solidifying their commitment to the overall strategy, planning and creative content requirements across online and offline platforms for the brand. 

Keep Left has been appointed as the creative and PR agency of record for global travel insurer PassportCard. Keep Left will be tasked to create an integrated brand campaign to launch PassportCard in Australia, supported by a PR and influencer program. 

Zitcha has been appointed by Tyresales to drive its offsite and onsite retail media networks, enabling brand advertisers to effectively leverage first-party data to optimise campaigns and improve return on marketing investment. Zitcha will manage onsite media, including Tyresales’ website, sponsored product banners and search, in addition to Tyresales offsite channels such as Meta, Google and Youtube. 

Matt Holst has been promoted to director of digital experience marketing for Adobe's Australia and New Zealand markets. Most recently, Holst was the director of Asia in the same profile at Adobe, where he spent the last three years. He has more than 25 years of experience, with the last 12 as a director running multiple marketing functions across Adobe and Dell. In the current role, Holst will report to Duncan Egan, Adobe’s VP of DX marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan. 

Experience Commerce, part of the Cheil Digital Network, has secured the media mandate of the ICC World Cup 2023 for MRF Tyres on Hotstar. The Cricket World Cup is being hosted in India and as part of the deal, the agency will provide creative and media services to MRF. It aims to achieve exceptional brand recall on Hotstar, featuring prime advertising slots, mid, pre, and post-roll ads, and a 40-second promotional spot. 

Global strategic advisory, Dentons Global Advisors-Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG) is expanding its Asia footprint with a Singapore office. Senior advisor to the firm May Loh will lead operations for the regional Singapore hub and assume the role of partner. In her new role, Loh will draw upon her experience to help clients navigate Singapore and other markets throughout the region.

Ogilvy Sydney’s senior ranks have expanded, with three new appointments across strategy, client management and CX.

Netflix has appointed Mitchell Kreuch as senior director and head of advertising sales for the Asia-Pacific region. Kreuch, previously the managing director for India and Southeast Asia at Twitter, announced the news via a LinkedIn post, stating that he will be leading the ads team from Singapore. Kreuch holds over six years of experience at X (formerly Twitter), where he held various roles in APAC and global agency development. Prior to this, he has served as the chief revenue officer at Kinetic Social in New York and worked with brands like Sizmek, The Walt Disney Company, and The New York Times in sales positions.

 

Koto has appointed Melissa Baillache as executive creative director for its Sydney studio. The appointment comes just one month following Koto's official launch in the APAC region. Baillache was previously ECD at For The People, and in her new role will spearhead Koto APAC's creative efforts. Koto aims to expand its presence in key regional markets, including Australia, India, Singapore, and South Korea.

 

Multi-channel media agency Murmur-Group has appointed Craig Sue to the key leadership role of head of media planning, supported by Janice Chan in the role of senior account manager. The new appointments follow a spate of new client wins, including lululemon, Summernats and Form 700. 

 

Unispace Group has appointed Tim Larson as managing director, Asia & chief creative officer. Based out of Singapore, Larson will focus on accelerating Unispace’s growth in the region. Asia represents a significant growth market for Unispace Group, and the regional team has delivered workplace projects for clients including Trip Advisor, NielsenIQ, and Vayner Media.

 

Mediahub has won the media account for global sports footwear and apparel brand, New Balance, in Australia and New Zealand. The appointment will see Mediahub undertake full funnel strategy, planning and activation across all channels for New Balance.

 

Electriclime have added Brazilian, Auckland-based filmmaker Fernando Hart to their director roster. Hart has shot campaigns for several major brands, including Air New Zealand, Adidas and AJ Hackett, and will be represented in the APAC and MENA regions.

 

Madison Media, India's largest homegrown independent media agency, has appointed Rob Norman as an advisor to accelerate digital transformation at key clients. Norman has a wealth of experience in the digital space. He will offer advisory services to Madison’s top clients and introduce the agency to new tools, concepts and workflows. He was global head of digital at GroupM and CEO of GroupM, North America. Currently, he is an independent board member at Piano, MiQ, Simpli.fi, Knotch, Zeotap and a few other digital-first companies.

 

Globale Media, an AI-driven mobile and web advertising platform, has appointed Raj Swaminathan as the senior director of revenues & new initiatives. Swaminathan will oversee strategic leadership in new emerging markets. With more than 15 years of experience in Adtech, Affiliate, and Martech domains, he has held many country leadership roles in sales, BD, account management, and partnerships across India, South East Asia, and emerging global markets. He has worked with multiple agencies and networks, such as Mobusi, FraudScore, Redtrack, ValueFirst, and Matrimony.com.

 

AirAsia has elevated Lim Ben-Jie to regional head of partnerships and global markets at Move Digital, covering AirAsia Move (formerly known as AirAsia Superapp) and BigPay.Lim has been working with AirAsia since 2015, when he started from an internship programme. He moved to AirAsia Superapp in 2021 as group head of delivery and was promoted to head of global markets in January this year.

 

Chep Network has appointed Robert Stone as director of people and culture as he shared the news in a LinkedIn post. Before joining Chep, Stone was the chief people (HR) officer of Australia and New Zealand at Wunderman Thompson. Prior to that, he also served as chief talent (HR) officer at McCann Worldgroup Australia. Before moving back to Australia, he worked for McCann London and Adidas in Germany.