GroupM appoints James Chadwick as first dedicated Singapore CEO

In addition to this Mindshare has announced the departure of its Singapore leader Sony Wong, who will be leaving the company to take a client-side role.

Chadwick, who currently heads Mindshare's business planning team across Asia-Pacific, will be responsible for building GroupM's position in Singapore through new client services, systems and partnerships. He will report to Mark Patterson, GroupM Asia-Pacific CEO.

Patterson said that the group has "specific challenges and opportunities" in the Singapore market and needed someone of Chadwick's calibre and focus to tackle and exploit them.

"Singapore by nature of its local characteristics and regional hub status requires special attention in our view and we have been remiss in not devoting to Singapore the attention it requires to fulfil its potential. James has been based in Singapore for 13 years now, and knows the local and regional issues well, the people in our businesses there, and many of our clients."

Chadwick has worked in Asia since 1994 and has held management positions in creative agencies including Grey Group and Ogilvy & Mather, digital content group Asiacontent.com and Intel Asia-Pacific, before joining Mindshare in 2005.

Chadwick said that he was thrilled to be given this opportunity. "Our agencies have built up a world-class roster of local and global clients, and these clients are hungry for new thinking and approaches, especially in the areas of digital, content, activation and analytics. I know we have the talent, the technology and commitment to satisfy our clients' unique and changing requirements."

Meanwhile, Sony Wong, who has managed the Singapore office for just over a year, is believed to be taking on a senior client role. Wong had replaced Jeffrey Seah who had taken on a digital role within the agency and later joined Starcom MediaVest.

A press statement from Mindshare stated that Wong "has helped Mindshare chalk up significant new business wins with the Health Promotion Board and StarHub, and effectively implemented the company's global restructuring into four new business units."

Wong's replacement will be announced shortly, and in the interim period Chadwick and Mindshare Singapore's Bharad Ramesh will oversee the Mindshare Singapore operation.

Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO of Mindshare Asia-Pacific, commented: "Sony has done a great job with Mindshare Singapore, and we will all miss him, but we sincerely congratulate him on his new senior client appointment."

He added that the agency has "a rock-solid team in place here to continue business as usual" and a "strong shortlist of candidates to lead the company. With the arrival of James as GroupM CEO we look forward to a new era of game-changing innovation in the market."