Move and win roundup: OMD, BBDO, Leo Burnett, Geometry Global, JWT and more

PEOPLE MOVES

BBDO Asia appointed Chris Catchpole as executive creative director at BBDO Vietnam. He joins from Interone China, where he was ECD, and has prior experience at Lowe Vietnam and Phibious Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Leo Burnett appointed Haidong Guan as chief strategy officer of Leo Burnett Shanghai. He has worked at Grey, McCann, BBH and JWT previously.

Geometry Global appointed Simon McLoughlin as regional head of operations for Asia Pacific, a newly created role reporting to Diana Cawley, Asia Pacific CEO. He joins from The Moment Content Company in London, where he served as the head of operations. Prior to that he worked at Arc Worldwide. Over his 20-year career, he has worked with international clients including Mondelez, Samsung, McDonald’s and HSBC.

Digital agency Resn named Joseph Chua, most recently director of digital for J Walter Thompson Hong Kong and Singapore, as its chief operating officer for Asia. The agency is preparing to open its regional headquarters in Shanghai next month.

In Singapore, Iris appointed Tasmin Vosloo and Jenni Stiebel as producers and Pamella Ang as content editor. Vosloo has worked with Channel NewsAsia, E News Channel Africa and Sony during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Stiebel joins from Rabbicorn Films in Germany. Ang was most recently with The Flying Kick Asia.

OMD in Australia appointed Gavin Gibson as national chief strategy officer and Peita Pacey as head of strategy for OMD Sydney. Both are returning to OMD: Gibson from a stint as managing partner at 303MullenLowe and Pacey from Carat, where she was head of strategy in Sydney.

Bates CHI&Partners Jakarta announced the departure of Hendra Lesmono, creative chairman, after 15 years with the agency, first as one of the founding members of David, which subsequently merged with Bates CHI. The company did not specify his next move but said it would announce new creative leadership in due course.

Ravi Sekhar joined joined MEC India as chief digital officer. Sekhat founded AI-powered product discovery platform selekt.in, and previously headed digital and marketing technology at eBay India. 

Transaction-marketing company ROKT appointed Craig Shotland as managing director for Asia Pacific. He was previously part of the founding team of Netstarter, an ecommerce agency in Sydney.

Sydney-based corporate and financial communications firm Honner has expanded, adding senior consultants Michael Yiannakis and Suzanne Dwyer, both with over 25 years’ communications experience.  It’s also hired Rebecca Thurlow as senior writer previously from the WSJ.

BUSINESS WINS

Campaign Asia Pacific has learned that Ogilvy and its WPP partners have won the offline activities, online marketing, activations, creative and digital business from Telenor Pakistan.  Leo Burnett Adcom previously handled those businesses. 

Subway Restaurants appointed J Walter Thompson Sydney as AUNZ agency of record, following a competitive pitch. The agency will handle all of Subway’s communications, from strategy and brand evaluation through to creative positioning, digital engagement, social and CRM.

Essence Burson-Marsteller was named PR agency of record in Malaysia for Hong Kong Tourism Board. The agency will formulate a destination PR strategy for Hong Kong to attract more Malaysians, using media relations, digital platforms and influencers. 

Too Yumm appointed Mullen Lintas Mumbai to handle its integrated advertising mandate. The brief includes strategic and creative duties.

Pacsafe, a maker of anti-theft travel gear, selected IPG’s Golin to develop and implement a multi-channel communications programme in Hong Kong. The campaign, coinciding with the launch of the brand’s first stand-alone store in the city, will include PR, digital and content.

OTHER NEWS

Kaltura announced it was selected by KCP, the Korean content platform, to power the company’s new OTT service, dubbed KOCOWA. The service will deliver premium K-Drama content from the top Korean broadcasters KBS, MBC, SBS and other content partners to users worldwide. Kaltura has served as the system integrator and is providing an end-to-end OTT TV service, including content preparation, DRM, analytics and front-end applications. 

Viu, the OTT video service owned by PCCW Media, launched in Thailand Thursday. The service now covers 15 markets, the others being Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and, in the Middle East, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Dentsu Aegis Network China announced the launch of V-R Lab, in Shanghai. The lab is designed to provide clients with VR solutions for consumer-engagement applications.

Hootsuite launched social ROI measurement service Hootsuite Impact, following its February acqusition of LiftMetrix. It also unveiled its ‘value realisation’ service to help brands maximise the impact of their social media investment. 

Reuter Communications signed a strategic alliance with Vim & Vigour PR. The move extends Reuter’s Southeast Asia footprint and strengthens both agencies’ luxury, hospitality and travel PR capabiltiies.