Move and win roundup: Week of April 8, 2024

VaynerMedia APAC has appointed Monchaya Koolawong as its new country manager in Thailand to succeed Auu Arunee, effective immediately. She will report to Tim Lindley, VaynerMedia APAC’s managing director. Before VaynerMedia, Koolawong led Accenture Song Thailand as its managing director. Prior to Accenture Song, she also worked as digital director at Dentsu Thailand. In her new role, Koolawong will take charge of further expanding VaynerMedia’s presence and business growth in Thailand. 

Kantar Insights Hong Kong has appointed Tarun Menon as managing director of Insights Hong Kong. He has worked for over a decade with the business unit, most recently as group director of Quantitative. Menon has been with Kantar for the past 17 years, starting his career with IMRB International and then moving to Millward Brown. He will report to Kantar Greater China CEO and global chair of BrandZ, Doreen Wang. Menon succeeds Jason Spencer, who left Kantar in February this year. 

Australian independent agency Hero has hired Roz Scrimshaw to take on the role of head of production. Based in the Melbourne office, Scrimshaw brings over 30 years of industry experience working on clients including iSelect, Carlton United Breweries (Pure Blonde), NAB, Holden, and Officeworks. Starting her career with Hero’s global partner, McCann Australia, in 1991, she has since worked for Clemenger BBDO, CHE, AJF and most recently, Dentsu Creative as national lead producer. 

Grill’d, an Australian favorite burger brand, has picked global digital agency Dept following a multi-agency pitch. Dept will be tasked with creating digital experiences to fuel its expansion. Both teams collaborated closely to launch Grill’d’s new iOS/Android app.

Reed Words, the verbal branding and copywriting agency, has opened a new office in Singapore, adding to its existing locations in London and New York City. The new office will be led by Rupert Thomson, former design director at Neon in Singapore, now Reed Words’ general manager for Asia. 

L’Oréal India has appointed Raagjeet Garg as director, consumer products division (CPD). He will take over from Pankaj Sharma, who has been elevated to managing director for the consumer products division at L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand. In his new role, Garg will be responsible for the accelerated growth of L’Oréal India CPD which houses L’Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, and NYX Professional Makeup. With over 20 years of experience in personal care and beauty, he joined L’Oréal India in May 2009. He also had a stint with L’Oréal Australia in 2019 as the L’Oréal Paris general manager and then moved to L’Oréal Vietnam as the business head of CPD.

Kartik Chandrasekhar has joined Kellanova (formerly known as the Kellogg Company) as chief commercial officer for Asia, ANZ, Middle East and Africa, after having left Unilver. Chandrasekhar had been working for Unilever since 1998, starting as a management trainee to become head of oral care and skin cleansing for D&E markets and global brand lead of Pepsodent. He was most recently general manager of Hindustan Unilever Limited before moving to Kellanova. 

AS Watson has promoted Malina Ngai to group CEO to succeed Dominic Lai, effective from 1st May 2024. Ngai currently holds the position of group chief operating officer, AS Watson, and chief executive officer, AS Watson (Asia & Europe).  Lai, group co-managing director of CK Hutchison and group managing director of AS Watson, will assume the position of chairman of AS Watson. Ngai joined CK Hutchison (formerly Hutchison Whampoa), the parent company of AS Watson, in 2000. Started with Hutchison Port Holdings, she was transferred to AS Watson in 2001 and has taken on various leadership roles, becoming group COO in 2013 and CEO of AS Watson (Asia & Europe) in 2019.

Claxon, an independent growth agency in Australia, has been appointed as media and creative agency of record for UK-based health and wellness brand, Phizz. With an immediate remit to build a robust omni-channel media strategy for the UK market, as part of an ambitious growth strategy, Claxon’s use of creative AI will be integral to help drive sustainable growth and success for the brand.

Former Wunderman Thompson (now VML) South Asia chief chief executive Shamsuddin Jasani who left the shop early this year post the merger and creation of VML, has now joined India's leading adtech firm Frodoh World as a strategic advisor. In addition to scaling the business and capitalising on emerging market opportunities, Jasani will help in the firm's expansion plans and play a pivotal role in the launch of Frodoh World’s Digital Retail Media platform. Before his stint at Wunderman Thompson, Jasnani launched Isobar in India in August 2008 and was also a part of the board of Dentsu Aegis Network’s management in the country. In addition to being a seasoned industry leader in the advertising and marketing space, he has a long-standing proven track record in scaling businesses and fostering innovation.

BBDO Greater China has appointed Travis Wu as the new executive creative director in Shanghai. With two decades of experience in the creative advertising field, Wu has held positions at agencies such as We Are Social, Ogilvy Taiwan, Vice, Dentsu and crafted campaigns for prominent brands such as McDonald's, Budweiser, Mercedes-Benz. He holds several industry accolades to his credit, including prestigious APAC Effie, Longxi, Spikes Asia, and 4A's Creative Awards. Wu will report to  Arthur Tsang, chief creative officer of BBDO Greater China.

Shantanu Dasgupta shared a LinkedIn post to announce he his pivotal role as co-founder and chief strategy officer at the newly launched The Crisp Group. Based in Singapore, Dasgupta will spearhead bespoke marketing solutions for businesses connecting Japan with the global market. His past stints were at ADK, Meiro, and Yefira Group, where he held influential c-suite positions. His career began at JWT and McCann Worldgroup.

OpenX, an omnichannel supply-side platform, has elevated Mitchell Greenway to the position of managing director, APAC. In this role, Greenway will oversee OpenX’s operations across Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. His direct reporting line will be to John Gentry, CEO of OpenX Technologies. Greenway’s primary focus will be on expanding OpenX’s presence in the region. Leveraging his CTV experience, he will work to enhance OpenX’s footprint in the market. Additionally, Greenway will actively contribute to OpenX’s CTV steering group. Greenway was the inaugural hire for OpenX in the Australia/New Zealand back in 2019. During his tenure, he spearheaded the formation of the local team, significantly improving publisher access to demand. 

TBWA Media Arts Lab has appointed Katie Kidd as senior art director and Lizzie Wood as senior copywriter; both will report to group creative director for Australia and New Zealand, Stuart Alexander. Originally from Ireland, Kidd rose up the ranks at independent agency Boys + Girls before moving to Australia and, in 2020, formed a creative partnership with Wood at The Monkeys. Their work has been recognised at Cannes, Spikes Asia, Shots, The One Show, The Webby’s, Jay Chiat and more.

AKQA has appointed Nobuhiro Arai as its new ECD in Tokyo. Read more here.

Digital consultancy G Squared has appointed John Phung as head of data and analytics. In this newly created role, Phung will lead G Squared’s data analysis and reporting capabilities in paid media, SEO and web, working closely with its consultants to provide strategic insights for clients. With over 10 years of digital experience in data strategy and activation roles with clients, Phung previously worked at AKQA. He also held senior roles at Digitas and Dentsu.

Rahul Sharma has joined Google Cloud as managing director of its public sector business in Asia Pacific where he will lead company’s strategy to partner with government and education organisations to advance their digital roadmaps. Sharma is based in Singapore and reports to Karan Bajwa, VP of Google Cloud in Asia Pacific. He brings nearly three decades of experience to his new role having held regional leadership positions at Amazon Web Services' (AWS) public sector business for Asia Pacific and India.

Crosshairs Communication bagged the PR mandate for the French luxury skincare brand, L’Occitane en Provence in India. Crosshairs will be responsible for managing the brand’s launch in the market, key messaging, and updating relevant communications nationwide.

Bloomingdale Public Relations has been appointed as the PR agency for Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS) to commemorate its 75th anniversary celebration. The mandate includes strengthening local brand awareness, celebrating achievements, and crafting a compelling narrative for SIFAS.

IPG Mediabrands has appointed Kristine Biti as APAC head of tech-driven performance agency Kinesso effective April 11. Biti will lead over 1,000 digital media experts across 11 markets engaged in marketing automation, advanced analytics, commerce, and AI. With 15 years advertising, marketing and technology experience across the region, Biti specialises in driving regional expansion, strategic partnerships, and organisational transformation within the industry. Most recently, she was APAC head of operations, client and growth at MediaMonks. Based in Singapore, Biti will report to Leigh Terry, CEO of IPG Mediabrands Asia-Pacific.

Mindshare has retained its planning and buying duties for Qualcomm in China following a competitive pitch, which Starcom also joined. Mindshare’s partnership with Qualcomm in China first started through the Neo team, and has lasted over the past decade. During this time, Mindshare has directly supported Qualcomm’s efforts to build the Snapdragon brand in China.  Mindshare’s work with Qualcomm won multiple awards in Campaign Asia’s Digital Media Awards 2023, including three golds. 

Ogilvy Melbourne has appointed Chris Andrews as group creative director.  Andrews joined from Special and has won major awards, including Cannes, Oneshow, D&AD and Spikes. He also brings broad experience from Melbourne creative shops, such as Che Proximity, DDB, BMF and the former JWT.

Optical brand Specsavers is reviewing its ANZ media agency partnerships. Since 2016 in Australia and 2010 in New Zealand, Specsavers has worked with IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative and GroupM's EssenceMediacom NZ. The pitch process is expected to take five months. Contracting is expected to be completed in August 2024, allowing for a transition period before the appointment takes effect on March 1, 2025.

Claxon, an independent growth agency, has announced the acquisition of Gold Coast creative agency, Embark, effective April 2nd.  The acquisition is Claxon’s second in 14 months and will further deepen its existing creative capability. Founded in 2003 by James and Phil Coulson, Embark has worked with well-known brands such as Bartercard, BMW, and Land Rover.  Embark will retain its own brand in market but assume a co-branded position, with all staff and clients remaining with the expanded agency. James and Phil Coulson will join the senior leadership team at Claxon and will retain their roles as creative directors of Embark. Last January, Claxon acquired media agency Growe Media.