Move and win roundup: Week of November 11, 2024

WPP’s sonic branding agency amp, has appointed Reiner Erlings as managing director for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Erlings, who brings over 18 years of experience in the region, was previously executive director of sonic branding at Landor and amp Sound Branding. Before that, he held roles at Reiner Erlings Music, METAphrenie, and Creative Kingdom Inc. in Dubai and London.

Transurban’s Australian customer retail brand, Linkt has named VML as the creative agency of record. The agency will collaborate with Transurban to bolster Linkt’s profile by increasing brand awareness, customer advocacy and comprehension.

Havas China has appointed Leo Li and Joanne Zhou as managing directors of Havas China Greater Bay Area. Li is currently Havas' Creative Guangzhou Office vice president and joined Havas in 2001. Zhou is currently general manager of Havas Play China and joined Havas China in 2020. She was promoted to lead Havas Play China at its launch in 2023. Both will continue to hold their current positions and steer Havas Group’s expansion and strategic initiatives in the region. The Greater Bay Area is a national initiative to connect nine cities in Guangdong, along with Hong Kong and Macao.

Leo Burnett Australia has won Suncorp’s consolidated creative remit following a four-way pitch against WPP and independent firms BMF and The Hallway. Effective from January 2025, Leo Burnett will take on all nine Suncorp insurance brands—including AAMI and GIO, while Publicis’ units PXP and Prodigious will manage centralised creative production. ANZ Bank also appointed Leo Burnett as its creative agency earlier this year. WPP has been working with Suncorp for more than 20 years via Ogilvy and more recently, through production unit Hogarth. 

Special Australia has been appointed as new creative agency for The Lottery Corporation, Australia’s largest lottery operator, following a competitive pitch. Special will become the agency of record for The Lottery Corporation’s brands, including The Lott, Keno, Powerball and Oz Lotto, for three years starting in 2025. VML has been the incumbent creative agency account for 13 years.

Taboo Group, a Melbourne-based indie creative agency, has announced two new appointments following ECD's Charlotte Adorjan joining the agency as executive creative director in July. Jacqui Walker will join as creative operations director. Walker most recently worked as creative producer at Mirimar. Meanwhile, Ryan Clayton will join as creative director. Clayton joins from Ogilvy, where he worked with major brands like AAMI, BMW, Metro Trains, and the ACCC.

Havas CX, Havas' global customer experience network, has expanded into Singapore. The expansion will bring together UI/UX expertise via Think Design along with the capabilities of Ekino, technology and digital transformation specialists operating in Singapore since 2017. Deepali Saini, CEO of Think Design, and Rowena Bhagchandani, CEO of BLKJ Havas, will jointly lead Havas CX. Both will continue to report to Rana Barua, Group CEO of Havas India, Southeast and North Asia (Japan & South Korea).

GumGum has appointed Matt Coote as Australia's new country manager, effective immediately. Coote brings over 13 years of experience in media across TV, digital, and social platforms. Most recently, he spent the last eight years at Snap, where he was one of the founding members of the ANZ team. 

Brand activation agency Because ANZ has appointed Chloe Woodhouse as the newly created director of growth. With more than 14 years of marketing experience, Woodhouse joins the agency after relocating from the UK where she most recently was client development manager at UK experiential and creative agency Smyle. She has previously worked at Event Concept, London and Encore, Australia.

FCB Ulka, part of FCB Group India, has appointed Nivedita Lahiri as senior vice president. With over 17 years of experience in advertising and communications, Lahiri has worked across diverse sectors including FMCG, finance, real estate, airlines, and more. Before joining FCB, she was senior marketing manager at Nitco Limited. Prior to that, she worked across agencies such as L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, Grey Group, JWT and Ogilvy. 

Ogilvy Indonesia has appointed Lisa Putri as head of content. She was strategy director at Froyo Story before joining Ogilvy. Prior to that, she worked LINE Plus Corp, PT Digital Artha Media and Digital Money Group, with a variety of brands across sectors such as technology, FMCG, ecommerce, banking, as well as global brands including OCBC Indonesia, Savoria, Mitsubishi Fuso, Signify Philips, and KAO.

National Australian Bank (NAB) has hired Visa's Natalie Lockwood as CMO, effective from January 2025. Lockwood was Visa's vice president brand and marketing for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific and worked at the payment company for more than eight years. Prior to that, she was the general manager of marketing at ASX Ltd. In the new role, she replaces Suzana Ristevski who moved to Google earlier this year.

DDB Group Melbourne has elevated Psembi Kinstan to the role of chief creative officer across the group’s brands in Melbourne. Psembi joined DDB Melbourne in 2021, where he was heading DDB, Mango and Tribal teams. Working with the leadership team, Kinstan efforts have helped grow the agency’s headcount to over 100, following major client wins including Coles, Asahi CUB, Acciona, Movember, Mr. Chen’s, Dabble, Funlabs, Agrifutures, Made by Dyslexia, and Our Watch.

Virtue APAC has appointed Neon Drew as account director. Drew joins from WPP’s Hogarth Worldwide, where he served as senior account manager and regional brand lead for Nespresso. His diverse agency experience extends across Publicis and Havas. Based at Virtue’s Singapore headquarters, Drew will be responsible for leading new business development with clients across the region.

Emma Gronow has joined OpenX Technologies as buyer development director, ANZ. She joins from Little Dot Studios, a digital content studio and media network, and brings with her a wealth of experience across digital, mobile, and TV. Reporting to Clay Gill, regional VP of buyer development, APAC, who also recently joined OpenX from IPG, Gronow will be working closely with OpenX’s brand advertisers and agency partners, highlighting OpenX’s programmatic and data-driven solutions, including TV by OpenX. 

Emotive has appointed Alice Tschuchnigg as its business and culture director. Tschuchnigg worked at Thinkerbell as an executive head thinker for more than two years. Prior to that, she was client partner at BMF Australia. In her new position, Tschuchnigg will take on a client portfolio, and her duties will also cover leadership in regard to the agency’s people and culture initiatives. 

Karma Drinks, a New Zealand soft drink company, has announced an expansion into Australia and a new leadership team.

• Nikhil Vaidyanathan will become commercial director of Australia with experience in sales and category expertise at Nestle and Reckitt.
• Justine Von Reibnitz will join as marketing director, bringing experience from Lion, Diageo, Bacardi, and Unilever.
• Karma Drinks has also appointed Jonny Harrison as chief executive officer. Harrison has over two decades’ experience in senior commercial and leadership roles at organisations such as Lion and LMG.
• Nick Barnes will join as chief financial officer in December, with a background in finance and start-ups from Milkrun, Koala, Frucor Suntory, and PepsiCo.

HOVERAir, the drone challenger brand, has announced its strategic partnership with the independent integrated agency, Five by Five Global. The collaboration marks a strategic expansion within APAC for the brand, leveraging localised insights to drive brand growth in Australia. By joining forces with Five by Five Global, HOVERAir will leverage the agency’s expertise in brand activation, PR, and digital influencer strategies to connect with a broader audience across Australia, from tech enthusiasts to outdoor adventurers and families.

APRW, an integrated communications agency, has announced the expansion of its client portfolio with the addition of leading consumer brands in Singapore. APRW has added Sterra, Lunch Actually Paktor Group, Mathilde Singapore, and Envoku (Live Group) to its client portfolio. Sterra, an air and water purifier brand, has appointed APRW as its public relations agency, tasking the agency to manage its publicity efforts. Additionally, APRW is also working with Envoku, an events and engagement agency under Live Group, helping the brand establish its position as an industry leader.

Goldmine Advertising has secured the social and digital media mandate for Canara Bank, one of India’s leading public sector banks headquartered in Bengaluru. As part of this partnership, Goldmine Advertising will spearhead the development and execution of comprehensive social-media strategies, including responsibilities such as strengthening the bank’s presence, visibility, and engagement across key social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube.