Move and win roundup: Week of November 4, 2024

We Communications is expanding its operations in Asia-Pacific with the opening of Chase Advisors in Malaysia. Chase Advisors will offer a comprehensive suite of WE services, including policy advocacy and advisory, data and analytics, stakeholder engagement, and strategic communications.

• Kanesan Veluppillai, managing director, Malaysia, is leading operations in Malaysia with an emphasis on innovative strategies and local market expertise.
• Nitin Mantri, regional executive managing director for Asia-Pacific, WE, is overseeing the Asia-Pacific region with a wealth of experience in strategic communications, management and growth.
• Kass Sells, CEO of international, WE, is spearheading international expansion and operational excellence across WE’s international markets.
• Manash Neog, managing director, Chase APAC, is driving Chase Advisor’s Asia-Pacific mission. 

Teneo’s Asia Pacific business recently appointed Seiji Inada as a managing director in its strategy and communications team. Based in Japan, Inada will play a key role, providing advisory services to the leadership teams of some of Japan’s largest companies while also supporting international firms with operations in the market. He brings more than two decades of experience in international relations, public affairs and communications advisory to Teneo. Prior to joining Teneo, he served as the Japan country representative for Eurasia Group. He has also served as a senior advisor to KPMG in Japan. He began his career at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Cummins&partners has been picked as the creative agency of record for APT, part of the APT Travel Group, following a competitive pitch process.

General Mills has appointed Jakarta-based Leverate Group as Häagen-Dazs’ creative and social media agency for Southeast Asia effective November 1. Leverate Group is spearheading an omnichannel end-of-year festive campaign for Häagen-Dazs and will lead social media strategy and creative development for Häagen-Dazs in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. General Mills' head of Marketing for SEA, Tya Close, cited Leverate's strong understanding of social media channels in their decision.

Edelman has appointed Rakesh Thukral as the new CEO for its Asia Pacific operations, succeeding Warren Fernandez, who will step down to pursue a new opportunity. Fernandez will remain with Edelman until the end of the year to support a smooth transition. Thukral, previously APAC chief operating officer and managing director of India, brings over 14 years of extensive experience in client growth, people development, and expanding Edelman’s service offerings across the region. Thukral, who is based in New Delhi, India will report to international president Ed Williams and the appointment is effective immediately.

Storm Day has been appointed as the New Zealand lead of Accenture Song and CEO of The Monkeys Aotearoa. The appointment comes a month before The Monkeys Aotearoa will rebrand as Droga5 on 1 December 2024. Day joined as head of The Monkeys Aotearoa in early 2022. Day has more than two decades of experience in the New Zealand marketing and consulting industry and has worked on global award-winning brands such as Tourism New Zealand, ASB, New Zealand Story, Fonterra, Mazda, and Asahi.

The Australian Traffic Network (ATN) has appointed Heidi Sayers, as NSW sales director, a newly created role under national sales director Karen Holmes. She will drive agency and direct sales in the key Sydney market ahead of ATN’s major relaunch later this month. She joins from Nine, where she was the former Nine group business director. Prior to this, Sayers held senior commercial roles at News Corp Australia, where she was national partnerships director and APN Regional Media.

Fantastic Furniture, Australia’s leading value furniture and bedding retailer, has extended its partnership with Initiative, reappointing the media agency for another year. Initiative’s remit will continue to encompass all national and local broadcast media planning & buying, print OOH, radio, print, cinema and BVOD.

Auckland Design Week (ADW) has announced its return in 2025, and has brought on integrated communications and PR agency Tonic Communications as its media relations partner. The Tonic team will help to build greater awareness of the ADW event and support its growth as a landmark event for Aotearoa, New Zealand. Tonic Communications will deliver media relations for ADW across both New Zealand and international media, as part of its strategy to showcase the calibre of design talent in New Zealand and position ADW as a drawcard for visitation to Auckland.

Jo Millington has returned to VML as its new managing partner, Brisbane. She served as VML Brisbane’s client service director from 2017-2022, before moving to full-service marcomm agency Khemistry as its general manager. Prior to VML, she had experience from Griffith University where she was head of brand, Publicis Australia, Canon, and News Limited.

Sunday Gravy, an independent creative agency, has appointed Brigitte Bayard as new head of strategy. Bayard brings over 15 years of experience to the new role across strategic expertise and leadership. Most recently she was strategy partner at Clemenger BBDO. She also held roles at JWT and AJF Partnership. Meanwhile, Milly Scott takes on the client services director position of this indie agency agency.  Scott brings over 25 years of advertising experience spanning Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.. She was group account director with M&C Saatchi Australia before joining Sunday Gravy.

Burson has promoted Madison Wai and Angela Kung to managing directors. They will continue to co-lead the Hong Kong office and report to Simeon Mellalieu, Hong Kong CEO of Burson. Wai joined Hill & Knowlton as director of corporate communications practice in 2020 and was most recently co-general manager of Hong Kong. Kung joined Hill & Knowlton in 2011 as account director. She was most recently co-general manager of Hong Kong and head of financial communications. Burson is a new global communications agency formed from a merger between BCW and Hill & Knowlton. The agency named Mellalieu as CEO of its Hong Kong office in October.

Joel Lim has joined Zoo Group as a senior copywriter and brings with him over seven years of experience in advertising, branding and digital marketing. Formerly from DDB Singapore, Lim has worked on key accounts for Audi, ExxonMobil, Yuu, and Singapore Food Agency. He will join the Zoo Group team with ex-DDB colleagues, creative director Joel Chin and art director Madeline Ngai.

Claxon, independent growth agency, has been appointed as creative and media agency of record for health and wellness supplement company, First or Nothing, following a competitive pitch. Claxon’s first order of business is to drive a powerful go-to-market entry strategy, positioning First or Nothing as Australia’s latest contender in the fast-growing supplement industry.

TrinityP3 has unveiled senior promotions and appointments to the marketing management and pitch consultancy in Australia.

• Anton Buchner has been promoted to business director. After nearly 14 years as a consultant. His previous experience includes senior roles at Loud and STW/Ogilvy.
• Kate Gunby and Adrian Treahy also joined the consultancy. Gunby is a former GM at Annalect and has previously worked in data analytics roles at Merivale. Treahy returns to the consultancy after six years at Infosys. He has experience in developing and implementing adtech and martech solutions for businesses. 

Moët Hennessy Australia New Zealand has appointed Nausicaa Charrier as its new marketing director. Charrier moved on from her position as marketing director of Moët Hennessy Singapore and Malaysia for the past three years. She joined the brand as a senior brand manager in 2010,  started from France, relocated to New York and then to Singapore in 2021. Before Moët Hennessy, she worked for Marie Groupe Uniq and Savencia in her early career.

Third Avenue Consulting has appointed Julie Wright as managing director. In the newly created MD role, Wright will work closely with Principal Rochelle Burbury to lead Third Avenue. Wright joined Third Avenue as a senior consultant in 2021, with 20 years of experience in PR and strategic communications in Sydney and London. In addition, Leigh Fenech has been appointed as a consultant. Fenech brings more than 15 years of experience to the business across multiple industries, including ecommerce, digital content management, inventory control, and marketing. She joined the agency in 2023 as an administrative coordinator. 

Kiwi Communications has become the official PR and communications partner for Value Retail, The Bicester Collection, in China, promoting both China and Europe markets.  The Bicester Collection has 12 luxury shopping villages across Europe, China, and North America. Kiwi Communications will manage public relations, media & influencer outreach for The Bicester Collection in the coming two years. 

Superdream has appointed Priya Donelly as PR and content manager following a series of PR-focused client wins. Donelly will support Nicole Streete, PR and Communications Director, and with over a decade of experience in the media industry, Priya worked for QMS Media and Absolute Media. She is also co-founder and creative director for Bad on Paper. Superdream is a Brisbane-based marketing agency known for its fun and creative brand personality.  

Interem Relocations, a leading global relocation services firm, has appointed Flags Communications, an integrated marketing communications agency, to handle its public relations mandate. With this addition, Flags Communications will now be the strategic communications partner to Interem Relocations, overseeing all public relations efforts. Interem Relocations cemented its 10-year-long partnership with Flags Communications as its preferred communications partner. 

Independent agency Apparent has appointed Hamish Stewart as chief creative and experience officer. Havings served as creative lead for many Australian brands, including Optus, CommBank, Google and NRMA Insurance; Stewart jumps over from CHEP Network, where he was national ECD of experience. He has also held senior roles at RGA Sydney, M&C Saatchi and GHO. At Apparent, he will oversee the agency’s creative output, working alongside the 150-strong team and portfolio of clients across Australia and overseas. Stewart is the latest senior appointment at Apparent; in May, Simon Pugh joined as chief media officer in another newly created role.

Endeavour Group announced a series of leadership changes. Chief marketing officer Jo Rose will depart in Q2 2025 after a three-year tenure, relocating to the UK to be closer to family. Before joining Endeavour in 2021, Rose worked at Woolworth Group and was general manager of brand strategy - Woolworths, Woolworths Group and Everyday in Australia. She also worked at Tesco in the UK before moving to Australia in 2014. Recently, Paul Carew (Tabcorp COO) replaced Paul Walton as ALH Hotels managing director. Further, Harinder Saluja will take the helm as the chief transformation officer, joining from the NSW Government’s Process and Technology Harmonisation Program, while Ilana Stringer will step down as chief strategy and transformation officer in February 2025. 

The Lux Collective, the global hospitality management group, has appointed Paul Mulcahy as chief commercial officer based in Mauritius. Mulcahy joins with over two decades of extensive leadership experience in commercial strategy, business transformation, and driving growth within world-leading organisations in the hospitality and travel industries, such as Mövenpick, CenterParcs Group, and InterContinental Hotels Group. Before joining The Lux Collective, he was managing director of North America and global sales and marketing at RCI. Wyndham Destinations. 

Quiip, an Australian specialist in social media and online community management, has announced three new senior hires and an expanded service offering.

• Kelly McParlane and Luke de Zilva have joined as team leads. McParlane brings over a decade of experience in social media and community management. She was digital operation manager before joining Quiip. de Zilva is a seasoned marketing and digital professional with extensive experience across the arts, creative, and cultural sectors. 
• Alison Milfull has returned to the company as the new marketing and business development director. Milfull has over 20 years of experience in ethical marketing and digital engagement. She was a senior consultant at Ethical Marketing Services before returning to Quipp.

Pure Public Relations in Australia has announced the launch of its new division, Pure Impact, a specialist division of Pure Public Relations dedicated to creating cause-driven communications strategies that drive measurable change, spearheaded by Molly Hyndman.  With over 15 years of experience in cause-related communications for some of Australia’s leading not-for-profits, Hyndman was most recently health & wellness director and issues & crisis management director at Pure Public Relations. She joined the agency from the Victorian Department of Health in 2023.