Move and win roundup: Week of October 1, 2018

BBDO Japan promoted Shuhei Isikawa to general manager, where he will support chief executive Tony Harris and managing director Hal Ito. Ishikawa is a long-time member of the I&S BBDO Group, having started his career with Proximity Japan.

Western Australia electricity and gas supplier Synergy appointed GPJ Australia as its experiential agency of record following a competitive pitch. The partnership involves experiential, creative, strategy, activation and production services.

Vice appointed Natashya Gutierrez as APAC head of content strategy, as the company officially announces plans to launch in the Philippines. Gutierrez joins in Singapore from Rappler, a Philippines news site of which she was a founder.

Jeannie Ong is stepping down from her role as chief strategic partnership officer at StarHub.  Ong has been at StarHub for more than 17 years, serving as SVP/head of corporate communications & investor relations (since 2001), chief marketing officer (2013) and CSPO (2015).

Boutique communications agency Vim & Vigour PR has been appointed by Swire Hotels to manage its public relations in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong as of 1st October 2018, while establishing strategic brand partnerships and collaborations across the region.

Gyro, part of Dentsu Aegis Network, appointed Rhys Taylor as head of strategy in Asia Pacific and Tim Micallef as media business director for Australia & New Zealand. Taylor will oversee the Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia offices. He was most recently associate director at Wunderman Australia & New Zealand, based in Sydney. He will relocate to Singapore in the last quarter of 2018. Micallef joins from an account director role at Ikon Communications.

Skyscanner appointed Text100 as its PR agency in Singapore, in charge of driving the brand's position in the Lion City. Text100 will be in charge of creative strategy, storytelling, and marshalling an influencer engagement programme. 

Facebook partnered with Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Agency (IMDA) to launch Startup Station Singapore, a six-month programme to support data-driven startups in APAC. Beginning in February 2019, the incubator will feature startups from Singapore and across the region. It will feature mentorship, training, networking, access to Facebook resources and a co-working space.  

Singapore electricity retailer Geneco hired The Hoffman Agency as its PR agency of record on a one-year retainer. Hoffman will handle all PR strategy, including media relations, reputation management, and messaging. 

Project Worldwide appointed James Bennett, formerly creative strategy director at the PwC Hong Kong Experience Centre, as director of creative technologies for APAC, reporting to Asia Pacific CEO Ben Taylor. Bennett has also worked at Jack Morton Hong Kong and Iris Worldwide in London.

Customer journey optimisation specialists Yieldify are announcing the opening of a new office in Singapore to help local and international retail clients with ecommerce.  It’s also opened a second office in Australia in Melbourne, alongside its Sydney APAC headquarters.

As of October 1st Martin Alintuck has begun serving in his newly created role as Ruder Finn Southeast Asia Managing Director based in Singapore.  He is responsible for the Singapore and Malaysia offices and the affiliate network in Southeast Asia. His role includes growing Ruder Finn’s presence in the region and new business development.