Move and win roundup: Week of September 2, 2024

OMG Australia has appointed Kim Hamilton to the newly created role of chief marketing officer to lead a new marketing structure for OMG. She will report to Peter Horgan, CEO of OMG ANZ. Hamilton will transition across to the CMO role this month. She was most recently group managing director of OMD Australia. Having worked at the agency for over 11 years, she worked in brand marketing roles across Westpac and Optus before joining OMD Sydney in 2013.

Cheil India has appointed Sudhir Das as senior executive creative director. Das will be reporting to chief creative officer Vikash Chemjong and will be based out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. He has been in advertising for over two decades in agencies like Publicis, McCann, Leo Burnett and Dentsu WebChutney. His previous role was group executive creative director at Dentsu Creative.

Alex Laurie has joined Vans as senior director, Vans Southeast Asia & Pacific. Laurie was most recently senior director for brand, SEA, at Adidas. He has been working at Adidas for over 11 years. Prior to that, he worked at Mayo Hardware, Warner Bros, and ACP Magazines.

PRHK, the association for public relations and communications professionals in Hong Kong, has appointed its new board for 2024/25. The new board came into effect in August 2024.

• Chairperson: Carol Yeung, Golin
• Deputy Co-Chairs: Penn Leung, CCG; Cheryl Pan, BlueCurrent Group
• Research Chair: David Ketchum, CurrentAsia
• Digital Co-Chairs: James Hacking, EY; Carbo Yu, Sinclair
• Education & Mentorship Programme Co-Chairs: Kevin On, Hoffman; Rachel Lau, MSL Group
• Events Co-Chairs: Elizabeth Lui, Edelman; Katie Forster, Amara Communications
• Membership Co-Chairs: Cody Roberts, Genesis Partners; Dominique Backhouse, Companion
• Next Gen Co-Chairs: Jesa Amparo, CCG; Dr Louis Joseph Travis, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Partnerships & Sponsorships Co-Chairs: Mark Jackson, Reputation Works; Carmen Li, Edelman
• Treasurer: Simeon Mellalieu, Ketchum
• Honorary Secretary & ESG Committee Chair: Kiri Sinclair, Sinclair

Accenture Song has appointed Arun Kumar as its global head of data and AI. Prior to this, Kumar served as chief data and marketing technology officer at IPG and global president of Matterkind, based in New York. He also worked at Aegis, now Dentsu, in Singapore and Starcom in China. 

Fifth Dimension Consulting has appointed Hannah Krijnen to the newly created global role as director of qualitative research. Before Fifth Dimension, she worked for Fiftyfive5, Added Value, and Ipsos, with extensive domestic and international experience and expertise in multiple sectors, including financial services, entertainment, digital startups and travel. 

Flying Fish Lab, a strategic marketing and brand consultancy, announced two key members to its executive team. Alim and Wenjie Cai have joined as senior catalysts. Alim brings an extensive background that started in research agencies before transitioning to the client side in consumer research and later in brand management. Cai has a solid FMCG marketing background in the consulting industry. 

DDB Sydney has appointed Anna Paine and Owen Bryson as creative directors. Paine and Bryson are returning to DDB Sydney following a three-year stint at indie agency Dig. First joining DDB Sydney in 2014, the pair spent seven years working across all of the agency's major clients.

Yahoo has appointed Valeri Liborski as chief technology officer (CTO) to lead the company’s global engineering team and focus on innovation while advancing its investments in artificial intelligence. Liborski brings over two decades of experience and leadership from Microsoft, Amazon, and most recently HelloFresh where he served as CTO. Aengus McClean, who held the role since Yahoo’s spinout from Verizon in 2021, will be retiring at the end of the year.

Independent digital marketing agency Orange Line has been appointed as Fantastic Furniture's digital media and analytics agency. This partnership marks a significant win for Orange Line as the agency expands its retail client base.

The 38th Annual General Meeting, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has appointed Partha Sinha as president and chief brand officer of Bennett Coleman & Company Limited as the chairman of the ASCI Board of Governors for 2024-25. 

TBWA Singapore has announced the promotion of its leadership team.

• Chew Fung Wee has been promoted to general manager; he was previously new business director. She will also oversee the BBDO operations in Singapore, part of the TBWA Group in Singapore.
• Loo Yong Ping has been promoted to executive creative director; he was previously deputy ECD.
• Eleni Sardi has been promoted to head of brand management from group brand director.
• Abhinit Agarwal has been promoted to executive strategy director.

Germaine Chen and Lauren Lim have been appointed as creative directors. Burson has appointed Simeon Mellalieu as CEO of its Hong Kong office, effective October 2. With 25 years of experience in counselling multinational companies on communication strategies, Mellalieu most recently served as partner, Client Development for Ketchum Asia-Pacific and managing director for Ketchum Hong Kong. His extensive background spans industries such as fast fashion, semiconductors, automotive, and technology, making him well-equipped to lead Burson's efforts in Hong Kong, a key regional hub for Asian companies expanding globally. Mellalieu has been a significant figure in the communications industry, particularly in Asia, where he has worked for over two decades. He is an active supporter of academic and trade bodies across Hong Kong and APAC, serving on the board of PR Hong Kong and as its Chairman from 2010-2013.

Edouard de Mézerac announced via LinkedIn that he has relocated to Paris and started a new position as managing partner and global lead of luxury and beauty and industry practices at Artefact. Previously based in Shanghai as managing partner and APAC lead, de Mézerac returns to France after eight years in Asia. He has been with Artefact for over six years and was also a partner at Oliver Wyman in Shanghai for over 12 years.

Jewel Changi Airport and Trip.com have announced a strategic three-year partnership focused on promoting travel and enhancing visitor experiences, as reported by Airlinergs.com. The collaboration aims to leverage Trip.com's global network to attract more international visitors to Singapore and Jewel. The partnership aligns with Jewel's growth, which saw a 20% increase in foreign visitors from January to June 2024. The partnership also features a unique travel-themed pop-up event, "Traveller’s Wonderland," running until 7 October, showcasing iconic attractions from China, Japan, the UK, and Thailand.

Ruder Finn has announced the appointment of Zack Kass, former head of go-to-market at OpenAI, as chair of its new global AI Advisory Council. This council, unique in the public relations industry, will develop and implement AI strategies for Ruder Finn’s global clients, reporting directly to CEO Kathy Bloomgarden. Kass, with 14 years of AI experience, including advising Fortune 500 companies and The White House, will guide the council under the leadership of CTO & head of AI, Tejas Totade, and David Ko, managing director of Ruder Finn Interactive Asia.

We Are Social has appointed Anton Reyniers as head of strategy for its Singapore office. Reyniers, who brings 20 years of experience in creative and communications strategy across APAC, the UK, and the Middle East, takes over from James Honda-Pinder, who will relocate to Tokyo in October for a new role as head of growth APAC. Reyniers returns to Singapore after leading strategy at Impact BBDO in Dubai and has previously worked at Netflix, Google, and major agencies like BBH, JWT, and Ogilvy.

Companian Communications has appointed Jacqueline Shutt as senior account director, Hong Kong. Shutt will lead the agency's travel and property portfolio in Hong Kong, focusing on public relations, content development, media and influencer campaigns, and partnership activations. With over 11 years of experience in communications across London and Hong Kong, she brings extensive knowledge of the media landscape and a track record of successful campaigns for brands like Tumi, Shake Shack, and Royal Albert Hall

FCB India has appointed Punit Singh as chief strategy officer. Singh, a seasoned leader with nearly two decades of experience in brand planning, has previously worked with Dentsu Creative and has handled iconic brands such as Google, Maruti Suzuki, and Pepsi. 

Research, behaviour change and communications advisory business, Verian Group, has appointed Gavin Bain, formerly CEO of Wunderman Thompson Australia, as its CEO for the APAC region. He will also join as the global executive of Verian, formerly known as Kantar Public prior to its divestment from Kantar. Verian has nine offices across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. It is also an appointed partner to the Queensland State Government in preparation for the Brisbane Olympic Games.

FCB Shout, part of The Shout Group, has added new talent to its team:

• Loong Sheng Mae has joined as group business director.
• Caryl Tan comes onboard as associate brand director,and
• Chung Ru Zen is the new creative group head.

Mae will lead brand management, while Tan will handle client relations locally and regionally. Zen will strengthen the agency’s creative work. Additionally, Raphael Castellano has been promoted to creative group head, and Jane Leong to senior brand manager.

Nunn Media, Australia’s largest independent media agency, has added to its Sydney office by appointing Mitch Hunter as head of strategy & innovation and Melissa Galanos as senior account manager. Hunter brings extensive experience in creative, media, and customer experience (CX) from agencies such as PHD and Bohemia. Galanos, formerly of Slingshot, brings over six years of experience in managing media campaigns across multiple channels.

FCM Meetings & Events (FCM M&E), a core division of Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), has appointed Henry Jones as global marketing leader amid its global expansion strategy. Jones is a veteran travel marketer with over eight years at FCTG and has held key roles across the UK, Canada, and Asia, including his recent position as head of marketing for FCM Travel Asia. He has been credited with the launch of The FCM Platform in China, Japan, and the integration of India into the Asia marketing efforts. In his new role, Jones will spearhead the group's global marketing and communications strategy, oversee the market introduction of the division’s product suite to drive brand expansion.

Dominic Powers, chief growth and innovation officer at Dentsu Asia Pacific, posted on LinkedIn that he will leave the agency and is currently on gardening leave. Powers joined Dentsu as head of business growth, solutions APAC in 2020. Before joining Dentsu, he was CEO of CtrlShift, a Singapore-founded global technology company. Prior to that, he also worked for NEST.vc and Epsilon. 

Kaajal Shivdasani has transitioned from her role as marketing director for global emerging markets (GEMs) at General Mills to become the marketing director for Asia on the Häagen-Dazs brand development team. In her new position, Shivdasani will lead brand strategy and portfolio development for Häagen-Dazs across Asia, including key markets such as China, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Additionally, she will oversee the global handheld portfolio across Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Shivdasani was featured on Campaign Asia's 2023 Power List.

Dave Yang has joined LinkedIn as head of APAC for Linkedin's online sales organisation. Yang was regional head of direct sales organisation at Grab Before joining LinkedIn. He also worked at Reddit, Snapchat and Facebook prior to Grab.

Acciona Energía Australia, a sustainable solutions provider, has appointed DDB Melbourne as its new creative agency following a selection process instead of a traditional pitch, effective immediately. 

Tatler Asia has appointed Sophia Liao as managing director of Tatler Taiwan, effective immediately. With over 20 years of career in the luxury media sector at  Condé Nast Group, Liao served in various leadership roles in both Taiwan and China markets. Her previous role was president of Condé Nast China. Liao started her early career as an auditor from EY and later joined Condé Nast Taiwan in 1996.