Moves and wins roundup: Week of February 10, 2025

Asia Group Advisors (AGA) has appointed Jessica J. Lee as vice-president, strategy.  With a wealth of expertise in corporate communications, issues management, and strategic planning across Asia-Pacific and the United States, prior to joining AGA, Lee served in regional leadership roles at APCO Worldwide, as managing director Southeast Asia, and WE Communications, as vice president regional healthcare lead. 

Zeno Group has been named communications agency of record in Australia for The Gorilla Glue Company and O’Keeffe’s Hardworking Skincare. Zeno will implement a comprehensive omnichannel communications strategy to elevate the profiles of both brands in Australia. Campaigns will focus on educating consumers about each product's unique benefits and superior performance via targeted earned media outreach, engaging storytelling, and strategic influencer partnerships. 

Ooh Media has appointed Bel Harper as chief product and marketing officer to succeed Neil Ackland who has moved to be chief retail media officer. Ackland has held the chief content, marketing, and creative officer title for the past five years. He joined Ooh Media as chief content and creative officer in 2018. Harper was previously executive group director, product strategy. She started at Ooh Media as national sales operations director in 2012.

Tilt Brand Solutions, a Mumbai-based brand and communications consultancy, has appointed Kushager Tuli as president, creative. He was most recently executive creative director at Leo Burnett. With 18 years of advertising experience across Ogilvy, McCann, JWT and a few other agencies, Tuli brings with him a unique blend of creativity, strategic thinking and leadership skills.  He will be reporting to Adarsh Atal, group chief creative officer, Tilt Brand Solutions.

There have been some key promotions at PR firm Precious Communications:

• Joey Gan has been promoted to regional VP for integrated marketing communications in addition to her current role as country lead, Malaysia. Gan has previously worked with Ogilvy Malaysia, Beyond PR, and Era Digitalogik Services before joining PRecious Communications in 2022
• In addition to his current mandate as country lead the Philippines, Paolo Alba will be regional VP. Alba has previously worked with Fleishman-Hillard and Ogilvy Manila in leadership roles.
• Anuroopa Pereira has been promoted to regional senior director. She joined PRecious in 2024 after stints at at Text 100 and Sabre India. 

Montieth SPRG has been appointed as the public relations (PR) and corporate communications agency for Asus. Montieth SPRG will work closely with Asus to develop and execute a holistic communications programme to elevate the company’s international corporate narrative and strengthen media relations.

Elliott Eldridge has been promoted to national head of strategy at Mindshare Australia. Eldridge has been with the agency for over half a decade and has previously worked for Spark Fouindry and Blue 449. He will report to Mindshare Australia chief product officer Gavin Gibson.

303 MullenLowe Perth has appointed Sarah Cassell as art director. She has been honing her skills as a designer since 2020, initially at DDB Sydney and then moved to Studio Jude, Clarity Communications and Rare. Cassell is also a Youngbloods WA committee member.

Following a pitch, Australia-based Sling & Stone, which is part of VCCP, has won the account of greeting cards and gifts platform Moonpig.

OMG Australia has announced a series of internal promotions within their specialist business unit, OMG Content. The division has restructured its leadership team.

• Sophie Walsh has been promoted to head of OMG Content, Sydney. She was head of OMD Create Sydney before the promotion and joined OMD in 2016.
• Hayley Pyper has been appointed as head of Shape. She was director of entertainment partnerships at OMD who joined the agency in 2022.
• Erin Fletcher has been promoted to head of Drum Sydney. She moved from PHD to Drum in 2022.
• Nick Hurley has been elevated to head of partnerships at Create Sydney. He was director of sport partnerships at OMD and joined the agency in 2019.
• Lisa Leicester now serves as head of social and innovation at Create Sydney. She was director of social and innovation at OMD and started with the agency over nine years ago.
• Lauren Easton has been promoted to head of Made. She was head of Resolution Made, and joined the company in 2020.

Stake, an investment platform, has appointed Fourteen10 to enhance its customer acquisition efforts, after a closed pitch with three agencies. The partnership aims to streamline repetitive tasks through automation and AI, allowing both in-house and agency teams to focus on high-impact growth initiatives. Fourteen10 and Stake will collaborate to elevate acquisition strategies, leveraging the brand’s strength and momentum as new products come to market.

Shikenso Analytics, a provider of AI-powered sponsorship analytics, has promoted Benedikt Becker to vice president of marketing. Becker joined Shikenso in 2022. Prior to that, he was country manager for Singapore and Malaysia at Egentic Asia Pacific.

Bastion Shine has announced new hires and promotions:

• Joanna James, who leads the communications, social and experiential team, has been promoted to managing director, communications and experience.
• Holly Dean joins the team as general manager of social. In this newly-created role, she brings more than 16 years of experience delivering strategic social-media and influencer campaigns.
• Tom Dyton comes to the agency as a senior content creator, another newly-created role. Dyton brings a decade of experience crafting visual content for social media, television and newsrooms.
• Amber Holyoake and Ellie Nicholson also join as senior social media manager and social and PR senior business executive respectively.

Publicis Groupe Hong Kong has appointed Rhys Taylor as managing director, global client lead. He moved to Hong Kong and started the position in January.  Before joining Publicis, Taylor was managing director of VML Singapore. Prior to that, he worked for Denstu in Singapore and Wunderman in Australia. 

Enero Group, the global group of marketing and technology agencies, has appointed Ian Ball to the newly created role of chief operating officer (COO), effective from February 17. Ball has over 40 years of international experience spanning consulting, technology, professional services, and private equity, having held senior leadership roles including EY Oceania’s deputy CEO and head of markets. He was more recently TEG’s chief operating officer and head of strategy and M&A.

Kinesso Australia has appointed Charlie Ransom to the newly created role of national trading and operations lead for Search, as the agency expands its search craft and SEO offering. Most recently, Ransom was the Paid Search account director at Kinesso UK&I. He has worked across a diverse range of clients, including NatWest, Amazon, LV Insurance, Mattel, and Kenvue, driving strategic planning, activation, and innovation within the search space.

Hamburg-based Adjoe, a mobile advertising firm, has announced its expansion into the APAC region, with new offices established in Singapore and Tokyo. 

• Eileen Keng has joined as VP of revenue APAC, bringing over a decade of experience from leadership roles at X (Formerly Twitter), Chartboost, Fyber and Gogolook.
• Daisuke Hattori, has been appointed as Japan's country manager, bringing extensive expertise in the country's gaming and adtech industries, including experience from Sony and Bandai Namco.
• Satoshi Takeuchi joins as senior supply partnerships manager. His background includes roles at Google, Yahoo, and across the app landscape to drive new partnerships.
• Vincent Zhang, senior demand partnership manager for Greater China, brings 12 years of expertise in programmatic advertising and user acquisition from Google, Meta, Funplus, and Applovin.
• Hyemin Han, senior supply partnerships manager for South Korea, brings experience from X (formerly Twitter) and Paktor with expertise in Korea’s mobile adtech landscape to drive partnerships and growth in the region.

Lennon Group, a new social good agency has been launched by marketing creatives from the Philippines in Manila. Founded by Raymund Sison, Rizza Garcia, Alan Fontanilla, and Miguel Co,  Lennon Group promotes societal consciousness in the creative industry. Sison, who leads the team, brings almost 20 years of experience in creative communications, branding, and digital experience, from DMAP, Propel Manila and Publicis Groupe.

KFC has promoted Hanim Mazam as chief marketing officer (CMO) of Malaysia. Mazam was the deputy general manager of KFC marketing for the past three years. She joined as KFC Marketing senior manager in 2019. Before KFC, she worked at Astro, IPG Mediabrands, and Mindshare. Mazam replaces Premnath Unnikrishnan who left KFC and joined Abbott last year.

Rachel Chan has joined Lee Kum Kee, a Hong Kong-based food company manufacturing a wide range of Chinese and Asian sauces, as regional marketing director APAC. Chan was most recently global brand communications, digital marketing director, and head of China marketing & ecommerce at GP Batteries. Prior to that, she worked for

Chep Network has won the creative account for the food business Simplot, including brands such as Bird's Eye, John West, Leggo's, Chiko, Chicken Tonight, and Providore, in Australia, following a competitive pitch. The incumbent was VML. The contract starts in February, including strategic direction, ideation, and production for brand campaigns, product launches, and always-on activity.

Allegory, a new independent communications consultancy, launched in Australia. The agency is founded by Miriam Wells, David Radestock, Emma Bridgeman, Georgia Lawson, and Gabrielle Gray. The group brings together decades of experience at major agencies and global brands working across sectors including technology, government, NFP, retail, FMCG, finance and education. Wells was most recently chief creative officer of Ogilvy PR ANZ. Radestock was executive director at Icon Agency. Bridgeman, Lawson and Gray were also from Icon Agency. 

Dentsu India has promoted Sujata Dwibedy to CEO of Dentsu X, while Jose Leon takes on the role of CEO of the retail media business. Both executives will continue to report to Anita Kotwani, CEO Media, South Asia, Dentsu. Campaign India has more details on this story.

Ogilvy has elevated Sujoy Roy and Nitin Srivastava as chief creative officers for Ogilvy Gurugram, India. Roy joined the agency fresh out of college two decades ago and worked for three offices, Mumbai, Kolkata and Colombo, Sri Lanka. He now serves as senior executive creative director and head of design. Srivastava joined the agency over two decades ago and is currently the senior executive creative director and creative head (luxury and beauty) at Ogilvy North.

One Day will partner with creative innovation company RGA Australia to develop the brand’s strategy and identity. Launched in 2013 as an events brand, One Day Entertainment transitioned five years ago into artist and producer management. RGA will work closely with One Day to support its community-building efforts, define its unique brand relevance and amplify its presence. In May 2024, Universal Music Australia (UMA) announced a strategic relationship with One Day Recordings to support artist development and expand the reach of Australian talent on both domestic and global stages. 

DDB Group Melbourne has promoted its head of planning Matt Pearce, to chief strategy officer, effective immediately. Pearce joined DDB Melbourne in 2021, leading strategy across the DDB, Mango and Tribal teams. Before joining DDB, he worked at Fiftyfive5 and Clememger BBDO in Australia and AMV BBDO in London.

Virtue Asia has appointed Amos Mak as associate creative director. Mak joins Virtue Asia after six years at BBH Singapore where he was a senior art director. He has also held creative roles at DDB Singapore and Geometry Singapore. With a background in activation thinking and fusing creativity with experience-driven engagement, Mak has worked with brands including Samsung, Riot Games, Meta, Singtel, and UOB.  

​Western Digital, a leading innovator in the data storage industry, has appointed The Hoffman Agency as its PR agency of record for the Asia-Pacific region, following a competitive pitch. The Hoffman Agency will be supporting Western Digital's PR and social media remits across eight markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Australia, and Thailand.

Think HQ has expanded its remit with tea brand Lipton Teas and Infusions in the Australian market, retaining hero brand Lipton and adding Bushells and herbal tea range Pukka to its roster after a competitive four-way pitch. Under the broadened remit, Think HQ will deliver strategic planning, creative, social, activations and PR for all three brands. The work will build on the success achieved for the Lipton brand over the past four years by Sydney-based agency Loud and more recently, by Think HQ after it acquired the business last year.

Wavemaker has expanded its strategic capabilities with a significant injection of fresh talent and internal promotions.

• Summer Treseder joins as associate strategy director and Kate O'Loughlin joins as strategy director. Both came from Initiative and joined in January. Treseder has been with Initiative Sydney for the past five years, working with clients such as Amazon and Goodman Fielder. O'Loughlin has spent the past three years at Initiative and before that, four years at PHD.  
• Marco Del Castillo and Bec Drummond have been promoted from group strategy directors to joint heads of strategy.  Both will continue to report to James Boardman, chief strategy officer.

LiveScore Media has appointed Timothy Oh as regional director for Asia. With over 15 years of experience spanning marketing, business strategy, and commercial leadership, Oh has previously held dual roles at Microgaming as director of growth and marketing and general manager, where he spearheaded market expansion and strengthened the brand’s presence in Asia. His career also includes campaigns for Sony Pictures TV Networks Asia.