Celevel Ranoco-Butler named Saatchi Singapore GM

Ranoco-Butler will oversee the office’s daily operations and report to Dean Taylor (pictured), CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore and Malaysia. Her appointment, which was internally announced on Friday, is effective immediately.

Taylor said she is the first person to hold the GM post since Robbie Bempasciuto departed the agency last year after eight years with the company.

Bempasciuto’s exit came four months after Taylor took over as Singapore CEO, and followed the departure of business director Fred Eng and operations director Esther Yue.

Taylor said the agency hadn’t actively searched for a GM since Bempasciuto’s departure and instead focused on its internal restructure. He credits Ranoco-Butler with stepping up to oversee operations during that time: “She naturally started doing the GM job. She made it hers."

“The decision to promote Celevel was popular because she’s been hugely instrumental to our success in the past year,” Tayor added. “And I think there’s not enough women in senior roles in advertising. Women are the main decision makers on many consumer products. Celevel didn’t get the job because she’s a woman, but there are too many agencies where there is a glass ceiling, and I don’t want that in place at Saatchi.”

Ranoco-Butler has worked with key Saatchi clients including Sony Ericsson, Tiger Beer, Merck, Sharp and Dohme.