Digital happenings this week from Instagram, Disney Pixar, Coca-Cola, Nivea and more

Integrated marketing and technology services firm SapientNitro has appointed Sushobhan Mukherjee to the newly created position of vice president, strategy, for Asia-Pacific. Based in Singapore, Mukherjee is tasked with expanding strategic capabilities and thought leadership across SapientNitro’s offices in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, China, India and Singapore.

Weber Shandwick has promoted Jye Smith to vice president of digital for Asia Pacific, bringing him from Sydney to its regional Centre of Digital Excellence in Hong Kong. Smith will work with clients and staff across the firm’s 18 offices in the region, tapping into the broader digital environment, including a focus on online issues and crisis management. He will also continue to work with the team and clients in Australia.

Andres Kiger, senior director of integrated marketing communications for Coca-Cola China since mid-2007, is leaving China and relocating to Coca-Cola Brazil as head of integrated marketing. In his new role he will lead cross-functional teams to create campaigns for all of Coca-Cola's brands and will be responsible for developing platforms that fully leverage upcoming global events. Stephen Drummond, regional director of creative excellence, will fill Kiger’s role, taking responsibility for the development of all of the brand’s future integrated marketing efforts in China.

Social sites Instagram and Pinterest lead niche social networks in terms of global market share, according to a report by Experian. The study found that Instagram’s popularity surged by 8,121 per cent in Singapore, 843 per cent in New Zealand, 362 per cent in Australia and 132 per cent in Hong Kong. Pinterest experienced its top surge of popularity in Hong Kong, where it shot up by 2,373 per cent, followed by Australia with 798 per cent, New Zealand with 643 per cent and Singapore with 623 per cent.

Nivea, the global skincare brand owned by German company Beiersdorf, has called a pitch for its digital business in China, and four agencies have reportedly received invitations, including wwwins Isobar, local digital agency Starnet, Tribal DDB and an undisclosed agency. The pitch is at the early request-for-proposal stage, with agencies submitting their company credentials. A source close to the client said that the winning agency will handle not only the Nivea brand but also some associated sub brands.

Engine manufacturing brand Tognum has handed its global digital account to Dentsu/mcgarrybowen, following a three-way pitch, which was led by Dentsu Mobius Singapore and Dentsu/mcgarrybowen in Dusseldorf, in collaboration with Dentsu Singapore and the global network offices, with Cybercom as technology solutions partner. Angeli Beltran, managing director of Dentsu Mobius, said the account is for a period of at least two years, covering all Tognum’s digital works from media, creative, campaign management, content, data and technology for all brands in markets where Tognum is active.

Marketing effectiveness and digital readiness agency F5 Digital Consulting has made two key appointments. Founder and former CEO Gregory Birgé will take on the newly created role of president to focus on the company’s mainstay of marketing effectiveness in the digital age, while Joel Tiphonnet has been appointed as the acting CEO of F5 Digital. His key tasks include change management, revenue expansion, the leveraging of the company’s intellectual property assets and distribution points, the introduction of processes to better handle business growth and the reinforcement of F5 Digital’s position as the preferred digital marketing agency for clients in the region.

Dog Digital, a Glasgow-based digital agency with a new office in Singapore, has created a new movie experience site for Disney Pixar and VisitScotland. The agency has built a new interactive online home connecting the magical world of Disney Pixar’s movie Brave to the real-world experiences Scotland has to offer. The online presence lies at the heart of VisitScotland’s £7 million (US$11,102,304) marketing campaign, which is expected to be viewed by around 100 million people in over 70 countries.

Online interactive marketing provider Innity is continuing its expansion across Southeast Asia, venturing into the Philippines to capitalise on the “huge potential” of online advertising in the market. Kelvin Ho, regional sales manager, will head up the Philippines office. He has nearly a decade of experience in the digital industry. Innity now has presence in eight countries: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China (Shanghai).