F5 Digital's Gregory Birgé becomes president, appoints acting CEO

Founder and former CEO Gregory Birgé will take on the newly created role of president, leaving behind the day-to-day management to focus on the company’s mainstay of marketing effectiveness in the digital age.

Birgé said brands and agencies are often "perpetually confused" about the how and why of digital. But he said digital must not be seen as a tactic but a new approach to marketing and strategy that goes beyond creatives and the production of assets.

"This is a very challenging market, and we cannot simply be digital marketers," he said. "We need to go back to our roots to become better expert marketers in a digital world.”

Joel Tiphonnet has been appointed as the acting CEO of F5 Digital. Prior to joining F5 Digital he founded CREAXIL to provide strategic consulting services to companies in the hospitality and lifestyle sectors within the Asia-Pacific region.

He was previously the CEO and president of Club Med Asia-Pacific as well as president of Oregon Scientific Global.

“F5 Digital has a clear track record in the industry, as evidenced by its client portfolio,” Tiphonnet said. “I trust that my diversified leadership experience in Asia-Pacific will bring a new and complementary dimension that fulfills F5 Digital’s growth potential.”

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.

“Over the past five years we have accumulated a large vault of revolutionary intellectual property that no one has had the time to properly market,” Birge said. “The time has thus come for a professional CEO, Joel, to manage the business properly and grow the team. In this manner, we are also strengthening F5 Digital's brand name.”

F5 Digital has also unveiled a freshly streamlined corporate structure, with its three business entities, namely consulting, engagement and operations, being grouped into one central entity.

Birgé noted that the move is to handle future growth in an optimal fashion. Clients include Pernod Ricard Asia, British-American Tobacco, Lufthansa, Kimberly Clark, Philips and Panasonic.

Tiphonnet added, "The nature of the comprehensive services we provide may require that we organise ourselves differently internally, but in the eyes of the client, we offer uniques solutions under one brand only."