Move and win roundup: Week of August 19, 2024

Campaign compiles a new 'Move and win roundup' as each week progresses.  This edition will cover August 19 through August 23, 2024.  Catch up on past people moves and business wins.

Publicis Sapient has appointed Dan Hews as head of marketing in Australia. With more than two decades of experience in the consulting and professional services sectors in Australia and the United Kingdom, Hews joins Publicis Sapient from APAC tech consultancy NCS, where he was the Australia marketing and communications lead. Prior to NCS, he was strategic marketing leader for KPMG Australia and held senior global and local marketing roles at Accenture, PwC and Ernst & Young.

Emotive has bolstered its creative offerings and announced a series of promotions and new appointments.

• Edward Macaulay, who joined Emotive in 2021, has also been promoted to associate creative director.
• Lucy Karsai joins from the culture agency Example where she was art director. Before that, she worked at Edelman and McCann.
• Al Hill has worked at Example and McCann. He is a musician who has curated a decade of live music during his role as senior producer of contemporary music at Sydney Opera House.
• Andrea Dalton Doran has been promoted to client services director. Doran led the Optus account for the last two years and oversaw its growth.
• Liam Walker has also been promoted to business director; he returned to Emotive earlier this year and served as senior account director in 2022.
• Elisa Donato joins the agency from Leo Burnett as senior account manager.

VCCP Singapore has appointed Roshni Mahbubani as senior planner. Mahbubani brings extensive experience across Asia, having lived and worked in Taiwan, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, India, and now Singapore. Prior to her current role, she was a strategist at WPP Redfuse in Hong Kong, where she contributed to campaigns for Colgate-Palmolive, earning EFFIE, D&AD, and Spikes awards. Most recently at VML Singapore, Mahbubani worked across a broad portfolio of brands, including Zespri, Kimberly-Clark, Baygon, and FWD. 

Bupa has appointed 2045 as its agency village. 2045’s role will encompass a range of digital initiatives aimed at enhancing customer engagement and innovation across Bupa’s ecosystem. The agency’s expertise in AI-powered creativity will play a crucial role in these efforts.This partnership aligns with Bupa’s commitment to enhancing customer experiences across its brand ecosystem. 

Vero has named Paulus Soriano as director for the Philippines, where he will oversee the Reputation+ team, which specialises in managing and enhancing business reputations through strategic PR initiatives. Soriano brings a wealth of experience from the technology, FMCG, real estate, hospitality, and tourism sectors, enhancing Vero’s capabilities in both the Philippines and the broader ASEAN region. Notably, he has already secured major clients such as Wise Philippines and Microsoft. Additionally, Soriano will spearhead Vero’s sustainability communications efforts, working closely with regional leaders to promote responsible business practices and support initiatives like the Sustainability Media Academy. 

GrowthOps Asia has made a number of strategic appointments and promotions to strengthen its creative and performance teams:

• Chee Heng Look has been promoted to associate creative director
• Sann Dee Ng has been promoted to creative group head
• Thomas Chiew joins as a new creative group head
• Belinda Hon also joins as a new creative group head
• Gillian Lim and Nicole Wong have been promoted to senior account executives in the integrated account and client servicing team
• Nailul Aini has been appointed as senior account director
• Nicklaus Lam has been appointed as account director
• Aiman Musbri is now Head of paid media in the performance marketing practice
• Brandon Yap has been appointed as programmatic media lead

Josh Drasta has been appointed enterprise sales area director for APAC at Meltwater, bringing extensive experience from companies like Google and Isentia. Alexandra Feig joins as head of talent for APAC, having led talent acquisition efforts at Zendesk. Chris Hackney, appointed as chief product officer, will drive the expansion of Meltwater’s product portfolio, leveraging his background in B2B SaaS. Meltwater has also launched new AI-driven solutions, including the Meltwater Copilot, developed in partnership with Microsoft, and a brand protection solution in collaboration with CYFIRMA.

Virtue APAC has appointed Clive Sin as senior content creator and Marie Lee as senior strategist. Sin, formerly with RAPP Singapore, brings a multi-disciplinary approach to content creation and will play a key role in Virtue's content and entertainment studio. Lee, joining from VaynerMedia, will lead strategy for the global social retainer of Clé de Peau Beauté and enhance the agency’s cultural foresight and prediction capabilities. 

Havas Malaysia has been appointed to lead the integrated mandate for Proton e.MAS, the latest sub-brand under the national carmaker Proton's expanding electric vehicle (EV) portfolio. The Havas integrated team will manage a comprehensive through-the-line marketing partnership for Proton e.MAS. As the lead agency, Havas will oversee the overall strategy, creative, and social media for the EV’s launch. Supporting them in handling the media responsibilities will be Invictus Blue, while H/Advisors Klareco will manage PR.  

Howl Digital has been awarded the digital marketing mandate for BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange), Asia’s oldest stock exchange, with a legacy spanning 150 years. Following a competitive selection process, Howl Digital will be tasked to transform the company and build on its legacy, making it relevant and contemporary for a younger audience.

Tinder and Match Media Group has partnered with Campbell Pacific Media & Partners (CPM), which will become an exclusive sales consultant in Australia. CPM will work with Match Media Group to drive advertising and paid partnerships on the Tinder platform. CPM will be working closely with clients and agencies based in Australia that require advertising partnerships with the global dating brand.

The Sandpiper Group has appointed Daniel Dunkley as a senior consultant in its financial services team, based in New Zealand. Dunkley has more than 15 years of experience in content strategy and as a business journalist in international newsrooms including The Sunday Times and Dow Jones in London, covering private equity, mergers and acquisitions, insurance, and FMCG.

SafetyCulture has appointed Aisling Finch to the newly created role of VP, marketing. Finch joins after a short career break, following 13 years at Google where she was most recently senior director of marketing, Australia and New Zealand. In the new role, Finch will oversee a team of 30 across brand, communications and acquisition, focused on increasing the global brand awareness and customer growth of SafetyCulture.

Independent agency Bastion's New Zealand business, Bastion Shine, has announced Toby Sellers as its new chief executive officer. Sellers will replace Simon Curran—who is stepping down after two decades—and will report to Cheuk Chiang, CEO of ANZ for Bastion. Sellers joined Bastion Shine in 2022 as managing director of the creative business. His career began at DDB Aotearoa before moving to DDB London (now Adam & Eve DDB). While in London, he also spent time with Havas and McCann. Returning to New Zealand in 2011, Sellers joined FCB, where he spent 11 years in senior roles and was promoted to managing director in 2019.

Kunal Sinha has joined the Malaysian agency Ampersand Advisory as chief knowledge officer. Sinha’s most recent stint was with M&C Saatchi Indonesia. He has also worked at agencies such as JWT, Ogilvy, and McCann—and at data consultancies like Kantar and The Futures Company. Additionally, he ran Ogilvy Asia’s consumer and cultural trends programme and the sustainability practice of Ogilvy Earth.

McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia has announced the launch of McCann Content Studios, a culture-first editorial and entertainment studio operating out of both Singapore and Bangkok and new appointments.

• Fathrul Fazakir, general manager, McCann Worldgroup Singapore and practice lead, for the public sector practice will take on the role of client services lead for the studio in Singapore.
• Liza Lorenzo has been appointed social lead. With a decade of experience, she previously served as head of social for MRM Philippines for Nestlé, and digital mapping director for McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia.
• Sukit Kittinuntakul, general manager, McCann Worldgroup Bangkok, leads the studio in Thailand. He has been with the agency for over a decade, leading digital transformation projects across a range of clients.
• Napatrapee Pitaknarongporn, associate social director, has worked with MRM Bangkok for over seven years and also leads the studio’s suite of offerings in Thailand.

TBWA Melbourne has been appointed as an integrated full-service agency partner for VicReturn, a not-for-profit entity appointed by the Victorian Government in Australia as the coordinator for Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme. TBWA Melbourne will spearhead key strategic and creative output while working with United (part of Omnicom Media Group), which will drive media strategy and buying. The agency’s PR and social specialist Eleven and sustainability consultancy Sustain by TBWA will also play a key role in driving behaviour change strategies through-the-line.

Vertis Digital has appointed Thom Puiman, its technical director, as market lead for the new Bangkok office. Puiman joined as solutions architect, leading technical architecture and project delivery while driving proof of concept development. Before joining Vertis, he was a partner technical enablement manager with Sitecore and moved from London to Singapore. Prior to that, he worked for VCCP, DigitasLBi, inSided Media, Relephant, and Assistance Software, In London and Amsterdam.