Move and win roundup: Week of February 26, 2024

 
Nicole Bardsley, former CMO of Cashrewards, will join Uber and lead the brand’s Australia and New Zealand marketing teams, replacing Andy Morley after he moved into a regional role. Bardsley had led marketing for the Cashbackrewards company for two years, overseeing its media strategy and relaunching the brand in the process. She will start her new role on 4 March and report to Morley, who is now serving as director of marketing Uber & Uber Eats APAC. Morley was selected as part of Campaign Asia’s Power List in 2022.

Medialand Digital Communication Group, a Taiwan-based company, has promoted three personnel to its first-ever managing director roles, effective immediately. The newly appointed managing directors, Bernie Liu, Peggy Chen, and Rick Hu, will reinforce and further expand the growth momentum across Medialand Digital Communication Group’s three primary business units: Medialand, which focuses on brand strategy and creativity; MX, a pioneer in the development of platform systems and branded interactive experiences; and MESh+, which specialises in data application research and digital media ecosystems. Medialand Digital Communication Group is part of the Taiwan-based communications giant Growww Hakuhodo Group, acquired by Hakuhodo in 2020.

Alex Collares has been elevated from creative art director to creative director at Ogilvy Australia. Collares joined Ogilvy in 2022 from DDB Group Australia, where he served as creative art director. Prior to that, he worked for McCann Worldgroup VMLY&R in Brazil before moving to Australia in 2016.

Tonies has appointed 303 MullenLowe as its integrated trans-Tasman agency of record as it launches locally in the Australian and New Zealand markets in 2024. Following a competitive pitch and effective immediately, 303 MullenLowe’s remit extends across the full breadth of local marketing activity for Tonies, including strategy, creative, brand positioning, social, PR, influencer, content, events and production.

Google has appointed Suzana Ristevski to lead the marketing team in Australia and New Zealand as chief marketing officer. Ristevski will join in June and brings over 30 years of cross-industry experience in financial services, telecommunications, private health insurance, and industrial sectors. She is currently working as chief marketing officer and executive group marketing at NAB. Prior to that, she also served as GE CMO and head of strategy and growth in Australia. 

We Are Social has appointed Kathy Wong as general manager in Hong Kong. Wong, who will oversee both We Are Social Hong Kong and the creative agency Metta We Are Social. She joins from creative agency RollRollRoll, where she was business director and brings more than 18 years of experience. Previously, she worked with agencies like Ogilvy, TBWA, and FCB. She's also held stints with Metta Communications that was later acquired by We Are Social in 2022 to become Metta We Are Social. Wong takes over from Donald Wong, who has left We Are Social Hong Kong to explore opportunities in the US. She will report to the agency's CEO for North Asia, Pete Lin.

Arena Media Singapore, part of the Havas Media Network, has been reappointed as the media agency of record for AIA Singapore following a competitive pitch, effective immediately. As its media agency of record, Arena Media Singapore will lead AIA’s media planning and buying across traditional and digital channels. Together, they have embarked on campaigns like the launch of AIA Health360, a comprehensive suite of solutions that covers the full gamut of wellness. 

Siddhant Lahiri has been promoted to head of strategy at Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore from group strategy director. He joined the agency in 2022 as strategy director and has been selected in Campaign Asia’s 40 Under 40 list in 2023. Before F&B, he worked for Dentsu in Singapore and Leo Burnett in Malaysia. He started his early career in India at DDB Mudra Group and later joined J Walter Thompson.

We Communications (WE) has appointed Charmaine Lin as director, Sectors and Michelle Lim as associate director, Sectors in Singapore. Lin joins WE with more than 17 years of experience in brand marketing and communications. Most recently, she served as managing partner at Gusto Collective in Shanghai. She has been named to Campaign Asia-Pacific’s 40 Under 40 list in 2019. Lim comes with more than a decade of experience in B2B, technology communications, public affairs and crisis communications. She joins WE most recently from Fifth Ring, where she served as account director. Both joined the agency in February and report into Troy Lee, head of Sectors.

Global hydration brand Waterdrop has appointed Sling & Stone as its communications agency of record to help Aussies "drink more water" and ramp up growth. The partnership will see Sling & Stone support Waterdrop’s local presence by engaging in integrated earned and paid media relations and amplifying local activations such as the recent Australian Open. 

Havas Media Network has been appointed media agency of record for global pharmaceutical company Viatris and Uniting Property Services. The remits for both brands cover media strategy, planning, buying, digital performance and search, with Viatris also including retail marketing.

Clarity, the global digital marketing and communication agency, has appointed a new executive committee (ExCo), several senior promotions, and new client wins as it executes its global strategy. Alongside Clarity CEO Rachel Gilley, Clarity’s new ExCo comprises Tom Telford, president of digital marketing, Robyn Sefiani, president of ANZ and reputation counsel, Nick Lansman, president of corporate affairs, Will Julian-Vicary, head of technology; Caroline Iroegbu, general counsel and Kristen Ingraham, president North America. 

Ogilvy PR Australia has announced a number of promotions and several hires as it strengthens its corporate leadership structure.

• Jacquie Potter, currently Group MD of Ogilvy PR’s corporate and business practice, is leaving to join Aldi as a client. Potter, who began with Ogilvy PR in 2006, finishes her journey with the agency at the end of March after nearly 18 years, moving to Aldi Australia as director of communications.
• Ant Kelaher, who previously worked in Ogilvy’s corporate practice and returned to Ogilvy PR in 2021, has been promoted to Group MD of corporate.
• Brian Corrigan has also been promoted to editor-in-chief, focusing on corporate and business content while also leading the Business Influence team.
• Frances Dwyer joins the Ogilvy PR corporate team as head of corporate, most recently having been at Edelman.
• Mitch Henderson starts as senior business director joining from Meta and previously, Teneo in London.
• Luis Garcia returns to investor relations and financial communications consultancy Cannings, part of Ogilvy PR, as senior corporate counsel after retiring from the managing director position in 2023.
• Amy Piek, who returns from parental leave, has been promoted to managing partner of Cannings.
• Will Roberts has moved to senior business director of Cannings.

GroupM is expanding its strategy team in New Zealand and has appointed Dom Dipple as a strategist in a newly created role. Dipple will report to Emily Scovell, who joined in December as chief strategy officer. Together, Dipple and Scovell will work closely with the leadership and client teams in GroupM agencies to deliver strategic thinking with a particular focus on digital strategy, ideas generation and innovation. Dipple joins from international mental health and performance start-up Groov Ltd, where he was head of content, leading the start-up’s creative output. With over 12 years of experience, he has previously held roles across UM, UM Studios, Zenith and EssenceMediacom.

CBRE has been appointed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group as the lead leasing agency to provide office leasing and marketing consulting services for the new Grade A commercial building “One Causeway Bay” at 281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, which is due for completion by the second quarter of 2025.
 

Crocs Inc. has selected Sydney-based data and creative and performance marketing agency Jaywing to manage paid search and socials for Australia and Singapore markets. Crocs brands include Crocs and Heydude, selling products in more than 85 countries through wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. Crocs is the latest major win for Jaywing and comes after it was appointed by Future Super for paid media strategy and execution, The A2 Milk Company to lead SEO and amplify digital content and PR across its suite of platforms. Jaywing also works with Myer, New Balance, Cashrewards, Athena Home Loans, among other clients. 

 

Ankit Desai, previously Hershey India’s marketing director, has been appointed as the general manager for Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. With over 17 years of experience in various FMCG sectors, Desai joined Hershey in 2017 and has a background that includes significant stints at Kellogg Company and Perfetti Van Melle. He shared the news of his promotion on LinkedIn.

 

Sandpiper Group has promoted five senior executives to bolster its business and global reach.

UM has been appointed the media agency of record for global car manufacturer Chery. UM’s remit includes all media strategy, planning and buying in Australia, supporting Chery’s launch of all new vehicle releases in 2024 as the brand establishes its market presence. 

Simon Cahill, formerly with SXSW Sydney, has joined TEG Group as head of commercial. He will manage TEG’s global commercial strategies while continuing to oversee SXSW Sydney’s commercial interests, all from the Sydney office under CEO Geoff Jones. 

Birla Opus, from the House of Aditya Birla Group, has selected DDB Mudra as its creative partner for four brands in the range following a multi-agency pitch. The mandate involves crafting strategy and communications for Birla Opus, which offers a wide array of decorative paints aimed at businesses and consumers. With this partnership, DDB Mudra will manage the portfolio of four brands from Birla Opus: Style (economy paints range), AllWood (wood finishes), AllDry (waterproofing) and Prime (institutional).