Moves and wins roundup: Week of February 17, 2025

Thanh Thanh (Tanya) has been promoted to partner at Mindshare T&PM Vietnam. She was previously the lead of the beauty and wellbeing business unit on Unilever. Having spent nearly six years at Mindshare, her previous experience includes stints at Fonterra and Abbott.  

Cedric Lim has been promoted to the role of head of studios at We Are Social. Lim has been with the agency for over six years and announced his promotion on LinkedIn. He has previously worked with Egg Productions and HiVelocity Events.        

Pranav Rastogi has been appointed executive director and head of Singapore at Wachsman, a communications agency that focuses on emerging technologies. Rastogi’s most recent assignment was as head of communications at Grow Asia. He has also held several senior positions at Singapore-based PR firm Red Hill including managing director. Rastogi’s mandate is to broaden Wachsman’s presence and footprint in the APAC market. His appointment comes shortly after the exit of Danny Phan who was global chief strategy officer and MD APAC at Wachsman.    

Nik Doble has been promoted to national head of investment at Mindshare. He was previously head of investment at the agency, having moved from OMD in 2023 as head of trading. His previous experience includes stints at News Corp and Maxus. Doble will now have oversight over teams across Sydney and Melbourne and work closely with GroupM chief investment officer Melissa Hey. 

Sheena Shah, formerly with FWD in Hong Kong where she held a group corporate communications mandate, has joined Thoburns as director in its London office—a PR firm specialising in private investors and high-growth markets. Shah left FWD last April and has previously worked with the Hyphen Group, Finsbury Glover Hering, and Brunswick Group in the region. 

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has named PHD New Zealand CEO Nikki Grafton to the newly established role of CEO, OMG New Zealand, effective immediately. As New Zealand CEO, she will lead the ongoing expansion and evolution of the network. In her new role, Grafton will be supported by Nigel Douglas, CEO of OMD New Zealand, and Jane Stanley, CEO of Hearts & Science, ANZ. She reports to OMG APAC CEO Tony Harradine. Grafton spent over two decades at PHD starting as a manager and was promoted to CEO in 2019. Meanwhile, PHD New Zealand managing director Abby Parkin will be elevated to CEO, effective 1 March.

Dept has appointed Christine Watts as its new client director for creative and media in Australia. She brings over 15 years of experience in leading global agencies, such as DDB and 303 MullenLowe in Australia, including six-and-a-half years in a leadership position at Wunderman in New York. In this new role, Watts will contribute to the marketing and tech services company's growth, leading relationships with clients such as Ebay, Ancestry, Canon, Grill'd, and PBS Kids. In addition, Dept has also hired Zach Edwards as senior cultural strategist. Edwards worked at Keep Left, Smiling Mind and RMIT University before joining Dept.

MiQ has appointed Addy Cutts as its new commercial director for Southeast Asia. In the newly created role, Cutts will lead MiQ's commercial expansion including sales and account management teams. Cutts has a two-decade-long career in the tech, programmatic, media and digital advertising sectors across the UK and Singapore. He was instrumental at Oracle Advertising as its regional director for JAPAC. Cutts has also worked with angel-backed venture fund First Party Capital, Visual DNA and Lonely Planet and was a Board member of the IAB Southeast Asia and India.

Netflix Australia has appointed Initiative as its new media agency of record and has named Amplify as its lead creative agency. The pitch for the media business began last year with agencies in the fray including Wavemaker, Initiative, Kaimera, and The Monks. Wavemaker is said to have lost the account due to speculation of conflicts since it counts Amazon and Paramount among its clients. This win for Initiative comes after the agency was handed Volvo’s media account in December 2024, after nearly 25 years with incumbent WPP’s Mindshare. Further, Netflix has also appointed Amplify to its local creative account strengthening a relationship that began in 2022. The streaming platform doubled its revenues in 2024 and has similarly ambitious goals for the year ahead. 

Pageone Group in the Philippines has appointed Aresti 'Toteng' Tanglao as the new campaigns director of BrownBag Communications (BBCOMM), a key member of Pageone Group. A highly respected communications strategist with over two decades of experience, Toteng is known for his expertise in reputation management, crisis communications, brand positioning, and strategic storytelling. He will report directly to BBCOMM managing director Ma Luisa “Louie” P Sebastian, APR, and will oversee the agency’s key reputation management and crisis communication initiatives.

Jai Arya has joined Interpublic Group agency, Golin, as director, people and culture Asia-Pacific, effective immediately. He moves from TikTok, where he was HR business partner leader. Arya has over 15 years of experience in the technology, advertising, and marketing industries. Prior to TikTok, he also worked at Havas Group and Wunderman.

Mars United Commerce has appointed Kelly Wearmouth as managing director Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). She waws previously with Amazon, where she spent 10 years in Global, the US, the UK and ANZ-market roles, including general manager of Amazon Ads in ANZ. Wearmouth brings 18 years of experience leading and innovating in senior roles with prominent global companies including Unilever, Microsoft, and Telefonica. 

AW has announced a new client win, the Parramatta Eels, an Australian professional rugby league football club. Joining the likes of the NBA, the new appointment bolsters AW's credentials in the sports vertical. The first campaign of the new partnership is set to launch the Eels' 2025 season.