Moves and wins roundup: Week of February 3, 2025

Petrie PR, Asia-based luxury travel and lifestyle PR Agency, has been appointed to represent Explora Journeys in Greater China and South East Asia. Launched in 2022 by the MSC Group, Explora Journeys redefines ocean travel with a transformative spirit.

Deputy, the global workplace management tech platform, has appointed the Australian 72andSunny team to develop the company’s first ATL advertising campaign. The work is in development now and will launch in April 2025. The news followed the recent announcement of 72andSunny as creative partner for the AFL.

Darkhouse Singapore has announced a series of new appointments.

• Guilet Libby joins as group creative director, following a long career in advertising, in which he has worked with global brands like Bridgestone, Samsung, Midea and Google. He worked at Dentsu Creative, Leo Burnett and Distillery before joining Darkhouse.
• Nicolle Jayne Sing joins as business director after over two decades in the industry for organisations such as VaynerMedia, The Goat Agency, Freeman and Jack Morton Worldwide. She was named as one of Campaign's 40 under 40 in 2020.
• Leah O’Brien joins as director of experiential. Her career has included roles with global agency George P. Johnson, Seven West Media and Lux Events.
• Kate Goddard has been promoted to business director. She joined as account director in 2023 after working for Colenso BBDO, MediaMonks, RGA and Meta.

Havas Thailand has strengthened its leadership team through two key appointments. The two new hires will report to Aga Giedroyc, the company's CEO.

• Carlo Herold has been appointed as managing director, where he will oversee media operations and spearhead initiatives aimed at driving client engagement and elevating market presence. Before joining Havas, he was founder and CEO of Heroleads Asia.
• Siamrit Wongvichitara takes on the role of chief growth and commercial officer at Havas Thailand. He will focus on driving business development, expanding client partnerships and enhancing the agency’s commercial capabilities. Wongvichitara joins from Heroleads Asia where he was chief commercial officer.

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has appointed Special as their creative agency of record to lead the launch of Max in Australia, working across brand strategy, advertising, earned media, and content, following a competitive pitch. Streaming service Max is set to launch in Australia in H1 2025. Earlier this year, WBD appointed EssenceMediacom as its media agency to launch Max.  

AS Watson Group has appointed Clarice Au as theCEO of retail Hong Kong, AS Watson, effective from March 1. In her new role, she will be responsible for overseeing the management of its four retail businesses in Hong Kong, namely Watsons, PARKnSHOP, Fortress, and Watson’s Wine. Au joined AS Watson Group in 1998. Last year, she was promoted to managing director of MoneyBack, a loyalty programme in Hong Kong.

Howatson+Company has appointed Letizia Bozzolini and Justin Butler as creative directors. Prior to joining, Bozzolini and Butler were at Special Australia and New Zealand respectively. Bozzolini started her career in Milan working at Grey and Ogilvy before relocating to Ogilvy Sydney in 2016. Then, she joined Chep Network and Leo Burnett Sydney. Prior to joining Special Auckland, Butler worked for BMF and OgilvyOne in Sydney. Their work has been recognised at major award shows including D&AD, Cannes, One Show, Clio, WARC and Effies.

Antoine Gross has departed from his role at partnership management specialist Impact.com, where he served as the general manager for Southeast Asia and India. Adam Furness, the managing director for the APAC region based in Australia, is currently overseeing all business operations. Prior to joining Impact, Gross worked with research agencies IPSOS and Kantar.

Marcus Krzastek has joined VaynerMedia as president international overseeing operations of the agency in APAC and EMEA. He will be working with Tim Lindley, APAC MD, and Daisy Domenghini MD of EMEA operations. He was previously president at Sasha Group, a company that is part of VaynerX which also owns VaynerMedia.

Kumar Kanagasabapathy has joined IPG Mediabrands as chief strategy officer for APAC. He was most recently the global chief strategy officer at Rufus, a network agency of IPG Mediabrands working on the global Amazon business. For his new role, Kanagasabapathy will be moving to Singapore from the US, where he has spent the last couple of decades. He has previously worked with agencies such as Mediacom, Horizon Media, and Maxus. He will report to Leigh Terry, CEO of IPG Mediabrands APAC.

Lee Nugent, regional director APAC at Archetype, has left the PR agency after nearly nine years. Nugent was MD, consulting and strategy APAC, at Text 100 when it merged with Bite to form Archetype.

Independent agency W Communications Singapore has won the mandate for online brokerage firm Tiger Brokers after a competitive pitch. The scope of the campaign extends to Singapore and the wider APAC region. W Communications mandate is to increase the brokerage’s share of voice, targeting retail investors, high net worth individuals and financial intermediaries.

Jeff Greenspoon has been promoted to chief global client officer at Dentsu in Australia. Greenspoon has been with the network for over a decade. He started as the CEO of Isobar Canada, after the 2014 acquisition by Dentsu of Spoke, an agency that he co-founded. His mandate is leading the strategy and vision for Dentsu’s global clients. He was most recently global practice president integrated solutions and retains his current role as chief business officer, Dentsu Americas. Meanwhile, Brett Elliot has joined Dentsu in Australia as chief operating officer media, a newly created role. He moves from UM where he led the Australian government and Australian Capital Territory (ACT government) business. Elliot has previously worked with Mediacom in Australia

Oxford University Press (OUP) Australia and New Zealand  has picked Australia-based independent agency Wonderful Digital as its agency partner. The mandate involves everything customer experience (CX), brand platform development, and performance media.

Kate Fuller has been promoted to managing director, Sydney, at Australia-based independent creative agency Fuller. While her mandate will be driving growth in Sydney, she will also contribute to the national strategy of the agency, headquartered in Adelaide.

Chiradeep Gupta has announced his departure from Unilever in a LinkedIn post. He joined the brand 13 years ago as global media innovation manager and he was most recently vice president, personal care, head of media and digital and global integrated media strategy. Prior to joining Unilever, he worked at Starcom MediaVest Group. 

Meta has appointed Jerry Bongco as its new country director for the Philippines. 
As country director,  Bongco will be responsible for leading the local team, developing and implementing strategic business plans, and fostering key partnerships with businesses in the Philippines. He joins Meta from Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he served as country manager and board of director since 2023. Prior to AWS, he held various leadership roles at global multinational companies such as Microsoft, NEC, Olivetti, Lucent Technologies, and Sun Microsystems.

Think HQ has appointed Isabel Zhang as head of cross-cultural research. Based at its South Melbourne campus, with over 20 years of research experience across the Asia-Pacific region, Zhang joins Think HQ after over six years at Bastion as general manager of cross-cultural research. Following her move to Think HQ, she will continue her leadership role within the Australian Institute for Diversity in Mental Health. At Think HQ, Zhang will sit within the agency’s strategy and insights team and also work closely with the agency’s multicultural communications arm, CultureVerse.

Bastion Shine, a New Zealand marketing and communications agency, has appointed Sally Hooper as managing director of its Wellington business. Hooper will oversee the growth of Bastion Shine’s government and commercial client portfolio. With over 20 years of experience leading impactful marketing strategies across diverse sectors, she was a director at Deloitte Digital before joining Bastion Shine. Prior to that, she also worked at Clemenger BBDO, FCB and Colenso BBDO. 

Australia-based independent media agency Match&Wood has bagged the account for the Renault Group from OMD. Match&Wood’s remit includes both media planning and buying and the agency will start working with Renault this April.

Nunn Media, an independent media agency, has won the business of insurance solutions provider, Neilson Financial Services. Nunn Media will support Neilson with media buying, strategy and planning management services to supercharge the company’s growth. As part of its duties, the agency will also manage media investment pertaining to the aforementioned products, in addition to supporting a series of launches beginning in January.

Design Bridge and Partners (DBP) has appointed Charlie Lowe as its chief strategy officer for APAC. Lowe brings more than 15 years of agency experience. Before joining DBP, he most recently served as chief strategy officer at McCann Worldgroup, leading the agency’s growth in Southeast Asia with regional and global campaigns. He also spent a decade with Ogilvy and worked with major brands such as IBM, VW, Nestle, British Airways, InterContinental Hotels, and Huawei. He worked across various markets, including Melbourne, Beijing, Singapore, and New York.

Wendy's, the US fast-food giant, has appointed VML as its lead strategic and creative agency. The agency will work alongside communications agency Burson and full-service creative agency Today The Brave. Flynn Group acquired the Wendy’s master franchisee license for Australia in 2023. The first store opened on Cavill Avenue in Surfer's Paradise last month. The brand is planning to have 200 stores in the market by 2034.

Rishab Mukherjee has been promoted to commercial leader (beauty) and head of brand function, Vietnam, Malaysia & Singapore, Procter & Gamble. He was most recently regional head of marketing (senior brand director), haircare Japan & Korea. Mukherjee joined P&G over 14 years ago as an assistant brand manager.

Sustainable underwear brand Boody’s chief marketing officer, Ruth Haffenden, has departed. Haffenden joined Boody in 2022 as its global head of brand and marketing and she was promoted to CMO last year. Before joining Boody, she was managing partner at The Works. Prior to that, she worked at Isentia Strategy & Content (formerly King Content) and Mindshare.

Cheil Indonesia has established an in-house PR function and appointed Soniya Ana as PR and communications manager. Before Cheil, Ana worked for BBDO Worldwide, PT Trans Food and Beverages, and PT Grahawita Santika (Santika Hotels & Resorts). A few weeks ago, Cheil Indonesia appointed Fajar NF as executive creative director to lead its creative direction.

Samantha Lee has joined HP as communications lead, SEA growth markets. Before joining HP, she served as head of communications at Meta Singapore and account director for AKA Asia.

AW, a creative agency, has announced a new partnership with Caritas Australia, the international aid and development agency of the Catholic Church in Australia and the second-largest charitable organisation in the world. The agency is tasked with the development of a new brand strategy and creative brand platform for its client. 

Wavemaker's managing director of Singapore Zachary Lim has stepped down after serving the role for six years. Lim joined Wavemaker over seven years ago as general manager in 2017 and then was promoted to deputy managing director in 2018. Before Wavemaker, Lim was the general manager of Singapore at Maxus Global. Prior to that, he worked at Havas Media, Focus Media and Mediacorp. 

Monks has appointed Ketan Desai as the new managing director of India. Desai brings over 20 years of agency leadership experience, most recently serving as Grey India's chief operating officer. He joins the agency in February 2025 and will report to Kenny Griffiths, managing director of APAC at Monks. He will replace Robert Godinho, who will move on to a new challenge after serving as India's MD for over five years. 

Tourism Tasmania has appointed BMF Australia as its lead creative agency following a competitive tender process. BMF retains the account and will continue to work on the creative strategy and execution for Tasmania’s destination brand, as led by the state tourism organisation.