Jonathan_MackenzieOmnicom Media Group (OMG) Asia Pacific has promoted Jonathan Mackenzie – former Director of Digital Strategy at OMD International – to the newly created position of Regional Head, Social Media.

In this regional role, Mackenzie will provide vision, focus and enhance Omnicom Media Group’s social media offering that currently includes strategy, integration, engagement and commerce leveraging advanced tools and technologies. With his appointment the company recognises the growing influence of social media in Asia Pacific, including the challenges and opportunities involved in navigating an evolving media landscape, made vibrant by the cultural nuances that exist in the region.

Mackenzie’s new position sits within Annalect, Omnicom Media Group’s data-driven marketing division. He will be based in Singapore and report to Lee Smith, CEO Platforms for Omnicom Media Group, APAC.


Ifor_EvansPropertyGuru Group announce the appointment of Ifor Evans as Chief Technology Officer.

Ifor has more than 20 years of hands-on and leadership experience in web and mobile technology. He will lead PropertyGuru’s information technology team of more than 50 to ensure the company continues to lead the industry by driving the innovative strength of its brand proposition. More specifically, this will involve pushing the boundaries of technical innovation on the mobile front and streamlining software development processes.

At top-line management, Ifor will be working with the Executive Team to adopt appropriate measures to build and manage a top-tier technology team with oversight on recruiting, training, retention, and workflow organization.

Prior to joining PropertyGuru, Ifor was Senior Director of Development for Transaction Banking at Misys in the United Kingdom, responsible for running development teams in multiple locations internationally. He was also Head of Development for Platform at Betfair and Development Director at dunnhumby Ltd for 3 years where he was instrumental in transiting the group to utilise Agile (Scrum/XP) development processes to maximize resource and cost efficiencies.

He has also previously served as CTO for WorldPictureNetwork, a New York based web and media company, and spent time building the UK business as a Principle at ThoughtWorks.


OMD Crowned Agency of the Year, PHD picks up Digital Media Person of the Year

OMD-Logo1Omnicom Media Group (OMD) Singapore was the most awarded agency at the gala awards dinner held yesterday at the Ritz Carlton Millenia and gave a stellar performance at the 9th Singapore Media Awards (SMA) 2013, which recognizes achievements in the media and advertising industry by winning a total of 8 awards.

OMD Singapore was crowned Agency of the Year and emerged as a winner on 4 other categories. Continuing the winning streak, Sim Li Fen of OMD won the Young Media Person of Year.

The categories are as follow:

• Best Use of Magazine – Carlsberg, Where's the party

• Best Strategic Launch – McDonald's, Everyday Savers Menu: Your new hawker vendor

• Best Youth Marketing – Health Promotion Board, CLICK

• Best Corporate Social Responsibility - (inaugural award) – Uniqlo, UT POP-UP for the local talent

Besides that, PHD Singapore’s Marilyn Yeong was awarded Young Digital Media Person of the Year and Joy Koh of Hasbro (a PHD account) picked up the Marketer of the Year award.

SMA remains as Singapore’s pinnacle award for media professionals and has provided a national platform for an annual culmination of the best talents and thought leaders in the media industry.


EdMapa_-_2Havas Media Group Asia Pacific announced the elevation of Eduardo Mapa,Jr., founding partner of Havas Media Ortega, as the Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) for Havas Media Group China.

In his new role Ed will be based in Beijing and report to Thomas Wong, CEO of Havas Media Group, Greater China. He will champion innovative thinking across the agency, with an objective of creating meaningful engagements for brands at the junction of data, creativity and technology.

Ed is a Havas old timer having been with the group since 1997. He joined Havas Media in 2008 to launch the digital brand Media Contacts in the Philippines market, which was rebranded under the Havas Media Ortega name last year and has been credited with developing the digital agency as one of the most innovative agency in the country. Under Ed’s leadership, Media Contacts was awarded the coveted title of Media Agency of the Year for two consecutive years at the prestigious Philippine Advertising Congress' Araw Awards. Prior to this, Ed spent nine years with Havas Worldwide (erstwhile Euro RSCG) as the Executive Director for the Philippines.


Sam_WebbOmnicom Media Group (OMG) Asia Pacific has appointed Samantha Webb in the newly created role of Talent Director, OMG Asia Pacific. In this senior leadership role, Webb will work closely with regional and local management across OMD, PHD and M2M to strengthen talent management and development.

The move comes with the recent appointment of Cheuk Chiang to the Omnicom Media Group APAC CEO role and the group’s renewed focus to raise the bar on talent development and culture.

Webb has more than 20 years of industry experience in advertising, marketing and recruitment, working across agencies such as Grey, WCRS, and Major Players. Webb joins Omnicom Media Group from The Talent Business (TTB), where she was working as a Senior Talent Strategist, based out of the Singapore office. Webb brings an intimate knowledge of the media industry, and the critical role talent plays in fostering a positive agency culture leading to service excellence and growth. In her new position, Webb will be involved in holistic talent management that includes recruitment, coaching, training, learning and development.

Webb’s appointment is effective from August 21st and she will report to Cheuk Chiang.


Aaron_WildOmnicom Media Group announced the promotion of Aaron Wild, currently Managing Director, to the PHD China CEO role, effective immediately.

With 20 years in the agency business of which 11 have been in China, Wild joined PHD Shanghai in 2010 to head up the Unilever business and was instrumental in securing a further 3 year appointment last year as part of their global review. He has presided over some outstanding work including the highly rated Unilever created “Unbeatable” series, that went on to win a Lion at Cannes, and has been a key driver in PHD China winning Agency of the Year.

Wild starts in his new role on Monday, August 12 and he reports to Doug Pearce.


Dalet1Dalet Digital Media Systems, a leading provider of Media Asset Management (MAM) solutions, software and services for content providers, announced the appointment of Jae Sun Ryu as Country Manager, Dalet-Korea and Vitalis Noble Martin as Country Manager, Dalet-India & Sri Lanka.

Ryu, a seasoned industry professional with expertise in key account management, sales and support roles, leads the local Dalet team from the company’s new office in Seoul. He most recently worked for SeaChange, handling a range of responsibilities over a 13-year span.

Noble, an India-based technology veteran with a proven track record in broadcast sales and project management, leads Dalet’s customer initiatives in both India and Sri Lanka. His prior experience includes similar roles with KIT Digital and Shaf Broadcast, two of India’s premiere integrators.

Dalet continues to expand its global presence. In the past year, the company also established a new office in Moscow and in Rio de Janiero. Dalet has a total of 15 sales and project offices, which are strategically located in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. In addition, more than 60 distributors covering 87 countries reinforce the company’s reach.


Manish1InMobi, a mobile-first technology company and the world's largest independent mobile advertising network, announced the appointment of Manish Dugar as Vice President, Finance and Legal in a global capacity.

Dugar joins InMobi from RPG Enterprises, a leading Indian industrial conglomerate, where he served as Group CFO. Prior to RPG Enterprises, Dugar served in a variety of senior roles over a ten year period with Wipro Technologies, a 20 billion-dollar global IT company, where he was most recently CFO for the company's IT Business and the CEO for its BPO business globally.

Manish holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). Manish will be based out of Bangalore.


EdwardSWIFT, the financial messaging provider for more than 10,000 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 212 countries and territories, just announced the appointment of Edward James Haddad (Eddie Haddad) as Director, Asia Pacific.

He takes over from Patrick de Courcy, Deputy Chief Executive Asia Pacific, who has been acting head for the relationship management team in addition to his other duties.

Mr Haddad, who is Australian, has a bachelor’s degree in Business & Finance from Monash University and he is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. He has been living and working in Asia for more than 15 years where he has managed regional sales teams in a variety of leadership roles and has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services markets. Prior to joining SWIFT Eddie was Head of Sales Asia at Thomson Reuters, where he had responsibility for managing a team of 90 sales specialists and consultants, covering the company’s three Financial  & Risk business units representing a combined revenue base of $1 billion. Eddie has also had a number of roles managing account relationships and during his time in Asia has had direct responsibility for the P&L performance of operations in ASEAN, South Asia, Japan and Australia. He has initiated a number of business development activities and has a demonstrated track record of growing Asian businesses. Eddie is married with two children and will continue to be based in Singapore.

Also reporting to Mr Raes, who maintains a separate EMEA management team as well as his AP team, are:

  • Patrick de Courcy, Deputy Chief Executive, Asia Pacific and Head of Markets & Initiatives, Asia Pacific;
  • Beth Smits, Head of Public Affairs & Communications, Asia Pacific; and
  • Anand Bindumadhavan, Head of Services & Support, Asia Pacific.

Reporting to Mr Haddad are:

  • Michael Cheung, Head of Greater China;
  • Yuriko Irie, Head of Japan and Korea;
  • Arun Tiwari, Head of Indian Subcontinent;
  • Zelda Anthony, Head of ASEAN;
  • Bill Doran, Head of Oceania;
  • Tracy Tam, Head of Commercial & Office Administrators; and The Head of Alternative Sales Channels, a team to be set up in SWIFT’s Kuala Lumpur hub before end of year.

SWIFT has been in Asia Pacific for over 30 years, starting in Hong Kong and Singapore. Three regional offices have been opened in Asia since 2005, bringing the total to eight commercial and support offices including our customer support centres in Hong Kong and Tokyo, as well as an Operational Central Control Centre and the Kuala Lumpur global hub, opened in March 2013.