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Toni Lee RudnickiSpeedcast International Limited announced that satellite industry veteran Toni Lee Rudnicki has joined the company in the newly created role of Vice President of Global Marketing.

A highly accomplished senior level marketing executive, Ms. Rudnicki has successfully defined and implemented marketing and branding strategies for both private and public companies. The appointment of Ms. Rudnicki is the latest step in the company's effort to strengthen its leadership team as it capitalizes on the growing demand for high quality, always available global communications.

Previously Ms. Rudnicki served as the Chief Marketing Officer for iDirect where she drove the transformation of iDirect into a leading brand within the satellite industry. Just prior to joining Speedcast, Ms. Rudnicki had been responsible for marketing and business development for the Agilis Business Unit of ST Engineering in Singapore.

In her position as Vice President of Global Marketing, Ms. Rudnicki will be responsible for all global marketing activities including branding, messaging, strategic marketing, vertical marketing, analyst relations, advertising, public relations, alliance marketing, and marketing communications.


lisaPineBridge Investments announced the appointment of Lisa Wang as Head of Marketing & Communications for Asia, based in Hong Kong.

She joins PineBridge from State Street Global Advisors, where she was Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific, responsible for developing multichannel strategy marketing plans.

Lisa Wang has more than a decade of B2B and B2C marketing experience in the asset management industry. At PineBridge, her responsibilities will include driving marketing and communications strategies aligned with the region’s investment and business objectives and enhancing brand awareness within both institutional and retail channels.

Wang holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan. She was recognized as a Rising Marketing Star by the Association of National Advertisers and named as one of Campaign Asia’s 2016 40 under 40.


Gamma, a fast-growing Southeast Asia-based ad selling platform, announced a partnership with MediaMath to deliver localized, highly-targeted ad inventory for advertisers.

Gamma is the first supply side platform (SSP) focused purely on monetizing Southeast Asian publishers. Advertisers will be able to programmatically target audiences across Gamma’s ecosystem of over 5,000 publishers in Southeast Asia for desktop, mobile, video and mobile applications, using specific metrics including age, gender, demographics and others.

Launched in December 2016, Gamma is the offshoot of regional digital marketing player Ambient Digital. In just six months, the Southeast Asia focused platform has built strong local relationships across the region.

As part of its strategic growth plan, Gamma continues to grow relationships with publishers throughout Southeast Asia, and is looking to expand partnerships into North Asia, Greater China, Australia and South Korea.


Foursquare, the location intelligence company, announced new and expanded partnerships with industry-leading companies in Asia as well as the expansion of its Asia-based team, that offers on-the-ground technical support and local language fluency, and works hand-in-hand with partners as they design location-powered products. The leadership includes:

Jeremy Geiger, Head of Enterprise Business, Asia-Pacific: Jeremy has more than 15 years of experience bringing data-oriented enterprise technology companies into China, Korea, Japan, India, Australia and SE-Asia. Formerly the Founder & CEO at Retailigence, Jeremy understands the power of mobile location data and the needs of Asian enterprise customers.

Allen Wu, Senior Business Development Manager: Allen's expertise, honed from years at Baidu, Lenovo, Dell and Nokia, expands and deepens Foursquare's relationships with a rapidly growing number of international developers and internet and hardware companies.

Hyounil Choi, Senior Technical Account Manager: Hyunil has years of experience in technical, product and implementation roles at Korea-based Naver and Japan-based LINE, and played a key role in Germany-based SAP's expansion in China.

Foursquare powers location data for Samsung, Apple, Twitter, Reddit and 100,000 other developers. Its business solutions also include Pinpoint, Attribution, Pilgrim SDK and Foursquare Analytics, which empower brands to understand and connect to targeted audiences as well as measure foot traffic and advertising success.


chinatelecomChina Telecom and Telenor Connexion just celebrated their strategic partnership based on the common Internet of Things (IoT) Open Platform at the launch event of “eSurfing on the Silk Road, IoT with the World” in Shanghai, China.

 

This common platform enables both companies to serve their respective customers throughout the combined footprints across China, Europe and other Asian regions. The partnership will allow customers from China Telecom and Telenor Connexion to deploy IoT and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) services in each other’s network. It enables China Telecom’s multi-national enterprise customers with outbound IoT business to deploy their assets and offerings under Telenor Connexion’s networks in the European and other Asian Markets. Similarly, Telenor Connexion’s global customers can enjoy the benefits of the rapidly growing Chinese market by leveraging on China Telecom’s IoT network resources and business capabilities. The seamless switching of IoT subscription between networks is achieved by the integration of the two commonly deployed eUICC platforms which are the key component of IoT collaboration across borders.

 

China Telecom and Telenor Connexion will cooperate both commercially and technically to create new service models that support the global IoT opportunities. Under this agreement, Telenor Connexion will be one of China Telecom’s preferred partners for connectivity in Europe and other Asian regions while China Telecom will also be Telenor Connexion’s preferred partner for connectivity in China based on the DCP platform and ecosystem. Both companies also agreed to jointly explore the potential of enhancing existing IoT capabilities and the application of new technologies such as NB-IOT and LTE-M in the global market.


Anthony FreedmanHavas announced the appointment of Anthony Freedman in the newly created role of Chairman, Havas Group Australia and New Zealand.

Freedman will oversee a team of almost 500 people across Havas Sydney, Havas Melbourne, Havas New Zealand, Havas Media, Host, One Green Bean and Red Agency, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Auckland.

He will be supported by five CEOs, Anthony Gregorio and Mike Wilson who continue in their current roles as Group CEO Havas and Group CEO Havas Media, across Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, James Wright, CEO Red Agency, Carl Ratcliff, CEO One Green Bean and Laura Aldington who is appointed CEO Host after significant success leading the agency as Managing Director.

James Wright will also assume additional responsibilities, with the roll out of Red Agency across APAC, following its successful launch in Singapore last year, as well as taking on the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer, Havas Group Australia/New Zealand.

Freedman’s appointment across both creative and media agencies follows the March announcement of a global restructure in which the creative and media businesses became business units under one regional P&L, providing clients with a more agile and seamless experience.

This is a further next step in the Group’s Together strategy, following the roll out of 48 Havas Villages across the world, bringing together Havas agencies of different disciplines within a single location.

Freedman’s relationship with Havas began in 2011 following the acquisition of 51% of Host and One Green Bean, agencies that he founded in 2000 and 2007, respectively.


Vivian YenAdAsia Holdings announced the appointment of Vivian Yen as Vice President, Taiwan.

Yen previously held leadership roles in media agencies and ad tech companies including General Manager of MediaCom Taiwan, Vice President of ZenithOptimedia Taiwan, and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Pioneer International, which was later sold to Group M.

Prior to joining AdAsia Holdings, Yen was also an investor in several e-commerce and travel tech companies, and a marketing consultant for marketing tech and data analytics firms.

Yen will drive business growth for AdAsia Holdings’ Taiwan office and oversee the company’s sales teams in Taiwan. This move closely follows the appointment of Vivek Misra as VP, Corporate Strategy.

Since starting out in April 2016, AdAsia Holdings has expanded to 10 cities in nine countries, with a global headcount of over 130 staff. The company offers end-to-end solutions across online display, native and video advertising, and influencer marketing.


Valerie MadonHavas announces the appointment of celebrated creative personality Valerie Madon to the dual role of Chief Creative Officer for Southeast Asia and Creative Lead for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) business for APAC.

In her new role, Valerie will be responsible for the creative output of all Havas agencies in Southeast Asia. Working closely with the creative leads from the nine markets, where the agency has a presence, she will play an important role in advancing Havas’ creative ambitions in the region by helping to build a solid creative foundation for the network through regional collaboration.

Additionally, in her concurrent role as Creative Lead on GSK in Asia Pacific, she will be responsible for delivering world-class creative output on the key global and regional brands managed out of Havas’ GSK Hub in Singapore.

Valerie joins the agency from Facebook, where she was the Head of Creative Shop for Southeast Asia. Prior to that, she was the Global ECD on Shell Lubricants at JWT concurrently holding the role of Chief Creative Officer in Singapore. She started her career with digital agency XM Asia and has also had a long stint with Leo Burnett/Arc and later Publicis Modem.

She will report into Vishnu Mohan, CEO of Havas Group, Southeast Asia & India and will work closely with Christian Pattman, the Executive Global Client Director of GSK at Havas APAC.


Bob MackintoshR/GA announced Bob Mackintosh as VP Executive Creative Director, APAC.

He will be based at R/GA Sydney in the newly-created role, which will also include creative stewardship of R/GA’s Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo offices.

The multi-award-winning Mackintosh spent 11 years at Host Sydney, most recently as Executive Creative Director, overseeing celebrated campaigns for Air New Zealand, Coca-Cola, LEGO, Pizza Hut, IKEA and Virgin Mobile. His work has been recognized by global and local competitions including Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD and AWARD, where he has also served as a judge. Prior to Host, Mackintosh was Digital Creative Director of Tequila / TBWA Sydney, overseeing global campaigns for New Line Cinema, Nissan, Absolut and Sony Playstation.

The announcement follows a period of concerted business growth and creative success for R/GA in APAC, including the recent opening of a Tokyo office and multiple wins at D&AD, ADC, AWARD, the Webby and Shorty Awards.


Andrew Benett headshotBloomberg Media announced the appointment of Andrew Benett as Global Chief Commercial Officer, who takes on the newly created role and will serve on the organization’s executive leadership team.

Benett will assume global responsibility for Bloomberg Media's sales, advertising operations, integrated franchises, consulting and marketing services, as well as efforts to institutionalize innovation across the commercial organization. Based out of Bloomberg LP’s global headquarters in New York City, Benett’s appointment is effective immediately. He will report to Bloomberg Media CEO Justin B. Smith.

As Global Chief Commercial Officer, Benett will accelerate Bloomberg Media’s commercial success through the transformation of its business model from a media owner to an integrated marketing services and consulting entity, evolving from core advertising sales to a consultative, client centric business model. Under Benett’s stewardship, Bloomberg Media will deliver integrated consulting, marketing services and media, driven "from and for" Bloomberg's highly influential audience across six complementary pillars: business and brand consulting, audience insight and development, marketing strategy, integrated marketing communications, corporate communications and content marketing organizational design.

Benett brings nearly 20 years of experience in leading and driving business transformation across large and complex organizations within marketing services, consulting and corporate environments. He spent the last 13 years of his career at Havas Creative Group, a leading marketing communications business at the center of creativity, media and technology, where he rose up through the ranks and ultimately assumed the role of Global CEO of Havas Creative Group. As Global CEO, Benett oversaw all aspects of the organization including full P&L responsibility, corporate strategy, operations, finance, people, culture and product, and led its turnaround. He co-authored three books on corporate strategy and talent, and is a frequent subject matter expert on growth strategy and marketing innovation. Benett has received numerous industry recognitions, and is 2012 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.


Vivek MisraAdAsia Holdings, a technology company developing solutions in artificial intelligence and advertising, has announced the appointment of Vivek Misra as Vice President of Corporate Strategy.

Misra will lead AdAsia Holding’s corporate strategy arm, spanning product and solution strategy, strategic partnerships, and sales enablement.

He joins AdAsia Holdings from AppNexus, where he was Senior Engagement Manager of APAC, having helped drive traction for a client portfolio spanning publishers, ad tech companies and agency buyers.

Prior to AppNexus, Misra was a Value Architect at Accenture’s Analytics and Digital group, pitching and delivering advanced analytics and digital strategy solutions to enterprises. He kickstarted his career at DBS Bank, where he became Vice President of Equity Derivatives Trading, Treasuries and Markets.

Since starting out in April 2016, AdAsia Holdings has expanded to 10 cities in nine countries, with a global headcount of over 120 staff. The company offers end-to-end solutions across online display, native and video advertising, and influencer marketing.


AndrewHavas Singapore announces the promotion of Andrew Hook, the current ECD of Singapore operations to the role of Chief Creative Officer.

In his new role, Andrew will be responsible for the creative output of Havas Singapore and will continue to work across new and existing clients.

Andrew’s creative leadership has been integral to the transformation of the agency over the past two years. In 2016, Havas Singapore won 11 large new businesses including local and regional work for Netflix, Porsche, CIMB Bank and SMU. The agency also registered 95% talent retention and won multiple awards, including a bronze at the Campaign Southeast Asia Agency of the Year 2016 Awards.

Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand, Andrew started his career at boutique shop Generator and moved to Singapore in 2005. Prior to Havas, he worked at Batey Ads and DDB, across a range of clients including Qatar Airways, Audi, Health Promotion Board and Tiger Beer. His work has also been widely recognised at local and international shows, including Cannes, Spikes, One Show, and D&AD.


chrisTBWA Worldwide announced the promotion of Chris Garbutt to the role of Global Chief Creative Officer.

Garbutt will spearhead creative direction and development for the TBWA collective at large, overseeing the creative product across TBWA's roster of global clients that includes adidas, Accenture, Apple, McDonald's, Michelin and Nissan, among others.

In his prior role as Global Creative President, Garbutt implemented a creative vision built upon and executed against the kind of disruptive strategies that are hallmarks of TBWA, while demanding a much higher level of craft. He's built a strong global creative collective of connected but distinct agencies, and has been instrumental in attracting new clients and talent to the company. He has also introduced internal programs that encourage unconventional creative thinking and collaboration on the agency's top brands. Evidence of the success of his efforts abounds with the New York agency more than doubling its revenue since he joined. Industry recognition has followed, with TBWA ranked as a top-3 network at the 2017 D&AD awards, a top-5 network at the 2017 One Show, and more than doubling its award tally at both shows year-over-year across a diverse array of brands and geographies.

With Garbutt's promotion, Hunt becomes Creative Chairman of TBWA Worldwide, formally passing TBWA's creative leadership to Garbutt. Hunt will continue working with the collective as Creative Chairman from South Africa, aiding Garbutt where the greatest needs exist across the TBWA collective.

Garbutt returned to TBWA in 2015 from Ogilvy & Mather East in New York, where he served as Chief Creative Officer. As CCO, his oversight and leadership spanned all agency disciplines, and he is credited with award-winning campaigns for Coca-Cola, IBM and Tiffany & Co. Previously, Garbutt was Chief Creative Officer of the network's Paris office, where he propelled the agency to new creative heights producing global campaigns for Dove, Google, Perrier, Louis Vuitton's 'Journeys' campaign and IBM's 'Smarter Cities.'

In 2014, Garbutt was ranked #1 CCO in the world by Directory's Big Won. Advertising Age also named him one of the most awarded Chief Creative Officers in the world that same year. He has won over 100 Cannes Lions in his career, including three Grand Prix awards, as well as top honors in The One Show, D&AD, Webbys, Clios and Art Directors Club awards.

A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Garbutt began his career in Johannesburg as a Creative Director at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, where he spent four years working under the tutelage of Hunt.


Data Driven AlertsNearly half of Indonesia’s smartphone users not satisfied with their default browsers

Tableau announced the general availability of Tableau 10.3, including its first-ever “smart” features.

This new release features automated tables and recommendations powered by machine learning algorithms that simplify the search for the right data, resulting in deep data-driven insights faster than ever before. With the combination of new data-driven alerts alongside the automated tables, users can instantly receive notifications as their data crosses a pre-set threshold, ensuring they never miss an important change in their organisation.

With governments pushing ahead with Smart Nation initiatives and data analytics as a much sought-after skill, these automated features can help make data analytics an intuitive task for any worker, allowing organisations of all sizes to easily analyse, visualise, and share information. Tableau 10.3 is another big step towards the company’s mission of helping everyone see and understand data.

The full features list for Tableau 10.3 is available at www.tableau.com/new-features/10.3


logoMediaMath announced the launch of its operations in South Korea to better support brands and agencies in the region.

With the appointment of Wishmedia as the official reseller in the country, the launch marks MediaMath’s 43rd country of operation, further signifying the company’s commitment to the Asia Pacific region, following the recent launches in India, Singapore, Tokyo and Australia.

South Korea saw a programmatic spend of $237 million in 2014, and is poised to be the biggest real-time bidding market in the region by 2018. As the region continues to adopt programmatic marketing as the way to leverage data and advanced digital technologies, MediaMath believes that Wishmedia’s familiarity with the local market, combined with its network of potential clients, and expertise in the use of MediaMath’s technology solutions will help shape the future of marketing in the country.


Havas Indonesia announces a slew of new business wins, following an intensive period of pitching, which includes Emirates Airlines, Indonesia Stock Exchange, A&W Restaurants and Nikki (a brand of Nojorono Tobacco).

The Emirates win will see Havas, which currently manages the media account add the creative mandate of the airlines. The appointment by A&W Restaurants also extends to both creative and media disciplines with the account being serviced by an integrated Havas Village team, as it also does for Indonesia Stock Exchange. Additionally, Havas Indonesia will manage the ATL, Digital and Activation duties of the Nikki brand.

Havas rolled out its “Together” strategy in Indonesia in May 2016 with the launch of Havas Village Indonesia that currently houses 250 professionals from media, creative and specialist brands, all working together under one roof.