PN-Singapore Dan-BenelishaGlobal public relations leader Porter Novelli announced that Dan Benelisha has joined its Singapore office as senior vice president and managing director.

In addition to leading the office, where his responsibilities include growing and retaining talent and delivering strategic counsel to top clients, Benelisha will serve as the regional lead for one of Porter Novelli’s largest clients. He joined the agency on October 1 and reports to Angie Schneider, president, Asia Pacific.

Benelisha joins Porter Novelli from Groupon, where he served as head of communications for the APAC Tiger region. There he led a team responsible for external communications, internal communications and social media efforts across eight of the company’s fastest growing markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan. Prior to that, Benelisha spent seven years with Waggener Edstrom, most recently as vice president of Asia Pacific in the technology practice. Before relocating to Singapore from the United States, Dan spent five years at Itron, a technology provider to the utility industry.

Benelisha earned a B.S. in communications from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

 


 

Smaato made significant additions to its Asia Pacific team with the appointment of senior executives.

smmatoFrederic Liow joins Smaato with 14 years of experience in the digital advertising industry. In his role, Frederic leads the direct demand business efforts in Asia Pacific and Africa and is instrumental in effectively communicating Smaato’s value proposition to its existing and prospective clients in the region. Frederic oversees as well the direct demand and ad-operations team to drive core business growth for optimizations of client’s mobile campaigns in a secure environment. Prior to joining Smaato, Frederic was the Associate Director of Media & Digital Solutions at Millward Brown where he led the Singapore office media and digital efforts in delivering client impact and managing key on-going relationships.

Casey Tan joins Smaato with over 13 years in the digital marketing industry. His role at Smaato involves overseeing Smaato’s joint-venture in Indonesia, known as IMX, and working closely with the management team to provide consultancy and advisory support. Casey also leads revenue generation in Indonesia, providing guidance to the marketing team on planning and lead-generation activities, development of sales strategy and operational plans for both the demand and supply teams. Prior to joining Smaato, Casey was the Vice President of Operations at Knorex Singapore where he led the regional strategy and operations team for Knorex in Southeast Asia.

Vish-SadanandVish Sadanand, previously Senior Manager, Demand Partnership, APAC & Africa, has recently been promoted to the role of Director for Direct Partnership, APAC. He joined the Smaato in January 2015 and has been involved in onboarding new partners and helping DSP’s and ad networks cross APAC onto Smaato's mobile inventory. Vish focuses on Asia Pacifc markets and is instrumental in devising and implementing country level strategies to align with Smaato’s global objectives in local market. Prior to joining Smaato, Vish served as the Director at Viacom 18 in Mumbai, India, overseeing the national sales for digital media advertising across VH1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon Networks, MTV and Motion Pictures. Vish has over 12 years of experience in digital media advertising sales on online/mobile/social advertising, online/mobile/social gaming, apps, activation and sales inventory management.

 


 

jbCriteo S.A. announced that JB Rudelle, its founder, Chairman and CEO will become Executive Chairman and Eric Eichmann, currently President and COO, will be promoted as the Company’s new CEO, effective January 1, 2016.

Eichmann will join the Board in 2016 subject to shareholder approval. He has served as the Company’s COO since November 2013, and in August 2014 was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, Eichmann served as Criteo’s Chief Revenue Officer from March 2013 to November 2013. Eichmann will transition his current responsibilities as he assumes the role of CEO.

 


 

maruinMeasurement leader, Marion McDonald, Managing Director, Strategy & Effectiveness, Ogilvy Public Relations (Ogilvy PR), Asia Pacific, has been awarded the distinguished Lifetime Fellowship by the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communications (AMEC). The award is in recognition of significant personal contribution to raising the profile of measurement and insights in public relations and communications while inspiring the next generation of leaders to raise the bar on effectiveness.

AMEC is the leading body for communications research, media intelligence and insight for PR professionals. The Lifetime Fellowship was announced at AMEC’s Annual Meeting in London on December 10th, where top professionals gathered to celebrate the contributions made to the industry.

 


 

Havas Media Singapore announced its appointment as the media agency of record for CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest real estate companies headquartered and listed in Singapore.

Havas Media Singapore will handle CapitaLand’s traditional media planning and buying, as well as support the Group’s digital media strategy. The responsibilities span CapitaLand’s diversified portfolio of integrated developments, shopping malls, serviced residences, offices, homes, real estate investment trusts and funds. Effective 1 January 2016, the appointment is part of CapitaLand’s communications strategy as it leverages its significant asset base, design and development capabilities, active capital management strategies, and extensive market network and operational capabilities to continue developing high-quality real estate products and services.

CapitaLand’s global presence spans over 140 cities in more than 20 countries: Its two core markets are Singapore and China, while Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have been identified as new growth markets. The company also has one of the largest real estate fund management businesses with assets located in Asia.

Havas Media Singapore’s additional recent wins includes the media business of Singtel, Singapore’s largest telecom company, and entertainment brand Warner Bros.

 


 

Anthony WongOgilvy & Mather has announced the promotion of Anthony Wong as Worldwide Effectiveness Director, effective January 4, 2016.

This will be a dual role for Wong, who is based in Hong Kong, since he is also Global Client Leader for TeamHW – WPP’s bespoke agency team that looks after Huawei’s marketing and communications around the world.

Wong’s new position will see him championing Ogilvy’s effectiveness culture, and working with both clients and respective global account teams to develop more effective communications. In his previous position as President of Global Brand Management for the network in Asia Pacific, he won more than 30 effectiveness awards.

 


 

Jon Graves has joined Bloomberg Media as its Global Head of Event Sales, according to Global Chief Revenue and Client Partnerships Officer Paul Caine and Head of U.S. Sales Keith Grossman.

Graves will oversee sponsorship sales for the Bloomberg LIVE events organization, which was relaunched in early 2015 under the leadership of Stephanie Mehta and Stacy Kennedy with the goal of convening fewer but more high-impact summits that fully leverage Bloomberg's multiple media platforms and global reach.

Graves, who will report to Grossman, is an accomplished senior events industry executive with more than 25 years of experience. He arrives at Bloomberg Media from re/code, where he was the Chief Revenue Officer, driving $7 million in its first year of operation.

Prior to re/code, Graves held a number of C-suite executive positions, including leading west coast events for The Economist. Previously, he served as CMP Media’s Vice President of Enterprise Events, Gartner Group’s Vice President of International Events (based in London), and CEO of Softworld US, the American division of the popular software trade show.

Graves will be based in San Francisco through the first half of 2016 and then move to New York City. He is a graduate of the University of Wales.

 


 

Peter RobertsonPeter Robertson joins Atos, as Managing Director for the Australia and New Zealand locally incorporated practices.

Atos is a digital service provider specialized in Consulting & Systems Integration services, Managed Services & BPO, Cloud operations, Big Data & Cyber-security solutions.

Prior to joining Atos, Peter spent the last 27 years in global roles, based out of Hong Kong and Singapore with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), covering a combination of Information Technology and Chief Operating Officer (COO) roles. Peter's IT career has included senior global roles in Information Systems, IT operations as well as Vendor Management and procurement.

Peter has an IT degree from Monash University and now lives in Melbourne with his family, where he also enjoys theatre, opera, gardening and many outdoor exercise activities.

 


 

AppNexus, the world’s leading independent advertising technology company, announced an expansion of its global technology partnership with Microsoft Corp.

The agreement names AppNexus as Microsoft’s exclusive technology partner across multiple countries in emerging markets, enabling access in 24 markets to Reserved, Deals and RTB offerings across app-based ad inventory on MSN, Outlook and Skype, as well as third-party apps inventory Windows and Windows phone, through existing local sales houses, who will remain the exclusive resellers of Microsoft premium brand safe inventory. In addition, the AppNexus platform will power a simple, efficient Deals and RTB offering in another 15 markets across the region by February 1, 2016.

Over the past year, AppNexus has expanded its staff in Europe, opened offices in Sydney and Singapore, and acquired RealMedia Latin America (RMLA), one of the region’s preeminent advertising technology companies, to extend its physical footprint across five continents and capture fast growth in these emerging programmatic markets.

 


 

Aaradhee Mehta1Geometry Global India has appointed Aaradhee Mehta as Vice President Shopper Marketing in the newly merged Geometry Global Encompass Network. She will report into Group COO Rahul Saigal.

Geometry Global is an award-winning, multi-practice marketing agency that influences people's buying behavior with transformative creative solutions informed by rich data and sharp insights. Part of WPP, the agency uses cutting edge insight tools to map and analyze people's Purchase Decision Journeys and develops programs that drive conversion and measurably impact client business.

With over nine years of shopper marketing experience, Aaradhee has worked with clients such as Colgate, Mondelez, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, ITC Foods and Personal Care, HP, Diageo, Diesel, Steve Madden and Brooks Brothers.

Aaradhee has been instrumental in setting up two Shopper Marketing practices in India (OmniSpace Retail and Saatchi & Saatchi X) and establishing “Customer Experience” as a key discipline at Reliance Brands.

Before specializing in Shopper Marketing, Aaradhee began her career in advertising where she has worked at Lowe, JWT and Bates.

Aaradhee’s appointment comes just weeks after the Geometry Global and Encompass Network launch was announced. Now the largest entity of its kind in India, with 15 offices reaching 100,000 villages, the network specializes in shopper marketing, rural marketing, large-scale events and exhibitions, urban consumer marketing, digital activation and field marketing.

 


 

Janet MegdadiSynthesio, the leading global Social Intelligence platform, announced that sales veteran Janet Megdadi will fill the role of Chief Revenue Officer, where she will directly lead Synthesio’s global sales organization.

Janet Megdadi will be a key leader for the company, reporting directly to co-founder and CEO Loic Moisand, and will be a member of the Executive Committee. She will be responsible for all global revenue (new business, upsell and renewals), ensuring that Synthesio builds a consistent approach to sales across all offices.

Janet Megdadi brings more than twenty years as both a sales professional in the high tech and eCommerce industries, with a great deal of experience in omni-channel retail and CPG. She worked for companies ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 100, and she has successfully built sales organizations selling enterprise software, media offerings and saas and services. Prior to Synthesio, she spent more than six years at RichRelevance where she was Senior Vice President of Sales and Account Management, leading the sales team for the Americas.

Mrs. Megdadi’s hiring is also notable as she joins Chief Marketing Officer Leah Pope as females that are both C-Suite and Executive Committee members for a high-tech company, something that is not often seen in the world of technology.

Mrs. Megdadi will be working in Synthesio’s corporate headquarters in New York City.

 


 

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) announced the addition of six new industry leaders and renewal of one Board Member to its Asia Pacific Board of Directors.

Elected by the MMA’s APAC membership, the newly-appointed board members will serve a two-year term, beginning immediately. The new and re-elected board members include:

Bessie Lee, CEO, WPP China
Damien Cummings, Global Head of Digital Marketing, Standard Chartered Bank
Joshua Maa, Founder & CEO, Madhouse, Inc.
Kim Donghyun, Asia Digital / eCommerce Leader, Procter & Gamble
Praveen Sharma, Regional Director, Mobile Sales and Solutions, Google Asia Pacific
Sean Rach, CMO, Prudential Corporation Asia
Tran Thi Lan Thanh, CEO, Goldsun Focus Media

Continuing board members, whose terms were not up for re-election include:

Anindya Datta, CEO, Mobilewalla
Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman & CEO, Global Emerging Markets Group, Mindshare
Cheuk Chiang, CEO Asia Pacific, Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
Dan Neary, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Facebook
Dick van Motman, Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network South East Asia
Graham Christie, COO, Big Mobile Group
Joe Nguyen, Vice President Sales Southeast Asia, comScore, Inc.
Rahul Welde, Vice President, Media, Unilever
Vishnu Mohan, CEO, Havas Media Group, Asia Pacific