Move and win roundup: Week of November 24, 2025

Carma, global media monitoring and research firm, has appointed Aubrey Siahainenia as business development director for Indonesia. He reports directly to Andrew Nicholls, managing director, Carma Asia Pacific. Siahainenia brings over 20 years’ experience in media and communications, most recently holding the position of senior growth manager at Telum Media.

TRA, research and insights agency, has promoted Terri Hall from managing partner, Sydney to the newly created role of managing partner, Australia. Hall, who joined TRA in 2018, returned to Australia in 2022 to establish the Sydney office, and will now oversee both Sydney and Melbourne operations. Before joining TRA, she was client service director for Kantar TNS.

W Communications has expanded its influencer and creator consultancy, HelloFranses!, into the APAC region, with the opening of a Singapore office. Initially founded in the UK by Chloe Franses, HelloFranses! now has a 20-strong team, having worked with clients including Disney, Hublot, Aston Martin and Bacardi, and Pop Mart. W Communications Singapore represents brands including 1664, Moët Hennessy Diageo, Deliveroo, Hilton, and Geneco. Aaron Chan, associate director at W Communications, will lead the business in Singapore, working together with Robin Chang, general manager of W Communications APAC.

Farhan Qureshi, formerly country director for Google Malaysia has now been appointed as Google's regional director of business and operations for Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Frontier Markets. 
Qureshi is well-known to the advertising and media industry having served previously in C-suite roles at media agencies like Starcom and MediaCom in the region. Qureshi's appointment has been made alongside Google's recent move naming Ben King as managing director for Google Malaysia and Singapore and follows two other related appointments earlier this month – Prep Palacios as Google's country director in the Philippines and Rafael Scislowski as country director for Thailand.

Virgin Active has appointed Connected Media as its lead media agency in Australia following a competitive four-way pitch. The independent agency will handle the full media remit for the fitness brand, including strategy, planning, buying, optimisation and reporting, across all above-the-line and digital channels. Virgin Active entered the Australian market in 2008, operates eight clubs in Sydney and one in Melbourne. Connected Media’s mandate centres on driving consistent membership growth by improving both the volume and quality of leads, while also deepening brand awareness and affinity in a highly competitive fitness landscape. As part of the pitch, the agency delivered a comprehensive account and market assessment that identified audience overlaps, media inefficiencies, creative and messaging gaps, and opportunities for greater personalisation. 

Havas Media Network Singapore has made two key leadership appointments. Jean Lee has joined the agency as managing director of Havas Media Singapore. With over two decades of experience across media strategy, client leadership, and business development, she was most recently client president at Dentsu prior to her new role. Having worked with brands including IKEA, Uniqlo, and Standard Chartered, she will oversee the strategic direction of the Singapore operations. In addition, Zoheb Gafoor has been appointed as general manager, digital, Southeast Asia. With more than 14 years of experience in performance, data, and operations in the region, he will spearhead digital transformation across the Southeast Asia network and enhance capabilities in automation and technology partnerships. His career spans roles in OMD, Havas Worldwide, and Intel, and has been based in Singapore, the UAE, Oman, and New Zealand. Lee and Gafoor will report to Pankaj Nayak, CEO of Havas Media Network Singapore and president, Southeast Asia, Havas Media.

Havas Group ANZ has appointed Alastair Baker to chief AI officer, a newly-created role. With more than 15 years of experience across media, creative, and digital, he was most recently chief planning officer and head of strategy at the network's Australia office. He previously held leadership roles across integrated marketing services and client solutions at iProspect and Fetch. He will oversee AI strategy across the Havas operating system, Converged.AI. He announced the new appointment on LinkedIn.

Travel-tech platform EaseMyTrip has appointed Manmeet Ahluwalia as chief marketing officer. Bringing over 20 years of experience in brand transformation, performance marketing, and digital growth, he will spearhead the company's marketing strategy, innovation, and customer engagement. He has held management roles at organisations including Expedia, Thomas Cook, Yatra, and the Singapore Tourism Board.

Independent creative network Do. Agency has acquired a stake in the UK creative agency, The Elephant Room. The partnership expands the network's global footprint beyond its offices in Australia, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The partnership aims to provide The Elephant Room access to a global network and international talent while growing Do. Agency's presence in the UK's creative market, and has recently secured opportunities with brands including Vodafone.

Burson has appointed HS Chung as CEO of Asia-Pacific, to succeed Adrian Warr. She had been leading the agency’s business in North Asia-Pacific across China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea and will now oversee the entire region, which also includes Burson’s business in Australia & New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Chung remains based in Seoul, Korea, and the appointment is effective December 1, 2025. Chung founded Synergy Communications in January 2000, which became part of Hill & Knowlton in 2002. Before Burson, she was as President, Asia for Hill & Knowlton. Warr, who had been leading South Asia-Pacific for Burson, is leaving the region to return to the United Kingdom with his family and will depart the business as of November 30, 2025. He left Edelman and joined Burson over a year ago.

Ogury has appointed Nicolas Bidon as chief executive officer, effective December 1. A seasoned adtech executive with over two decades of international experience, Bidon will lead Ogury’s next phase of innovation and growth, overseeing its global operations and advancing its end-to-end, cross-channel advertising platform. Most recently, he served as Global CEO of GroupM Nexus (part of WPP). He joined WPP in 2012 as managing director of Xaxis UK, later becoming Global CEO of Plista. In 2017, he was promoted to Global CEO of Xaxis. Prior to WPP, Bidon held senior positions at Yahoo and various enterprise software startups, such as Microstrategy and Watchfire, the latter acquired by IBM. 

Howatson+Company has been named creative agency of record for ABN Group, working across their market-leading Boutique Homes and Homebuyers Centre brands, following a robust shortlist and tender process. The appointment is effective immediately.  Howatson+Company will partner with ABN Group to develop an innovative, consumer-led brand strategy, leveraging category-leading thinking to differentiate ABN Group from its competitors. 

The Sandpiper Group has appointed Estelle Xu as director, based in Shanghai. Xu will oversee the office’s strategic development and bolster senior client advisory capabilities as Sandpiper looks to expand its mainland China presence. With 15 years of experience spanning media, law, and high-stakes corporate communications, Xu has advised clients through major market transitions, regulatory challenges, and critical corporate events. Before joining Sandpiper, she worked for FGS Global as a director based in Shanghai. Prior to that, she worked at Finsbury Glover Hering, Edelman and Ketchum.

Innocean Australia has relaunched with a new leadership team and unified model combining creative, media, data, and strategy. The shift, built on Fearless Creativity, aims to remove silos and deliver transparency amid client frustration with fragmented agencies and efficiency pressures. The new move sees two general managers, Adam Hosfal as GM of Advertising and Tom Cumberworth as GM of Media, reporting to CSO Giorgia Butler, ECD Brendan Willenberg, and CEO Jasmin Bedir. The agency now offers a single strategy that bridges message and medium, backed by one strategy that "straddles message and medium" and a culture of psychological safety to unite creative and media teams. Early results underscore the impact. Within six months, the integrated model cut campaign costs by 24% while lifting business outcomes by 15%.

Bench Media, a full-service media agency, has appointed Jessica Torstensson to the newly created role of client growth director. Torstensson also joins the agency’s senior leadership team, reporting directly to Ori Gold, CEO and Co-Founder. Before Bench Media,  Torstensson was most recently a client partner at Yango. She also worked at Atomic 212º, Involved Media and CHE Proximity, prior to Bench Media.  

Mark Gretton, the chief technology officer at Clemenger BBDO, has left the agency.
Gretton joined Clemenger BBDO after spending over eight years at CHE Proximity, where he was most recently chief technology officer. Before CHE Proximity, Gretton worked at Clemenger BBDO for over three years in his early career, then moved to Ford Motor Company and Coles Liquor.

David Ko has departed Ruder Finn Interactive (RFI) Asia. He joined the agency in 2016 as managing director. Ko confirmed with Campaign that he will launch his new business in January next year. Before RFI, he served as executive vice president of APAC at WE Communications Asia for over seven years.