Move and win roundup: Week of December 8, 2025

TikTok’s local music chief Ollie Wards is calling time on his five-year stint with the platform, confirming his departure in a LinkedIn post. Wards has been a key figure in shaping TikTok’s music strategy across Australia and New Zealand during a period when the app became a launchpad for chart hits and artist discovery.

FWD Singapore has appointed Alvin Soh as its chief distribution and marketing officer (CDMO). Soh was most recently CFO for FWD Singapore. He first joined FWD in 2022 as VP, regional agency and FA. Before joining FWD, he worked for Popiwork, Aviva, Tokio Marine Group, and Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has appointed Belinda Drew as head of marketing. She joins the ABC from Droga5 (part of Accenture Song), where she was the chief client officer for ANZ. Drew joined The Monkeys, now known as Droga5, in 2020. Prior to this, Belinda spent two decades leading major brands across Australia and North America at the world's most celebrated creative agencies, such as Leo Burnett, TBWA, and Ogilvy.

VML Vietnam has appointed Bao Tu as chief innovation officer, with a mandate to leverage AI in driving business growth across influence, production, and commerce. With over 18 years of experience, Tu will focus on transformation strategy to help brands modernise their marketing stacks and tap into a borderless creative and technology network. Now based in Ho Chi Minh City, he was previously associate director at Accenture Song in Paris. He was also head of digital and activations at BTEC for over seven years, working with brands including IBM, Google, and Meta.

Lego has appointed Marta Sousa Bigio as APAC communications director following a two-year stint at Weber Shandwick, where she was senior vice president, APAC. She previously led crisis management and corporate reputation for the PR firm. Bringing over 15 years of experience in branding, PR, and media strategy, she's worked in management roles at Crocs, Unilever, and Redhill. Hailing from Portugal and currently based in Singapore, her career has also brought her roles in the Netherlands and Spain. She announced the move on LinkedIn.

Edelman has named Anna Vogt as global chief strategy officer, leading the global strategy community to drive cultural relevance and earned-first brand building. In addition, she will spearhead the agency's Earned Flywheel framework and scaling data and AI-powered intelligence. Bringing over 19 years of experience, she was most recently VML's chief strategy officer EMEA and TBWA London's chief strategy officer, working with brands including KitKat, Adidas, and British Airways. 

Royal Brunei Airlines has partnered with Merkle Singapore for a digital marketing mandate. Merkle will drive privacy-safe audience insights across user sessions, platforms, and devices. The partnership aims to utilise these insights to launch future campaigns faster with full tracking readiness in the customer journey, from first impression to final booking.

Monks Japan has appointed Yohei Adachi as group creative director for Amazon. With over two decades of experience in commercial design, brand building, and filmmaking, he was most recently creative director at AKQA, creating campaigns for Nike, Amex, and Sony Bravia. 

Daniel Koo has been elevated to head of marketing and performance marketing at Shangri-La Circle, in addition to his role as vice president, digital & SLC marketing. With 14 years of experience in business development in retail and digital, he first joined the company as assistant vice president, digital in 2022. In this role, he oversees the digital platform and loyalty and performance marketing strategy.

Chisel has appointed Krystyna Frassetto as head of growth and strategy, spearheading a full-service model spanning original content, sponsorship advisory, and social and influencer marketing. Bringing over 15 years of experience in relationship management and business development, she has held senior roles at Weber Shandwick, AKQA, We Are Social, and M&C Saatchi Australia.

Havas has acquired Kaimera, an independent media agency, to strengthen Havas Media Network’s footprint in Australia and New Zealand. Kaimera will join the organisation under Havas Media Network and operate as 'Kaimera, a Havas Company'. Kaimera’s management team, led by founders Nick Behr and Trent McMillan, will report to James Wright, group CEO of Havas ANZ. Founded in 2016, Kaimera has grown into a 50+ strong agency with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, and team members in Auckland. Kaimera’s clients include Nando’s, Scape, IMB bank, Afterpay, and BritBox.

Semify, a leading white-label digital marketing software platform specialising in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Paid Search Advertising (PPC), Paid Social Advertising, and AI Optimisation (AIO), has acquired Dragon Metrics, an international SEO/AI/PPC reporting software platform based in Hong Kong. Dragon Metrics was founded in 2011 by Simon Lesser (CEO and co-founder) and Richard Mabey (advisor and co-founder). Lesser will join Semify as chief product officer. The Dragon Metrics engineering team will integrate with Semify’s existing engineering team, led by CTO Brian Sappey.

Kia has appointed Footballco, the global football content and culture company, to deliver its ‘Inspiration connects us all’ campaign for the FIFA World Cup 26. Under the partnership, Footballco is leading campaign strategy, creative development, end-to-end production and the management of football legends, cultural influencers and entertainment talent. Footballco’s work will extend across ten markets globally for the automotive company, including World Cup host nations: The United States of America, Mexico, and Canada, as well as Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Havas Group China has elevated Joanne Zhou to managing director of Havas Media China, placing her in charge of the network’s next phase of growth across the market. Zhou joined Havas in 2020 to lead its social media business, before taking on the roles of managing director of Havas Play China and co-managing director for the Greater Bay Area. In her expanded remit, she will drive deeper integration across data, technology and content under the group’s For Sale Page framework, while accelerating both new-business momentum and organic client growth through tighter cross-discipline collaboration.

Language-learning platform Duolingo has appointed Pei Ling Ho as its new regional head of creative for Asia-Pacific, as the company strengthens its creative and brand leadership across the region. Based in Singapore, Ho announced via a LinkedIn post. She will lead Duolingo’s creative strategy and execution across key APAC markets, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and Southeast Asia. She joins the brand’s Global Brand Studio and will report to James Kuczynski, senior creative director, New York. This is a newly created role in APAC, which is one of the fastest-expanding regions for the app. Ho will work closely with country marketing teams and agency partners to drive locally relevant brand campaigns, partnerships and content aimed at strengthening learner engagement across the region. Ho brings more than 18 years of creative leadership experience across Asia. She was previously executive creative director at Publicis Chemistry, and earlier served as global creative director for Creative Works, APAC at Google. Her prior roles also include creative director at Publicis Singapore and associate creative director at RGA Singapore.

Creative agency Tightknit Studio has developed a new service model with social impact brand Thankyou, beginning with their personal care business. Under the partnership, Tightknit serves as both the agency and the company's marketing department. Tightknit Studio will lead the Marketing agenda at a pivotal time for Thankyou as they explore new sectors and expand into global markets. 

Jeff Cheong, DDB chief executive officer for the Singapore office, will step down. Cheong joined DDB in 2018 as deputy president and was promoted to deputy CEO in 2020. He became CEO in 2022, succeeding David Tang, who was elevated to Asia CEO at the time and left the network in 2023. Before DDB Group Singapore, Cheong was president of Tribal Worldwide Asia, where he worked for over 14 years.