People

Taiwan - BBDO Taiwan has promoted Frances Jen to managing director. Jen has been acting in the role since January 2008, and formally assumed the leadership on 28 April 2008.

Singapore - Mediaedge:cia (MEC) Asia Pacific has appointed Peter Vogel to the new role of chief strategy officer.

Singapore - Mediaedge:cia (MEC) has promoted MD of Global Solutions Connie Chan to replace outgoing MD for MEC Singapore Lim Yew Nee while GM Sharon Soh will take on a new role as strategy director.

Singapore - NeoAsia has appointed Mediacorp artiste Jacelyn Tay as the new face of NeoStrata. She will be featured in advertising campaigns for NeoStrata's line of skincare products beginning June 2008.

Singapore - Hill & Knowlton's Yvonne Koh has been hired by Manning Selvage & Lee to helm its Singapore office following the departure of regional account director Karen Flynn's.

Australia - Australians rank Google as one of the most trusted brands, according to this year's Eye on Australia report released by Grey.

Role description: You will be responsible for advertising and sponsorship sales to advertisers and agencies. You are fully accountable for revenue performance and sales projections.

Malaysia - Bates 141 Malaysia MD and ECD Ajay Thrivikraman is leaving to join Publicis Singapore as ECD. It is believed Bates is close to appointing a new MD while Ajay Bakhshi remains as ECD.

Regional - Epsilon International has made two key hires with Regina Leung joining as marketing director APAC and Cynthia Richmond as regional director Australasia - both report to Dominic Powers, SVP APAC.

Singapore - OgilvyOne has appointed Euro RSCG 4D's London-based MD Anne Davis to the newly created role of deputy managing director for OgilvyOne Singapore and regional digital director for OgilvyOne Asia Pacific.

Role description: You'll be in charge of stuff no one else understands. You'll make traditional creatives worry that they're obsolete and fear for their jobs. You'll make the CD happy with all the new work and awards you're going to bring in.

Australia - Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) has appointed Yvette Mayer as director and promoted Maree Galanos to strategy planning director of communications strategy and ROI consultancy Genesis Sydney.

Philippines - BBDO Guerrero Ortega (BBDO GO) has promoted Joel Limchoc and Simon Welsh to joint executive creative directors, with effect from 2 May 2008.

Singapore - Ogilvy & Mather Singapore has appointed former BBH Singapore head of planning Gwen Raillard to group executive planning director, replacing Gorse Jeffries.

Malaysia - Provocative artist, Ralph Steadman, will speak at the second annual Saatchi & Saatchi Hero Show at the upcoming Clio Festival.

Singapore - Fisher & Paykel's (F&P) general manager for Singapore, Richard St John, has been promoted to general manager, sales and marketing Asia - to be based in its new regional headquarters in Thailand.

Singapore - Chris Chiu, executive creative director of Leo Burnett Singapore, will be chairing this year's Creative Circle Awards (CCA).

Singapore - XM Asia has hired Gerard Lim as GM, Selene Chin as business director, David Brown as senior creative director and John Musoke as director of planning, and has achieved a 30% growth in new business over the past year.

Singapore - Proximity Singapore has appointed Jason Hodges as creative director and head of copy to work on clients such as SingTel, Aviva, Mercedes-Benz, Visa, Citibank, Keppel and Carl Zeiss.

Singapore - Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS) business development manager Stefan Pertz has left the company after only five months - he will leave Singapore shortly and attributes the country's rising high standard of living as a reason for his departure.

Philippines - TNBT's Crush Philippines has appointed Daffy May Jonson, previously regional creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi Asia, Australia and India (AAI), as its new executive creative director.

Singapore - MediaCorp has hired Chitra Rajaram, former GolinHarris regional MD for SE Asia, as deputy editorial director for News, Radio and Print.

Australia - Starcom MediaVest Group Sydney has appointed Anna Lenart and Jonathon Key as client business director and media strategist respectively.

Singapore - Sean Lam from Kinetic and Eugene Cheong from Ogilvy will be part of the Cyber and Press Lions juries respectively for the upcoming 55th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

Singapore - Nivea has appointed MediaCorp artiste Jesseca Liu as brand ambassador for its new Nivea Visage Sparkling White range, to be launched end-May 2008.

Singapore - Starcom MediaVest Group's (SMG) regional VP and head of consumer context planning and insight development, Mark Bowling, will relocate to New York to take up a global role at SMG.

Singapore - TOM Outdoor Media Group's (TOM OMG) Beijing-based GM of marketing operations Kuah Sok Khim has returned to Singapore to join SPH New Media's Zapcode Division as assistant general manager.

Korea - Cheil Worldwide has appointed Bruce Haines, former group CEO of Leo Burnett London, as president and global COO based in its Seoul headquarters.

Hong Kong - The media, public relations and advertising sector is most optimistic about the economy with only 11% anticipating a recession in the next six months, according to Hudson's latest report for the second quarter.

Singapore - Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APBS) has filled the long-vacated brand manager seat - since mid-last year - for specialty beers by hiring Bartle Bogle Hegarty APAC's associate account director Brenda Koh.