GroupM appoints Geraldine Cheung L’Atelier lead for LVMH business

GroupM has appointed Geraldine Cheung as head of L’Atelier Singapore, a bespoke agency under GroupM formed to service its recently-won LVMH account. She will be tasked with leading and driving growth for the agency.Prior to the move, she was a regional business director at MEC Singapore. Cheung has been with the agency since 2010, managing a portfolio of local and regional clients. This includes Scoot, Sentosa Development Corporation, Diamler SEA, Cycle & Carriage, Singtel, Chevron International and Coca-Cola Far East Limited, to name a few. She has also held roles such as business director, account director, senior manager and senior planner.Before MEC, she was an associate account director at Mediacorp, where she provided account management and recommended advertising solutions to various commercial clients. This includes Canon Singapore, Shell, American Express, Coca-Cola, Nestle, City Developments Limited. Other government clients include Land Transport Authority, MCYS, National Council on Problem Gambling, Singapore Sports Council & National Library Board.Cheung’s hire follows GroupM’s account win of LVMH in July, which saw L’Atelier bagging media duties from incumbent agency Zenith. A quick check by Marketing showed that since then, several job openings on GroupM’s websites have been posted for roles such as account director, media management and account servicing for the Singapore and Malaysia markets.This follows the recent merger of MEC and Maxus to form “Wavemaker”, a new agency brand which will be finalised by January 2018. The new brand mark reflects the agency’s heritage, born from WPP and GroupM, the statement added. The move resulted in the appointment of Maxus APAC CEO Ajit Varghese was appointed to head the global market development team, as GroupM unveiled plans to scrap its Asia Pacific management for Wavemaker.In Singapore, Desh Balakrishnan, managing director of Maxus Singapore, was appointed to the role of managing director for Wavemaker in Singapore in July, while Allison Coley, managing director of MEC, transitions into a new regional role in Wavemaker by the end of 2017. In Malaysia, Michelle Achuthan, managing director of MEC Malaysia was appointed to take on the role as MD of Wavemaker Malaysia. Meanwhile in Indonesia, MD of MEC Indonesia, Ajay Gupte was appointed MD of Wavemaker. Read also:WPP names merged MEC-Maxus entity WavemakerMEC APAC CEO Peter Vogel to lead merged MEC-Maxus entity in ANZPfizer names MEC media partner for consumer health businessDesh Balakrishnan to lead merged MEC-Maxus Singapore entityMEC and Maxus new entity to be led by Michelle Achuthan