MEC and Maxus new entity to be led by Michelle Achuthan

Michelle Achuthan (pictured), managing director of MEC Malaysia will take on the role as MD of the newly combined MEC and Maxus agency, NewCo in Malaysia when it launches in January 2018.Her appointment was announced by Tim Castree, global CEO of MEC and GroupM’s NewCo today. Achuthan has been MEC MD since November 2015. Her new role as the MD of NewCo will be effective from January 2018, said GroupM in a statement to A+M.She was previously the MD of BBDO Malaysia for four and a half years and is a 27-year veteran of the advertising industry, having also worked with other leading agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi and J. Walter Thompson.“We’re merging Maxus and MEC to form a brand new billion dollar revenue media content and technology agency, dubbed NewCo for now. With such ambition, comes a need for brilliant talent to lead and inspire, and so today’s news is very exciting for us," Castree said."Under Achuthan’s leadership, I am confident that we have the right team in place to truly blend the best of MEC and Maxus and make NewCo Malaysia a formidable future-facing agency," he added.Meanwhile in Vietnam, Arup Bansal has been appointed to lead the newly combined MEC and Maxus "NewCo" agency in Vietnam when it launches in January 2018. Prior to the appointment, Bansal was MEC Vietnam's managing director since August 2014.According to GroupM, he has over 15 years of brand marketing experience and held senior marketing roles with Tata Teleservices and Waterhealth, as well as ZenithOptimedia on the agency side.