BBDO/Proximity bolsters senior ranks

Singapore - BBDO/Proximity Singapore has promoted MD Jean-Paul Burge to CEO and hired Nicky Kenna from Clemenger BBDO Sydney as creative services director.

Kenna has been with the Omnicom agency as creative coordinator for the past eight years and started work in Singapore last week managing the creative services department of both BBDO and Proximity Singapore.

She reports to Burge, as he assumes his new responsibilities immediately. Burge in turn will report to Chris Thomas, chairman & CEO, BBDO & Proximity APAC.

In his local MD position since last April, Burge joined the network in 2004 after five years with JWT stationed in various locations like London, Singapore, Bangkok and Amsterdam. He was initially based in Hong Kong as regional business development director, and multinational business director for FedEx.

"Burge has attracted high-profile talent, won numerous new business accounts and has grown existing business," Thomas said.

"His brief from me was to turn our Singapore office into a world-class agency - an agency that could manage complex regional clients as well as win local Singaporean business. He led the fight to win SingTel and Guinness in competitive pitches and developed an offering that attracted network clients to be centralised out of the Singapore office.

"Notably in the last eighteen months, Mercedes, HP, J&J and Masterfoods," Thomas added.