Social Mixer 2024 Singapore
marketing interactive Content360 Singapore 2024 Content360 Singapore 2024
Andrew Thomas back in Ogilvy limelight as agency builds up capability leadership team

Andrew Thomas back in Ogilvy limelight as agency builds up capability leadership team

share on

Ogilvy has made four key appointments to its capability leadership team in Asia Pacific region as a next step in the agency’s transformation journey. Andrew Thomas (pictured) will once again be taking on a more active role in developing the agency's PR and Influence offerings in ASEAN. He will continue to be based in Singapore. Thomas was previously with Ogilvy for approximately 12 years, helming roles such as Asia Lead - Social@Ogilvy and president, Southeast Asia and India, joining human resources consulting firm Eagle’s Flight as regional CEO for Asia Pacific. In 2017, Thomas took on a new venture with human resources consulting firm Eagle’s Flight, as its regional CEO for Asia Pacific. Eagle’s Flight is a consulting business which was founded in 1988, with clients spanning from automotive, agriculture, food & beverage and hospitality, to finance, pharmaceuticals, mining, and energy. Ogilvy had then told Marketing that Thomas had not left Ogilvy, but was chasing his own venture in the area of workplace performance. Meanwhile, Giri Jadhav has been named the head of advertising in Asia. Jadhav started with the network in India, and has held various regional positions based out of Singapore – most recently heading the agency’s global client portfolio in the region. Jadhav will drive the evolution of the advertising offering in a digital and content driven world. He will continue to be based in Singapore. Sheilen Rathod is taking on the leadership of the agency's customer experience and commerce capabilities across Asia, extending from his current China role in charge of this capability area. These services continue to build upon Ogilvy’s long history of data driven one-to-one marketing services. This includes the fast-growing area of commerce and user experience marketing. Rathod is based in Shanghai. Ali Kazmi will head Ogilvy’s partnerships in Asia – also an extension of his current role in China. Over the past few years, Ogilvy has developed crucial relationships with various partners such as digital platforms in China, international partners and Asian homegrown platforms and partners. Kazmi’s role will be to build these and other partnerships and assure that clients have access to deep platform knowledge. He will take on this regional position from Shanghai. Thomas, Jadhav, Rathod and Kazmi will join Ogilvy’s capability leadership already in place in the region led by Scott Kronick (PR and influence), Benoit Wiesser (brand strategy), and Jerry Smith (digital transformation). The role of capability leaders is to develop and nurture key specialist skills. The leaders also have the modern marketing skills to meet the changing needs of clients and demonstrate the depth and breadth of the expertise that exemplifies the new Ogilvy. Ogilvy’s six core global capabilities are brand strategy, advertising, customer engagement and commerce, PR and influence, digital transformation, and partnerships. Digital transformation in Asia entails enterprise level digital strategy, and marketing automation. Smith will also continue to oversee Ogilvy’s specialist digital agencies such as Verticurl, ARBA, and Pennywise; in addition to maintaining his COO role for Ogilvy Asia, and his position as chairman of Ogilvy Consulting in Asia. Kent Wertime, co-chief executive, Ogilvy Asia, said that today, brands are facing "unprecedented change" and the agency must continue to evolve to  meet their needs. “This core group of leaders reflects the diversity of Ogilvy’s offering and expertise, which is brought together holistically as innovative, integrated solutions that build our clients’ brands," Wertime said. “As we look to the new year, Kent and I look forward to partnering with our renewed capability leadership team to continue to meet the changing needs of our clients while also developing a pipeline of talent with the modern marketing skills needed to take Ogilvy into the future,” added Chris Reitermann, co-chief executive, Ogilvy Asia. (Read also: Ogilvy replaces Eugene Cheong with 2 new creative leads)

share on

Follow us on our Telegram channel for the latest updates in the marketing and advertising scene.
Follow

Free newsletter

Get the daily lowdown on Asia's top marketing stories.

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's marketing development – for free.

subscribe now open in new window