Neal Estavillo returns to adland joining Dentsu Aegis Network

Dentsu Aegis Network Malaysia has appointed Neal Estavillo (pictured) to the newly created role of director, business development, reporting to CEO Nicky Lim.?Estavillo will be joining the executive committee with a mandate to lead on business development as well as collaboration with DAN Malaysia?s key clients.

He will be responsible for positioning the group?s integrated media offering, combining cultural insight and creative content together with data and analytics expertise across media. His role will include supporting the growth of key assets including the M1 Data Platform, The Story Lab and its AI business intelligence tool, Pronto.

Prior to his new role, Estavillo was VP of creative solutions at Astro, where he led on?developing its integrated marketing and branding offer. Before that, he was managing director for J. Walter Thompson and MediaCom. He has more than 25 years of?brand marketing and communications experience in the Malaysia market, and has worked with clients from the telco, F&B, FMCG, travel, banking and finance, health and nutrition, fashion and retail, and government sectors. More recently, he has overseen and led regional and local pitch wins, such as Celcom, Sunway Group, Coca-Cola, P&G and Fonterra.

Estavillo said this is "a great new role" within the agency that underlines?its commitment to delivering integrated and unique propositions that are designed to fit the needs of each client.

"Coupled with this, the combined strength of M1, The Story Lab and Pronto provides an exciting offer in Malaysia. I?m looking forward to supporting the whole Media team at Dentsu to deliver commercial growth and creative success," he added.

Lim said that Estavillo's appointment comes at an exciting time in the business as the industry has become?increasingly complex and fragmented.

"To counter this, we need to react to changing client needs by creating simplicity. This means integrated solutions that delivers value for our clients while at the same time building long-term and sustainable growth in our business. I?m certain that Estavillo will help us maintain our position as one of the most compelling operations in the media space," he added.