Wunderman Thompson names new APAC CEO as Annette Male joins Facebook

Wunderman Thompson's APAC CEO, Annette Male (pictured left), is leaving the agency after more than two years to join Facebook to lead its Asia Pacific agency development team, effective October. She will be reporting to Patrick Harris, VP of global agency development, and will oversee Facebook’s agency relationships in the region. Facebook's spokesperson confirmed the appointment to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. She joined from Digitas in 2019 where she was APAC CEO previously. Male began her career at Mars and has also helmed roles at CHI & Partners, Tequila London and TBWA\\GGT.

Replacing her at Wunderman Thompson is Ewen Sturgeon (pictured right), CEO, EMEA, who has been promoted to CEO, international with immediate effect. In his new role, Sturgeon takes on additional responsibility for the agency's Asia Pacific operations. 

Sturgeon will work with Wunderman Thompson leaders across Asia Pacific to continue accelerating growth in the region, which comprises 27 offices in 17 countries including Australia, China, Indian, Japan, Shanghai, Thailand and Vietnam. Wunderman Thompson’s Asia Pacific and EMEA regions will remain structurally and operationally separate, with leaders for each business unit reporting directly into Sturgeon.

He joined the agency in May 2019 from Publicis.Sapient where he was chief operating officer for Asia Pacific and EMEA. Before that, he was international CEO of Digitas for four years, where he was closely involved in launching and growing the agency’s business across Asia Pacific and EMEA.

Wunderman Thompson's global CEO, Mel Edwards, thanked Male for the huge impact she has had on the agency's business, culture and clients. "Male leaves Wunderman Thompson APAC better than she found it and we wish her the very best of luck in her next challenge," Edwards added.

Meanwhile, she said Sturgeon has done a truly impressive job inspiring growth for Wunderman Thompson’s clients across EMEA. "I am looking forward to working with him to continue evolving our business across Asia Pacific in the way that is best for our colleagues and clients across the region," she said.

Sturgeon said: “I’m excited about the scope of this new role, which will allow me to partner with our many talented leaders across APAC to create flexible and empathetic solutions that will continue adding value to our clients in the region.”

Wunderman Thompson Singapore was recently named to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's inaugural Adland’s Diversity & Inclusion Index. It created "allyship" within the agency, walking the talk in diversity and inclusion. The Allyship Initiative was conceived on International Women’s Day 2020 and was inspired by one of its clients, LUX. The focus was to create allies for women when it comes to sexism.

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