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Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore marketing chief René de Monchy to return to New Zealand

One of Singapore’s most highly regarded marketers is leaving the country after a three and a half year stint.

René De Monchy

René De Monchy

René de Monchy, the head of marketing for Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, which locally brews Tiger Beer, Guinness and Heineken, is moving back to New Zealand and a role as director of trade, PR and major events at Tourism New Zealand.

He joined APB Singapore in November 2011 from DB Breweries in New Zealand where he was consumer marketing manager, replacing Wong Mei Wai who moved to a role with APB in Vietnam.

In the time since, during which Heineken fully acquired APB from Fraser & Neave for S$7.9 billion ($6.4 billion) in 2012, he has overseen a number of local marketing successes for the company.

One of de Monchy’s most notable campaigns was the most recent – Tiger Beer’s local commemorative efforts around the SG50 celebrations in Singapore. One in a series of mockumentaries wondered who invented chicken rice.

Another asked who created the Kallang Wave, a reworked Singaporean version of the Mexican wave.

De Monchy has worked with a number of agencies locally in Singapore, first DDB and later Omnicom sibling BBDO.

He told Mumbrella in an email: “It’s been a great three and half years at APB Singapore and I’m grateful for all the exciting moments that it has brought. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on iconic brands such as Tiger, Heineken and Guinness in the Singapore market, with the added challenge of putting innovation at the heart of what we do. Over the years, our team has pulled off numerous great campaigns and events, all milestones that make my time at APB more memorable.”

He added: “The Singapore market is dynamic, with plenty of opportunities to test the boundaries of what we know as ‘marketing’. The audiences in Singapore are highly engaged and receptive, making it a tough, but extremely fun challenge to continuously surprise and delight them with great new experiences.”

De Monchy has been an executive council member of the Institute of Advertising Singapore and was yesterday named chairman of the advisory council of regional awards show the APPIES.

Tourism New Zealand CEO Kevin Bowler commented on de Monchy’s hire in a statement shared with Mumbrella: “This is a critical role for us and it’s vital we have someone who has experience working in our key markets, particularly Asia.

“His global knowledge and marketing experience will be invaluable to us as we target new, emerging markets and visitors who bring high value to New Zealand,” he said.

De Monchy began his career as an account manager for publisher Reed Elsevier. He then joined New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra as a brand manager before moving to the company he has spent much of his time, DB Breweries, where he ran brands including Tui, DB Export, Monteith’s, Heineken and Tiger.

He begins his new role at Tourism New Zealand in August.

Heineken Asia Pacific has yet to name a replacement.

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