FYI

Publicis Singapore builds planning muscle after several business wins

Belinda Green

Publicis Communications Singapore has strengthened its strategic planning department with several new hires on the back of business wins such as the Health Promotion Board, Emirates Airlines and Yili.

Among the new team members are group planning director Belinda Green who was most recently Asia-Pacific head of strategy at Dentsu Aegis Singapore and Gyro.Ali Rezgui has also been appointed group planning director. He moves from New York where he was strategy director at Publicis Sapient. Grace Fung has joined as planning director, moving from Havas New York.    

The announcement:

Publicis Communications Singapore has made a number of hires to significantly boost the strength of its strategic planning group. On the back of 39 new business wins since January – including Health Promotion Board, Emirates Airlines, and Yili– Publicis Communications is enhancing its ability to deliver an alchemy of data and creativity to aid clients in their marketing transformation. The newly strengthened strategy team is set to act as an accelerator to realise Publicis’ vision of helping its clients to become and remain leaders in their categories.

Belinda Green has been appointed as the Group Planning Director. Most recently she served as the APAC head of Strategy at Dentsu Aegis Singapore and Gyro. Belinda has 20 years of experience, as a copywriter, creative director, university lecturer, and strategist across digital, media, B2B, and creative agencies. With this broad proficiency base, and her passionate practicality to bring the right people to the table at the right time, she will be an invaluable asset in propelling transformation for both the agency and its clients, towards innovative and truly integrated brand communications and experiences solutions.

Ali Rezgui is the second Group Planning Director hire. He comes to Singapore from Publicis Sapient NY where he was a Strategy Director. With extensive experience in the Middle East, Thailand, and the US, Ali has a solid strategic foundation in brand and communications, with a depth of experience in leading digital business transformation for clients. This combination of strengths will make him a key catalyst as Publicis Communications Singapore continues to drive towards the most cutting-edge brand and marketing solutions for its clients.

Grace Fung joins the strategic planning group as a Planning Director, coming to Singapore from Havas Worldwide NY. Grace has a strong grounding in media strategy through her work with Zenith Media and Mediaedge: CIA in NY, and more than ten years’ experience in brand and communications strategy, in both Hong Kong and NY, with JWT, Publicis, Bates 141, BBDO, and TBWA/Chiat Day. As a strategic partner for a number of key clients, Grace will play a leadership role within the agency in raising the bar on overall strategic quality and integration.

Paul Yap, Christina Tien, and Ayden Koh have all become new members of the strategic planning group after recently graduating from an intensive data science program with General Assembly. As junior planners and data scientists, this impressive trio represents a new approach to working with data at Publicis. While fully integrated as partners within different strategy teams, Paul, Christina, and Ayden will actively contribute to strategic development on various accounts, but will bring their specific data science skills and approach to the table for more seamless, more meaningful, and more innovative use of data towards solving clients’ business and marketing challenges.

“Off the back of an unprecedented and diverse breadth of 39 new business wins across Publicis Communications, we’ve chosen to invest in building one of the strongest  senior strategy teams in APAC, giving us an unfair advantage in helping all our clients succeed in their marketing transformation,” said Lou Dela Pena, CEO of Publicis Communications Singapore.

“Simply maintaining the strongest strategy department in the Singapore market wasn’t enough because our clients are increasingly ambitious in looking to build regional and global brands. They deserve a world-class team and these  hires are a big step towards achieving this,” said Ed Booty, APAC CSO, Publicis.

Source: Publicis Groupe press release

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