Ogilvy appoints key capability leadership in Asia

Ogilvy has announced key appointments to its capability leadership team in the Asia-Pacific region as a next step in the agency’s transformation journey.

While Ogilvy operates now as a fully integrated business centered around client needs, developing and nurturing key specialist skills is the role of Capability Leaders. These leaders 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.

“Today, brands are facing unprecedented change and we must continue to evolve to meet their needs”, said Kent Wertime, Co-Chief Executive, Ogilvy Asia.  “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.”

Ogilvy’s six core global capabilities are: Brand Strategy, Advertising, Customer Engagement and Commerce, PR and Influence, Digital Transformation, and Partnerships.

The new appointments in Asia are as follows:

Giri Jadhav has been announced as the head of Advertising in Asia. Jadhav is a long-term Ogilvy veteran who 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 take on the important role of driving 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 Ogilvy’s Customer Experience and Commerce capabilities across Asia. This extends 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 also an Ogilvy veteran, who has previously worked in Hong Kong before moving to his current posting in China.  He now takes on this regional position based in Shanghai.

Ali Kazmi will head Ogilvy’s Partnerships in Asia – also an extension of his current role in China.  Over the past several years, Ogilvy has developed critical relationships with a host of partners – particularly digital platforms in China (like Alibaba, and Tencent), international partners (such as Facebook, Google, and Adobe), 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.

Andrew Thomas will be taking on an increased role in developing Ogilvy’s PR and Influence offerings in the ASEAN markets. PR and Influence services also constitute a significant business for Ogilvy in Asia, and Ogilvy was recognized in last year’s Sabre awards as Asia’s leading PR Consultancy. Thomas will continue to be based in Singapore.

Jadhav, Rathod, Kazmi, and Thomas 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).

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 Chief Operations Officer role for Ogilvy Asia, and his position as Chairman of Ogilvy Consulting in Asia.

“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.

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