DDB Group SG names new chief strategy officer

DDB Group Singapore has appointed Subodh Deshpande (pictured) as chief strategy officer (CSO), effective 4 March 2024.

Working alongside CEO Jeff Cheong and chief creative officer (CCO) Vinod Savio, Deshpande will spearhead the agency group’s strategic product for local and regional clients. 

Deshpande joins from a near-decade at global consulting firm Innate Motion, where he led teams to build human-centric brand narratives for global companies such as Unilever, HP, Kellogg’s, Upfield, Suntory, and Reckitt’s across India, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Prior to that, Deshpande spent time at Mullen Lowe and McCann Worldgroup in Singapore and McCann Erickson in India.

Deshpande’s appointment comes as DDB Group Singapore launched its Behavioural Intelligence Group (BIG) in partnership with Temasek Polytechnic. The offering adds to DDB’s proprietary suite of core consulting practices, total experience (TX), which blends technologists, CX and UX experts, data managers, mobile engineers, and social content producers to deliver data-led and digitally run content creativity. Deshpande’s global experience and strategic acumen are set to fuel expansion plans for DDB’s growing roster of regional clients.

Jeff Cheong, CEO, DDB Group Singapore, said: “We welcome Deshpande to our leadership team with wide open arms. We have experienced his fresh thinking first-hand and cannot wait to see what his strategic prowess achieves for our clients.”

Subodh Deshpande, CSO, DDB Group Singapore, said: “I look forward to working with our dynamic team here in Asia to create sustainable roadmaps for brands that will not only achieve growth but also create impact within the societies and communities they serve.”

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to DDB Group for more information. 

Don't miss: DDB Group SG names new chief creative officer

Back in October last year, DDB Group Singapore named Vinod Savio as its new CCO. Savio's appointment marks a significant strategic move to elevate DDB's creative prowess and technological capabilities, the agency said in a statement.

Savio returns to DDB following a prior eight-year long tenure at DDB from 2009 to 2017. At the time, Savio served as creative lead for regional and global accounts including Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, and McDonald's Regional.

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