Edelman's APAC head of corporate Yvonne Koh joins Teneo as MD

Edelman's EVP and head of corporate, Asia Pacific, Yvonne Koh (pictured), has joined Teneo as MD of its Singapore operations. She was with Edelman for close to a year and was responsible for building its corporate specialisms across the region, including digital crisis management, employee engagement, B2B marketing and thought leadership for social media. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Teneo for a comment.

Meanwhile, Edelman's spokesperson said: “Edelman has extraordinary strength and depth of experienced corporate comms leaders across the APAC region. We wish Koh all the best in her new role."

Before Edelman, she was with Klareco Communications for close to a year also, first joining as senior director in 2019 before being promoted to partner. She also oversaw GLOO PR as GM, according to her LinkedIn. Although Koh spent most of her time in the agency scene, she also has experience on the client-side, having helmed the role of head of communications, Asia Pacific at PayPal for more than three years.

Prior to that, she took on leadership roles at MSL Group and was with the agency for more than five years. According to her LinkedIn, she was last based in New York as SVP, MSL Group New York. She first joined as MD, Southeast Asia and was responsible for managing key client relationships across the region, business development and talent supervision, her LinkedIn added.

Meanwhile, Koh was also an account director at Hill + Knowlton, where she led campaigns for clients including the National Heritage Board, London Eye, UK Trade and Investment, and Heineken Asia Pacific, among others. She also took on leadership roles at MDK Consultants/Batey PR and 141 Worldwide, her LinkedIn said.

Koh has more than two decades of experience in leading corporate communications spanning Asia Pacific and the US. In her LinkedIn description, Koh said her experience covers industries such as fintech, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods, retail, lifestyle, travel, hospitality, healthcare, and government communications.

Separately just last month, Teneo also saw a leadership change globally when its chairman and chief executive, Declan Kelly, resigned after reportedly behaving inappropriately while drunk. According to the Wall Street Journal on 25 June, Kelly touched women without their consent while drunk during an event hosted by charity Global Citizen in May. Following media reports of this incident, General Motors ended its relationship with Teneo, WSJ said. While Kelly apologised and reportedly said he "would never drink again", he stepped down a few days later. Quoting Kelly, WSJ said he left the agency to "protect the employees of Teneo and its clients".