Design consultancy Elmwood SG names new senior leadership trio

Design consultancy Elmwood Singapore has made three new hires to its senior leadership team, naming Lisa Balm (pictured left) as its creative director, Rachel Goh (pictured centre) as its head of insights, and Kedar Karippail (pictured right) as its client services director. According to Elmwood, they will also be working closely with the existing agency senior team that already includes MD Celeste Cheong, ECD Richard Stayte, creative director Jason Braddy, business director Saurabh Singh and group account director Kristinia Liu.

The appointment marks Balm’s second spell at Elmwood, having previously worked at the agency between 2012 and 2014. She began her career in the UK at Blue Marlin, before moving to Bangkok with the agency in 2004 and then joining Design Bridge in Singapore in 2007. Balm joins the agency from Innovation Kitchen, where she held an equivalent role.

During her career of over 20 years, Balm has worked on brands including Citibank, Singtel, Diageo, LVMH and PepsiCo, and at Elmwood Singapore will work alongside Jason Braddy to lead a creative team of more than 25 designers, visualisers and production specialists.

Meanwhile, Goh joins Elmwood Singapore in the newly created role where she’ll be responsible for using data and strategic thinking to help brands craft compelling stories and produce more culturally relevant work. Goh was previously a partner at Innate Motion, where she delivered insights and empathy-powered strategies for global and local brands across FMCG, beauty, fashion, technology and eCommerce brands. Prior to that, Goh was an associate creative director of Y&R Singapore and had also been a writer at Leo Burnett and BBH Asia Pacific.

Completing the new trio, Karippail has over 20 years of international brand and advertising experience working across India, New Zealand, Malaysia, Netherlands and the UK, for DDB, Geometry Global, Ogilvy and Y&R amongst others. 

Karippail will be working closely with Cheong on developing the agency’s overall growth and client strategy, building and maintaining relationships and working closely with Elmwood’s parent company, MSQ, to bring further specialist thinking into the Elmwood offer.  

“It’s a hugely pivotal time for Elmwood Singapore and design consultancies in general. I’m really excited to work alongside Goh, Balm, Karippail and the existing leadership team to be an invaluable partner to all our clients,” Cheong added. 

Paul Galesloot, global CEO of Elmwood said the agency was created to design brands in the multi-platform age. "I’m delighted we’ve put together a new-look team for Elmwood Singapore, who collectively offer all the expertise required to produce distinctive, dynamic brand experiences that can succeed now and in the future," he added.

Elmwood was acquired by MSQ and merged with design business Holmes & Marchant last November. The new consultancy now operates under the Elmwood name and will have 200 employees split across studios in London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai. Galesloot, who joined Holmes & Marchant in early 2020, heads up the enlarged operation.

Meanwhile, on the MSQ front, the company brought on board Andy Edmonds earlier this year as GM of MSQ Studios in Asia, a new division set up to push data-driven digital content at scale through smart tech. Based in Singapore, he reports to Galesloot, who is also chief executive of MSQ Asia. Edmonds also works with Global Studios lead Morgan Cox, who is charged with bringing the global plan together.

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