IPG Mediabrands MY elevates roles, new leadership appointed

IPG Mediabrands Malaysia has witnessed a slew of promotions. Following Kristine Ong's departure from her role as group MD of Initiative Malaysia, group MD of Reprise and BPN Darren Yuen (pictured left) has been named CEO of Initiative and BPN.  Yuen was appointed to head Reprise in June 2018 after Society and Ansible were rolled under the banner in May 2018 to create a new full-service global performance media marketing unit offering capabilities across digital channels, content creation, product and web development, as well as e-retail and commerce.

Meanwhile, IPG Mediabrands Malaysia also promoted Amit Sutha (pictured centre) to the newly-created position of CEO of Universal McCann, UM Studios and Ensemble Worldwide. Sutha has been with the agency for more than five years. According to CEO of IPG Mediabrands Bala Pomaleh, UM has shown tremendous growth and momentum over the last five years since Sutha came on board as brand lead. "His strategic foresight and keen knowledge of industry nuances has helped UM flourish in a positive trajectory over the past few years," Pomaleh explained.

Yuen was credited to have built BPN from a relatively unknown brand to become a recognised player in the industry. Pomelah said both Sutha and Yuen have proven their abilities time and again to help create and maintain a dominant leadership position across the brands they oversee. Pomelah also added that Ong had played an integral role in shaping the Initiative brand, and building a passionate, high-performing team that has achieved much recognition and success. "Ong leaves with our thanks, and we wish her every success in her new role with Astro," he added.

With the changes in place, Sujith Rao (pictured right), VP of Inventure, has also been appointed to the role of MD of Reprise Performance and Tech. Rao has been leading Inventure, the research and consulting arm of IPG Mediabrands, since 2017. Before that, he was senior director of digital analytics at IPG Mediabrands. In his new role, Rao will work together with Stanley Clement (pictured below), who remains MD of Reprise Creative. Clement was elevated to his current role in 2018 and was previously the MD of Society Malaysia. Both of them will report to Pomaleh.

Pomaleh added that Rao has shown impressive tenacity in helping the agency invest in future spaces through the integration of analytics and cloud consulting capabilities. "His ability to innovate and provide solutions to meet our client’s business needs will drive Reprise Performance and Tech’s offerings to the next frontier,” he added.