James Smyllie steps down as president of Initiative APAC

IPG Mediabrands has confirmed a restructuring of its Initiative agency regional leadership team, which includes the departure of James Smyllie, president Initiative APAC.

This decision was made as part of a strategic realignment, which will see Leigh Terry assume direct leadership of Initiative APAC in addition to the wider IPG Mediabrands APAC network, the agency told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE exclusively. 

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“We are grateful for Smyllie’s contributions to Initiative and wish him well in his future endeavors” said Leigh Terry, CEO IPG Mediabrands APAC. “IPG Mediabrands remains committed to providing exceptional service to all our clients and partners”.

Smyllie has been with Initiative APAC for just under three years, joining as president in 2021. In his role, Smyllie worked with clients such as Amazon, Lego, Carlsberg, MSD, Patek Philippe, 3M and British Council.

Prior to his stint at Initiative, Smyllie was with Essence. He joined the team in 2018 as its vice president, head of media planning APAC and quickly climbed the ladder to become senior vice president, head of media APAC in 2020. In his role, Smyllie worked with clients such as Google, Airbnb and Scoot

Smyllie also held leadership roles in Carat, joining in 2007 as a regional account director and climbing the ladder to become its international client president by 2017. In the role, he worked with clients such as Microsoft and Standard Chartered. 

This comes just shortly after Rajiv Jayaraj stepped down as the Singapore head of Mediabrands Content Studio in July this year. 

"We thank Jayaraj for his many contributions to the IPG Mediabrands network over the past five years, and we wish him every success in his future endeavors. We have no doubt that he will continue to achieve great things,” said a spokesperson at IPG Mediabrands APAC. 

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Jayaraj said that his move from IPG is less about the network or its leadership but rather, about provoking change in the industry at a time when it is needed the most.

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