Leo Burnett makes slew of hires as it strengthens Singapore office

Leo Burnett Singapore has appointed Benoit Freyburger (pictured left) as general manager, effective 1 July 2022. Reporting to Joanne Theseira, managing director, Publicis Communications, Freyburger will work closely with ECD Sharim Gubbels on leading driving growth for the agency's newly acquired clients - Singtel, Samsung, as well as a range of brands from Beam Suntory's portfolio.

Freyburger brings with him 20 years of experience working across B2C and B2B remits on brands such as Standard Chartered Bank, Microsoft, Unilever, and Holcim across the Middle East, Europe and Asia, Leo Burnett said in a statement. Freyburger was formerly with TBWA\ Singapore as global group account director for about three years. Prior to that, he was regional account director at gyro and, before that, was group account director at Ogilvy. Freyburger's appointment was among several additions to Leo Burnett, as well as promotions within the agency, which come on the back of strong business growth in 2022.

In addition to Freyburger, the agency promoted Arielle Brustein (pictured right) to head of planning, where she will be tasked with bringing the agency's HumanKind philosophy to life across its client portfolio. Brustein has been with Leo Burnett for thirteen years, working at Leo Burnett Chicago, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and has been in Singapore since 2018. She has worked with a large portfolio of brands including McDonald’s, SK-II, Pfizer and Cathay.

Leo Burnett also appointed Wong Woei and Michael Middleton as account director and creative director respectively. Woei was formerly with Iris as associate account director for seven months and, before that, was with GOVT as senior account manager for close to two years. She has previously worked with Publicis Singapore for over three years as account manager. Meanwhile, Middleton was previously with Universal Music Group for two and a half years, as creative director for brand partnerships, SEA and South Korea. Prior to that, he was creative director at We Are Social for over a year.

At the same time, the agency promoted Adela Andrei to group account director and Claudia Ribeiro and Weicong Chong to creative directors. Andrei was formerly group account director for Publicis Singapore, while Ribeiro and Chong previously helmed the roles of creative director at Publicis for close to a year.

Theseira said that that the agency is lucky to have new additions to the team as it continues to see a period of significant growth. "Leo Burnett’s human-centered point of view is rooted firmly in what people really want and care about. It’s an approach to business that has found deep resonance with clients, and fortunately for us, also with these fantastic talents," she added. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for more details.

Separately, Publicis Groupe appointed Ajay Thrivikraman to the role of chief creative officer for SEA, joining the SEA leadership team reporting in to Amrita Randhawa, CEO of Publicis Groupe Singapore and Southeast Asia, and Natalie Lam, chief creative officer of Publicis Groupe APAC and MEA. Thrivikraman was previously chief creative officer global clients leading the work for the Groupe's dedicated units across P&G and Tiger Beer. In his new role, Thrivikraman will champion creative thinking and the power of ideas for over 3,000 staff in Publicis Groupe Southeast Asia across all business lines of the Groupe’s business. He will also will work closely with Laurent Thevenet who recently joined the Groupe as the head of creative technology for APAC and MEA and is also based in Singapore.

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