Publicis Sapient hires Citibank marketer Jaz Lim as head of experience

Publicis Sapient, digital transformation company under Publicis Groupe, has appointed Jaz Lim as head of experience. Lim will be leading the ongoing growth of experience in Singapore, and is tasked to bring products and service design to Southeast Asian clients with a focus on financial services, retail and healthcare. Lim will also be focused on operationalising Publicis Sapient’s LEAD design framework, and growing an AI-ready design team in Singapore. She will report to Jonathan Sharp, managing director of Publicis Sapient ASEAN, and Tokyo-based regional head of experience, Symon Hammacott.

In a statement to Marketing, a spokesperson from Publicis Sapient said that this is a newly-created role for Southeast Asia. The spokesperson added that the role was created as part of its strategic expansion plan to grow the experience design team and strengthen its experience capability. Lim currently leads a team of 20 designers, and the agency plans to expand the team further over the next few months.

Lim returns to Publicis Sapient after three years. She previously helmed the role of creative director of experience design in Publicis Sapient from 2011 to 2017, before working at Citibank and tech company Cognizant, where she led the customer experience and experience design practice. Over the past 25 years, she has worked in San Francisco, New York, Amsterdam and London, and brings with her varied experiences in traditional and digital marketing, complex platform development, research, data analytics and visualisation, building on her background in psychology and mathematics. 

Lim said her vision for the agency is to build a world-class experience team, with every individual equipped, enabled and empowered to forge strong partnerships with its clients in their digital business transformation journey. She also said that today’s consumers expect immediacy, a personalised experience that is contextual, at the same time, they worry about privacy. Thus it is key to make sure design experience has to be light, ethical, accessible and data-driven. “Experience design is an ever-evolving journey. I am inspired by Publicis Sapient’s vision to not only create experience design, but to lead experience transformation,” she added.

Sharp said Lim’s appointment is a testament to the agency’s commitment to bring consumer-centricity to its clients’ business, and to uphold diversity and inclusiveness within its organisation. “Lim’s abilities to combine data, technology, research and creativity to build digital experiences that delight users across all stages of the customer journey, make her one of a kind and we are excited to have her back in our team,” Sharp added.

Last month, Publicis Groupe implemented an approximately US$540 million cost-reduction plan for 2020, to adapt and be recovery ready amid the COVID-19 situation. The network also said it will be cutting dividends by 50% and delaying payment until the end of September. At the same time, the Groupe’s management team will have its fixed remuneration reduced. There will be a 30% reduction in fixed compensation for both supervisory board chairman and Groupe CEO, while a 20% cut for the management board members. Meanwhile in APAC, the Groupe promoted Ed Booty as chief strategy officer of Publicis Groupe APAC. In this newly-created role, he is tasked to lead the agency's strategic engagement with clients, and bring together the talents of strategists across the Groupe. Based in Singapore, Booty reports to Loris Nold, CEO, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Publicis Groupe.

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