Ex-APAC chief growth officer at Mindshare launches new agency

Rohan Lightfoot, who previously was the APAC chief growth officer at Mindshare, has stepped down from the role and has started his own agency, Signal Consulting, according to Lightfoot when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out.

Signal Consulting is an agency that helps clients look holistically at the effectiveness of its marketing activities and helps clients understand what's working and why, said Lightfoot. This is especially during a time where the marketing landscape has become more fractured and more specialised. 

Don't miss: dentsu SG's CXM group MD Prantik Mazumdar steps down 

"We're in a really interesting time in the APAC region right now. We've gone from general growth to two speed growth (where premium and luxury were major drives of growth) to multi-speed growth," said Lightfoot.

"We're seeing general economic uncertainty, but then Coldplay can sell SG$40m of tickets in an hour. People in the region have money and they're willing to spend it, but for brands to reach them, they need a strong, compelling signal," he said. 

The agency will be operating across the APAC region and is currently working with an unnamed client on a transformation project. 

Signal's name is inspired by an engineering term - Signal to Noise ratio, added Lightfoot. Signal to Noise ratio is the ratio between the desired information or the power of a signal and the undesired signal or the power of the background noise. 

The logo is a combination of four Wi-Fi signals combined together, he said.

Each quadrant represents a different discipline of the agency: narration, composition, amplification and orchestration.

Narration is focused on story telling while composition is creative. Meanwhile, amplification is media effectiveness and orchestration looks at organisational design and the cooperation between functions. These disciplines can be combined together, or they can be looked at separately.

Prior to starting Signal, Lightfoot was the APAC chief growth officer at Mindshare for over five years. In his role, he helped the agency stay ahead of the competition in the APAC region. 

Before that he was at Isobar for over six years serving multiple roles as APAC managing director in the Singapore and Shanghai offices, and an integrated business director in the APAC region. 

He also worked as a client service director at Carat China where he handled key international clients as China's digital economy began to take shape.

The agency scene in the APAC region has been booming recently with new appointments and agency launches. 

Recently, the market saw the launch of Moonfolks, an agency started by Anish Daryani shortly after he acquired M&C Saatchi Indonesia.

Daryani acquired 55% equity in the business earlier this month and later unveiled a new name for the agency - "Moonfolks." Moonfolks will be led by Daryani who will helm the role of president director and CEO.

Moonfolks, according to the company's release, is inspired by an AI-driven world where out-of-this-world ideas are needed. It aims to take brands to new heights.

Related articles: 
Lion & Lion launches new social media consultancy 
Market research firm Focus Insights continues ASEAN expansion, names new GM 
WPP merges BCW and Hill & Knowlton to form new comms agency Burson