Wunderman Thompson SG names Nimesh Desai CEO

Wunderman Thompson has named Nimesh Desai (pictured left) as CEO. Prior to the merger between Wunderman and JWT, Desai held the role of Wunderman COO for Southeast Asia. His extensive experience in both B2B and B2C segments across the region includes over 10 years on Microsoft, during which he planned and deployed pan-regional digital, direct, and lead-generation campaigns for both commercial and consumer segments. Within Southeast Asia, Desai has led major clients such as Unilever, Dell, Shell and Kimberly Clark, and helped establish centralised services in production and analytics, including leading local acquisition efforts to strengthen operations.Before the merger, Shannon Dix was CEO of Wunderman Singapore. During his appointment, Dix was said to be supported by Desai, who was also tasked to manage the integration of Wunderman’s business in Southeast Asia, and take on additional responsibility developing Wunderman’s fast growing ecommerce capability in the region. Marketing has reached out to Dix for comment.Desai said forming Wunderman Thompson Singapore has brought together the “finest talent” across creative, data and technology. “The resulting ability to create and deliver meaningful customer experiences for our brands has received an immediate positive response from our existing clients and has already resulted in three significant new business wins in the last 60 days. Inspiring our people to drive business growth for our clients is my number one priority,” he said.Meanwhile, the agency also named former GM at Mirum Singapore, Sharon Fernandes (pictured right), to the newly created role of chief client and growth officer for Wunderman Thompson Singapore. Prior to Mirum, she was with HeathWallace Asia and SapientNitro. Fernandes has over 18 years of digital transformation experience and knowledge, including lifecycle experience in orchestrating business strategies, deploying enterprise commerce platforms and operating multi-disciplinary teams in entrepreneurial, consulting and agency environments. Her client portfolio includes Huawei, Manulife, HSBC, Moët Hennessy-LVMH and Lane Crawford.Annette Male, CEO of Wunderman Thompson said Singapore is not only a key market in its own right, but also an integral hub within the region and globally.“Desai has a track record of strong client partnerships and organic year-on-year growth. Fernandes has proven success in delivering award-winning, experience-led solutions. Together, they are integral to the success of our wider leadership team across creative, data and technology.”Most recently, the agency also hired Digitas as chief strategy and transformation officer, Justin Peyton in the same role at Wunderman Thompson. He is based in Singapore and driving growth in the Asia Pacific region. He joined months after Wunderman Thompson appointed Annette Male, APAC CEO at Digitas as its APAC CEO.Read also:Wunderman Thompson unveils new brand identity and logoDuracell picks Wunderman Thompson as global creative partnerFormer CEO of Wunderman APAC Caspar Schlickum joins Accenture Interactive OperationsWunderman Thompson merger: Why you shouldn’t panic yet