Publicis Media Amplifies China Leadership

Publicis Media announces several changes to the China leadership team. Sapna Nemani, Starcom CEO will be taking on a new role as Publicis Media Chief Intelligence Officer, whilst Scarlett Shih, Spark Foundry CEO will be leaving the company to pursue new endeavours. Wee Ching Ian, PMX COO will be promoted to Starcom & Spark Foundry China CEO and Ellen To will be moving into the role of Zenith China CEO. These appointments will be effective from 1st September and follow on from the recent promotion of Vivian Zhu to CEO Blue 449 China.

“The changes are part of the plan to sharpen Publicis Media’s transformation agenda in: client interaction, experience, tools, platforms and investments – the future is now,” said Bertilla Teo, Publicis Media’s Greater China CEO.

Sapna has held a number of positions in the group with recent roles as Chief Strategy Officer of Starcom Mediavest and CEO of Starcom China. She is an industry respected figure known for her critical thinking and leadership. In this newly created role, Sapna will be tasked with driving new data based solutions and initiatives for marketers across all 5 agency brands.

Ching Ian joined the group in 2002 and has worked in management positions across our Singapore, Japan and China offices. In her most recent role as COO of PMX, she established pioneering digital partnerships such as Global Strategic Partnership with Tencent and Alibaba’s Uni-Marketing Partnership. Ching Ian is a proven leader with an exemplary track record of adding value to businesses, building strong relationships with clients, agency and media. Her new role will include building on the strong experiential brand identities of both Spark Foundry, which rebranded globally this year, and Starcom.

Ellen has been running Starcom Guangzhou for the past few years with a focus on building strong partnerships with existing and new local clients based out of South China, whilst transforming the business from traditional to integrated media planning. In her 10 years with the company, Ellen and her team have been responsible for winning a myriad of new local clients. She will now lead Zenith in delivering its ROI+ approach towards marketers, building the full consumer journey, business transformation and machine learning efficiencies.

Vivian was previously Chief Digital & Innovation Officer for Publicis Media China where she was instrumental in managing partnerships as well as driving new opportunities with some of the industry’s most exciting start-ups. She has extensive experience working with some of China’s largest advertisers to include P&G, Mars, ABi, Mead Johnson and Richemont and is a highly-respected industry leader featuring prominently in industry publications and events.

These new appointments follow the recent promotions in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Taiwan Irene Chang, formerly MD of ZenithOptimedia Taiwan was promoted to MD of Publicis Media Taiwan and in Hong Kong David Chan formerly CFO of Publicis Media Hong Kong was promoted to MD of Publicis Media Hong Kong. Both report directly to Bertilla Teo.

“We continue to be a people business. We invest in talent and promote from within the network. Sapna’s new role as Chief Intelligence Officer stays true to Publicis Media’s transformation agenda to be leaders in data and consultancy, pivoting businesses to greater heights. Ching Ian and Ellen are local leaders whom marketers know with their track records in bringing value and growing the new businesses portfolio. Our transformation is not complete and we have a lot to do,” said Bertilla Teo, Publicis Media Greater China CEO.

“It is great testament to our company commitment in talent that we are able to find the strongest candidates for these positions internally. I have every confidence that Sapna, Ching Ian, Vivian and Ellen will be successful in their new missions,” added Teo.

Accolades at Publicis Media

• Publicis Groupe and Alibaba Group have struck a partnership to create a new Uni Desk, which is part of Uni Marketing, Alibaba’s data-powered marketing framework. The collaboration will look to benefit clients of Publicis Media, Publicis Communications and Publicis.Sapient. Unidesk blends programmatic brand-building and brand-oriented ecommerce marketing.http://www.campaignasia.com/article/alibaba-publicis-partner-on-digital-go-to-market-strategy-platform/437392
• In 2016, Publicis Groupe has announced a global strategic partnership with Tencent, the Chinese internet giant. The agreement is intended to breed innovations across three pillars: future capabilities, data, and content. It will work across all three solutions hubs of Publicis Groupe: Publicis Media, Publicis Communications, and Publicis.Sapient. http://www.prweek.com/article/1401348/publicis-groupe-global-partnership-chinese-internet-giant-tencent
• In 2017, Zenith in China won Silver for Data Integration at Cannes this year for the SAIC General Motors campaign entitled “MyCarPulse Super ID- Car Wellness Gets Hyper-Personalized with AI and Mega-Data”. This remarkable recognition is a first for Zenith China and the first Chinese automotive company recognized in this category.
• Zenith and Starcom have been in the China market for 21 years, we are the 1st 4A marked media agency.
• At 2016 Campaign’s Agency of the Year, we won Network of the Year for Publicis Media Greater China and Media Agency of the Year for Starcom China and Zenith Taiwan.
• At the ROI Festival’s Awards in 2016, Publicis Media achieved more awards than any other agency network with 22 accolades. These included 2 Agency of the Year wins, 2 Golds, 6 Silvers, 5 Bronzes and 7 shortlists across its 4 agency brands Starcom, Zenith, Spark and Blue 449.