Poon, currently Managing Partner of Ogilvy PR & Influence in Singapore, is Ogilvy’s first female leader of the Ogilvy, Public Relations & Influence business in Asia. She succeeds Scott Kronick who is stepping down from his current leadership role to become a senior adviser at the company.
As part of Ogilvy’s pan-Asia leadership team, Poon will drive “client-centric innovation and business growth and deepening capabilities” for the PR&I business in the region. Reporting to Asia Co-Chief Executives, Kent Wertime and Chris Reitermann, Poon will work closely with the PR&I global network of leaders to drive the growth of the PR&I business.
“Emily is the perfect leader for our next phase of growth at Ogilvy,” said Asia Co-Chief Executive, Kent Wertime. “She has demonstrated strong leadership in her role in Singapore, knows how to grow a public relations business independently and as part of an integrated client solution, and importantly, she has earned the respect of everyone across the Ogilvy network.”
Complimenting Poon, Kronick said, “It is a great honour to be passing the baton to Emily who has built a stellar track record of delivering growth for clients and Ogilvy and for developing people. We have many internal candidates capable of leading the firm in Asia, however, Emily’s commitment to the people, our clients and her ability to work across the Ogilvy organization to bring modern public relations to Asia is unmatched. In working with her for these past 12 years, I’ve seen first-hand she is a values-driven leader who is well-positioned to lead Ogilvy and our clients into a new era of communications. I am excited about our next stage of growth with Emily and our strong PR&I leadership bench behind her, as she continues to champion our clients, work and people across Asia.”
Poon, who has been with Ogilvy for more than a dozen years, became the youngest head of the Singapore PR&I business and helped steered the Singapore operations to win clients such as AIA, Changi Airport Group, and OCBC. She also handled global and regional assignments for Unilever, Gojek, GovTech and most recently, Google. With 17 years of experience in the industry, Poon will also be Ogilvy’s first woman leader of the Ogilvy Public Relations & Influence business in Asia.
“It is a privilege to have worked closely with Scott. He is a leader who walks the talk, cares deeply for our team and I have learnt a great deal from him. I am grateful to him for his mentorship and also truly proud of our network, creative culture and strong leadership bench strength in Asia. Most of all, it gives me great pride to be working for, with and alongside people that I deeply admire and respect. At a time where we are seeing a rapid pace of change in media and technology platforms, we have great opportunities ahead to help clients build reputation and deepen their engagement with customers and stakeholders through earned creative and purposeful data-driven storytelling. The future is bright and this is an exciting time for all of us in communications,” said Poon.
This appointment will be effective January 1 and comes in the wake of the recent announcement that Julianna Richter was joining Ogilvy in January as Global CEO of PR & Influence.
