Tim Castle is Foursquare Regional Head, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong
Tim Castle has been named Regional Head, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong at Foursquare and will be based in Singapore. Castle will work closely with brands, agencies, and advertisers in the region to further the expansion of Foursquare across Southeast Asia. Welcoming Castle on board, Aditi Kohli, Managing Director of Foursquare Asia-Pacific, said: “Tim’s appointment marks an exciting new step for Foursquare in the region.” On taking up the position, Castle said: “Location services are critical to any enterprise’s technology stack. Foursquare has continued to push the boundaries of what’s possible with location technology with their full range of capabilities to help businesses scale and create better customer experiences and business outcomes. I look forward to working closely with businesses across the region, keen to explore the possibilities with Foursquare’s offerings.” Prior to joining Foursquare, Castle worked at Playground XYZ, where he helped expanded the business’s mobile-rich media and measurement solutions across Asia.
Mike Sneesby is CEO at Nine Entertainment
Nine Entertainment, an Australian publicly listed media company, has appointed Mike Sneesby as Chief Executive Officer following Hugh Marks’ departure. Congratulating Sneesby, NEC Chairman Peter Costello, said, “We are pleased to make such a significant appointment. Under Mike’s leadership, Nine will be able to maintain the strong momentum it has built in audience, subscribers, content, revenue and earnings. Mike is well placed to continue to drive Nine’s transformation as a digitally led business which is actively adapting to meet the contemporary media consumption habits of Australians.” Talking about his new profile, Sneesby, who was earlier CEO of Stan Entertainment, said, “I am honoured to be entrusted with this important role, to be the custodian for many of Australia’s most important, valuable and iconic media brands. I have worked alongside my colleagues at Nine for many years and I look forwarding to building our future together as we embrace the opportunities presented in the emerging and growing digital future. The Nine family is made up of journalists, technicians, producers and so many dedicated to their craft, it will be the honour of a lifetime to lead them.”
Crocs names Essence as integrated media agency on record in China
Crocs has appointed Essence as its integrated media agency of record in China. As the media agency on record, Essence will oversee the brand’s strategy, media planning, media activation, and content innovation for Crocs’ digital and offline brand and performance marketing campaigns. Talking about the collaboration, Hao Xu, Senior Marketing Director, China, Crocs, said, “Crocs is committed to making the world a happier place through continued innovation and creativity. We were looking for an agency partner to accelerate our efforts in a year of rebranding, deepen our relationship with consumers in the e-commerce space, and capture new opportunities in the market.
With Essence’s integrated media offering and expertise in data-driven brand and performance marketing, we look forward to working closely with the team to drive Crocs’ brand transformation and business growth in China.” On winning the mandate, Benjamin Wei, Managing Director, China, Essence, said, “Crocs and Essence share a tireless pursuit of innovation, creativity, and improvement with a people-first approach. With a mission to make brands more valuable to the world, Essence’s belief is that when brands like Crocs put people first, they have tremendous potential to make the world a better place — creating real value for consumers while fueling organizational culture and success.” Crocs is the latest addition to Essence’s portfolio of clients in China, which includes Bilibili, Google, Hermès, Jeep, Nitori, Roborock, Scoot, and War Horse.
Uptime backed by former Tesco CEO raises $16 million and appoints new media partner
Uptime, the knowledge hacking app, has successfully secured $16m in funding from leading global investors including former CEO of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahey, entrepreneur and chairman of N Brown, Lord David Alliance, and members of Federal Street SPV. After a competitive pitch, Uptime chose to partner TIPi Group’s media planning and buying arm, The Market. On partnering The Market, Jamie True, Co-Founder at Uptime, said, “At a time of unlimited access to information and the prevalence of fake news, we all need a place for safe, curated knowledge. To match our vision, we have bold targets we need to hit. We were impressed by the in-depth insights provided to us by The Market, the team’s technical knowledge and the clear path laid out in front of us to get us to where we need to be.” Commenting on the strategic collaboration, Camilla King, Managing Director at The Market, said, “The opportunity to work with an emerging brand in such a fascinating and heavily debated industry is a really exciting experience for the team. In a period of uncertainty, we believe it is more important than ever to be working with brands that have the public’s best interests at heart, and that aim to drive positive disruption in society.”
