DigitasLBi Boosts Media Offering in APAC with New Hires

Global marketing and technology agency DigitasLBi continues to grow its media practice with new hires Charlie Newbery replacing Mark Newton as the Head of Media for APAC, and Sam Ko joining Head of Media for Hong Kong.

Heading up media across the APAC region, Charlie will be responsible for managing existing client relationships and driving growth through both a continued focus on delivering strong ROI for our clients and an increasing focus on programmatic media.

Charlie was previously with WPP’s Red Fuse Communications, where he was Head of Media across Asia, with main responsibility for Colgate Palmolive. While at Red Fuse, he established a new processes for planning and designing integrated campaigns and built a programmatic trade desk to scale and improve delivery of online video.

Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Charlie led the Emirates Airlines business at Starcom in Dubai and held senior positions at News International, UM and MediaCom in London.

Charlie Newbery, Head of Media for APAC said: “It’s great to be part of the team, and I look forward to the challenge of expanding our media operation, including the scaling of our programmatic services across APAC.”

Sam Ko who previously was Director of Digital Investment at Mindshare NYC where he managed all client digital channel and technology investment. Sam also helped lead the market shift towards transparency and accountability through strict viewability and ad fraud measurements. Prior to Mindshare, Ko worked at leading agencies such as MediaVest, UM, OMD and Zenith across major cities in the US.

Sam will be responsible for all media development and execution from the Hong Kong office. He will oversee media planning and buying through an integrated processes that leverages existing strengths in Creative & Design, Data & Analytics and Performance & Brand marketing.

Sam Ko, Head of Media, Hong Kong said: “I am very excited to be on board. I am hoping to bring some of my experience to establish the best practices that prepare our Hong Kong clients for the global and local digital media marketplace and help them to maximise ROI.”

Annette Male, APAC CEO commented: “We are extremely grateful to Mark for all the work he has done to establish our media capabilities within the region. Charlie and Sam will have a great springboard from which to further expand our media offering in Hong Kong and across APAC. Our clients are increasingly looking for media agency partners with strong expertise in programmatic and we are confident that having Charlie on board will put their brands into the best hands.“

Paul Dalton, Chief Media Officer, International said: “Our media offering has grown at a rapid pace in APAC. Having experts like Charlie and Sam on the team ensures we are even better equipped to help our clients develop media solutions which drive commercial advantage, now and in the future.”