SapientNitro Singapore remodels strategy team to reflect changing client needs with 3 new hires

SapientNitro Singapore has remodeled its strategy team with three key appointments. The new trio in Simon Collins, Andrew Trimboli and Ari Widjanarko all led by Melanie Cook, Head of Strategy, will bring a superior combination of skills to the strategic division.

Cook said, “Most of the strategy written today uses the Internet as a new place to disseminate old 360 thinking. A pre-roll is a TV ad online. A banner is a rotating press ad. An email is direct mail. And, Social Media is the new competition response mechanism. When we use the Internet in this limited capacity, all an agency needs is an integrated strategist who knows how to message a brand’s single-minded proposition across different channels.

If you want to transform a business, you need the skills of a Brand Planner, a Journalist, an Architect and a Business Consultant.”

As the Brand Planner, Cook holds the brand accountable to its brand purpose. She works with Trimboli, who has spent the last 15 years driving content solutions for the likes of The Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue, SingTel and Orbitz Worldwide. His role is to find the stories brands should become part of and what content it will take to get it there.

They are supported by the virtual worlds of interconnected ideas that are created by Widjanarko. He started his career designing navigation systems for public spaces in New York and is now leveraging that discipline to design worlds for Lane Crawford, Citibank and a luxury goods group.

And finally, Collins uses his business consultancy background from Accenture and Asia Rooms to ensure the people, processes and technology are in place to deliver business results.

“Client demands are changing rapidly to cope with the ever evolving and connected consumer. No longer is being a strategist enough, clients now need a Journalist, an Architect and a Business Consultant to help advise them on the best solutions to shape their influence on the continuously emerging digital space. In the arrival of Simon, Ari and Andrew we have created a new team that is made up of highly specialized individuals who will work together and use connected thinking to transform how people experience brands through technology.” says Cook.

Kim Douglas, Managing Director, SapientNitro argues, “If brands really want to transform their business they need to use technology and the Internet to productize their service or augment their products with services. Think Google and Google Glass. Think Nike and Nike+”. 

Collins said of his appointment, “I am extremely excited to be joining the SapientNitro family and the newly formed strategy department, in what I truly believe will be a formidable team. We each bring together a unique set of skills to create the ideal blend of creative thinking, technology expertise and delivery capabilities to realise true value for our clients in a period where CMOs and CIOs are struggling to embrace digital transformation.”

Photo caption L-R: Andrew Triboli, Ari Widjanarko, Mel Cook. Simon Collins