Kasper Aakerlund appointed in the newly created role of UM President APAC based in Singapore

June 28 2018, 10:03 am | BY Lynchy | No Comments

KasperAakerlund_2018L_sm.jpgUM, the strategic media agency within IPG Mediabrands, has appointed Kasper Aakerlund in the newly created role of UM President, APAC.

 

Aakerlund (pictured left) first joined IPG Mediabrands as Hong Kong CEO in September 2016 to lead business strategy and operations, while driving the growth of diversified services. With a strong operational background of leading digital transformation across media organisations in Europe and Southeast Asia, prior roles included chief digital officer of Carat and Vizeum, and CEO & head of Isobar Nordics, before moving to Asia as COO and CDIO of GroupM Vietnam and Indonesia.

 

As CEO of IPG Mediabrands Hong Kong, Aakerlund was responsible for driving the launch and growth of several specialised business units including the country’s largest social and content hub which just won gold for Best Newcomer in the Marketing Magazine Agency of The Year Awards 2018, as well as shortlisting for Most Winning Agency. His investment in data and programmatic specialisation has seen programmatic spend triple in the last 2 years, and 35 new clients have been introduced to the network, culminating in UM Hong Kong being awarded Campaign Asia’s Media Agency of the year in December 2017.

In his new role Aakerlund will champion better science, better art, and better outcomes across 13 markets in the Asia-Pacific region, with a strategic lead on growth and precision marketing anchored in business analytics and real-time data intelligence.

 

Aakerlund commented, “I am excited to take a regional steer on UM at this transformative junction in the industry where we need to be a core and integrated part of the customer journey. We set the bar high at UM, to create a future agency that’s better, faster and more agile. An agency that is built for today and tomorrow.”

 

Aakerlund will report to IPG Mediabrands APAC CEO Leigh Terry, and UM Global CEO Daryl Lee. Terry commented, “Kasper has a rich and proven heritage of digital business transformation, coupled with an irrepressible drive and energy that achieves tangible momentum.  It’s these qualities that will keep a strategic media network like UM at the very precipice of the future.”

 

Lee said, “Kasper’s track record in Hong Kong speaks for itself, having made a significant impact over the last two years, resulting in becoming agency of the year. We are delighted to welcome him to this pivotal role steering the growth and development of UM across the Asia-Pacific region.”

 

Aakerlund will relocate from Hong Kong to the UM regional HQ in Singapore and his appointment is effective immediately.