BLKJ Havas Singapore grows with Jacobs Douwe Egberts regional brand win and senior talent hires and staff promotions

BLKJ Havas Singapore is seeing a strong end to 2021 and has welcomed a new APAC client partnership, seven senior hires and six senior promotions.

Following a multi-agency pitch, leading coffee and tea company Jacobs Douwe Egberts has picked BLKJ Havas as its agency partner to build market leadership for a range of its brands regionally.

These include the company’s flagship brands in the region – OldTown, Moccona, and Super.

BLKJ Havas will act as the regional hub, handling brand stewardship, strategy and creative communications in APAC, across markets including Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Thailand.

The agency was also entrusted with prestigious projects from Amazon Singapore, Ninja Van, and Endowus.

BLKJ Havas’s CEO, Rowena Bhagchandani, said: “To say that we are delighted to be working with JDE is an understatement. We won the respect and trust of the JDE team with a brand strategy and creative work that was reflective of each market’s unique realities. Now, we look forward to bringing the work alive in the different markets. This is one of our early efforts to bring together BLKJ’s creative firepower and Vivendi Group’s regional and global reach. We can’t wait to get started.

“And we are chuffed to be working with Amazon Singapore, Ninja Van, and Endowus. These are modern, progressive brands that will enable our teams to flex their strategic and creative muscles.

“Finally, as we grow, so must our talents. We are committed to investing in our talents – because ultimately, they form the bedrock of the collective and the foundation to all that we do. Everyone at BLKJ Havas are creators, makers, builders in their own right, empowered to make a difference, all in service of the work for our client partners.

BLKJ Havas also welcomed seven new hires to the agency.

Fiona Huang returns to the agency as General Manager; Guilherme Machado and Trong Ronakiat join as Associate Creative Directors. Both are a highly awarded team with 24 Cannes Lions to their credit; Sha Omar joins as Senior Account Director; Joanna Ortega and Marilyn Poh as Senior Writers; and Ginger Chia joins as Senior Account Manager.

“Alongside the new hires, we also recognise the unique contributions of the existing members of our family with promotions and enhanced responsibilities. Skanda Lokeshwaran has been promoted to Senior Strategist; Pamela Ho to Senior Writer, Shumin Leow to Senior Art Director, Melissa Law and Brenda Yew to Account Directors, and K Cheng has been elevated to Operations Director,” said Bhagchandani.