Commenting on the moves Mark Patterson, CEO GroupM APAC said, “Jacob and Ed are both high calibre leaders eager and very capable to take on and embrace their respective new challenges and perform to the highest level. It’s a major advantage for our clients and people to be able to make these sort of talent movements within the organisation.”
Jacob had previously been the CEO for GroupM Vietnam, which is a role that Ed Thesiger will take over in addition to his current role as CEO of GroupM Indonesia. Jacob takes over from Adam Marshall, who left the agency in July of last year.
In his role, Jacob will drive Mindshare’s trading and investment strategy for the region leveraging Mindshare’s advantages of scale and thought leadership in full for their clients. Jacob will be working closely with Mindshare and GroupM trading teams in all local markets to ensure they provide their clients with unrivaled access to quality local inventory, tools and data as the markets increasingly moves to biddable and programmatic trading models.
Commenting on the new role Jacob said, “Mindshare more than any agency has proven itself consistently as a worthy market leader in Asia, and I’m thrilled to take on the challenge of transforming its market leading position of trading and value creation into a model that will see Mindshare adding further competitive advantage in the increasingly adaptive, data lead and automated world of media. I’m humbled by the track record of the team I’m joining. Taking on this challenge under the mentorship and guidance of Ashutosh is a true privilege as well is the opportunity to work with all the incredibly talented teams Mindshare has in the region. I can truly say I’ll be working with the best and brightest in our industry.”
Jacob will work with regional media, data and tech partners to ensure Mindshare’s multi-local trading strategies are combined with the best and most relevant regional and global offerings as well. Jacob will further head up the accountability teams ensuring Mindshare continues it’s track record of always delivering in full the trading and pricing commitments they make to their clients. Jacob will also be responsible for driving the supply side of Mindshare’s Adaptive Marketing proposition, which includes the establishment of the newly developed performance marketing FAST Hubs.
In his previous role as CEO for GroupM Vietnam, Jacob has shown an impressive ability to drive intelligent application of scale across the strategic pillars of talent, technology and trading. Jacob has headed up GroupM Vietnam since 2013 and in that short time transformed both the GroupM and Mindshare proposition into one of the most successful markets in APAC punching significantly above its weight. Jacob has shown a real passion for talent development and will continue to drive this agenda across our trading, buying and digital teams in all markets.
Ed who has an equally impressive track record during his time with GroupM Indonesia will take over for Jacob and add full operational and P&L responsibility for both markets.
Ed has been tasked with taking the business to the next level, which is a tough ask given the excellent performance over the past 3 years. His initial focus for the increasingly digitally focused market will be leveraging the growing demand for a programmatic offering, driving further operational efficiencies and ensuring the agency’s talent is fully equipped to navigate the increasingly complex media landscape.
Commenting on the new role Ed said, “I see many similarities between Indonesia and Vietnam – economic, cultural and demographic. Similarities are also evident within the GroupM operations present there. Each has a high performing team consistently delivering excellent results for our clients. I am relishing the chance to help unlock further opportunities to drive both markets to even greater heights.”
