Lion & Lion today announced the appointment of Ben Chew as the new Managing Director for Malaysia as present MD, Jeppe Carlsen assumes the role of Group Director, New Business & Strategy, a newly created regional role focused on the agency’s growth. The new appointments are a pivotal move to advance the agency’s strategy launched last year in August to focus on three core areas of strategy, media and creative; to establish itself as a partner that creatively solves business problems for clients. Both Ben and Jeppe will be reporting to Fredrik Gumpel, Group CEO, Lion & Lion.
In his new role, Ben Chew will be leading Lion & Lion Malaysia into the next stage of the company’s successful transformation along with playing a key role in propelling Lion & Lion’s integrated marketing model at a regional level. His flair for driving business success with a focus on brand experiences, creativity integrated with technology makes him a perfect match to support the company’s new direction. With an extensive experience of 25 years in the industry, he holds a track record of successfully growing agencies and brands. In the past, Ben has been working with some of the leading names in the industry such as Grey Advertising, Isobar, McCann, etc. where his noteworthy work has been recognised at SPIKES Asia, Effie, Advertising and Marketing Magazine Awards to name a few.
On his appointment, Ben says “I am excited to join Fredrik and his pride of talented and highly motivated individuals at Lion & Lion. I am fueled with the unanimity of the network’s vision that quite simply sees the world as it is, a digitised marketplace. Fundamentally, the marketplace will see shorter consumer journeys and faster consumers buying decisions as the result of technology. Underpinning this role of digital as Lion & Lion sees it are still the fundamental drivers of Creativity, Consumer Understanding and Brand Strategy. Essentially, I come in to pull these cardinal pieces together to ultimately deliver the creative marketing solution for Brands.”
Jeppe Carlsen, has previously led Lion & Lion Malaysia as Managing Director and has been instrumental in the strong recovery of business following the challenges imposed during MCO. His business acumen combined with a deep understanding of marketing, consumer insights, and strategy makes him well-placed to drive the agency’s regional ambition. In his new role, he will be spearheading the company’s efforts in expanding the group’s portfolio with new business opportunities working closely with all local MDs. Furthermore, he will be responsible to further the agency’s integrated solutions across its three service lines.
Excited about his new role, Jeppe says, “Welcoming Ben onboard is both an honor and also a very exciting opportunity for collaboration for him and I. With that in mind, I look forward to growing Malaysia’s business substantially with him in the coming year. Further being able to also focus on growing all five key markets and continue the current momentum to gain more regional accounts is key to taking our group to the next level of delivering fully integrated solutions across channels and markets.”
On this occasion, Fredrik Gumpel, Group CEO, Lion & Lion says “We are thrilled to have Ben in the Lion family. His impressive experience in leading business transformation within the agency space will augment Lion & Lion’s mission to advance its portfolio of integrated strategic & creative services. His passion for the industry, desire to create business results along with his entrepreneurial spirit convinced us early on that Ben would be a great fit for the role and our company.”
Adding to this, he says “As Group Director for New Business & Strategy, Jeppe will be playing 100% to his strengths as a strong holistic thinking marketing leader with an eye for commercial opportunities. We are looking forward to seeing the new opportunities and growth these roles will bring to the agency and create impact for our clients and our business.”