Mindshare appoints Robin Wong as CEO of FAST for APAC

Mindshare has appointed Robin Wong to the newly created role of CEO for the agency’s FAST hub (Future Adaptive Specialist Team) for APAC. Wong has previously been Managing Partner and Global Head of Operations of GroupM’s global Data and Analytics team.

As CEO of FAST, Wong’s primary objective is to help the agency’s clients derive full value from their data-led initiatives, particularly when it comes to leveraging analytics as a driver of audience insights to deliver programmatic campaigns with precision.

A veteran in the GroupM global network, Wong is an experienced leader and practitioner in Marketing Data and Analytics consulting across industries and markets. Having spent five years in Mindshare and six years in GroupM partnering with all GroupM agencies to drive the network’s Data and Analytics strategy, Wong brings a wealth of experience in setting and scaling up technology-enabled Data and Analytics organisations, anddeep product management skills.

In his previous role with GroupM, Wong successfully expanded the network’s Data and Analytics services globally to support clients across a variety of needs, from data management, operational reporting to advanced decisioning analytics. He also led the development of  integrated on-shore and off-shore capability to efficiently and effectively deliver services across time zones and geographies.

Commenting on the new role, Gowthaman Ragothaman, Chief Operating Officer, Mindshare Asia Pacific, said, “Robin is joining FAST at a time when there is a deep-felt need for marketers to build ‘muscle memory’ out of their data-led initiatives. Content, commerce, and campaigns are colliding at a rapid rate in the industry, and we have made some great progress with our clients on this front. But it is still a modest start. I am confident that Robin’s experience will come in handy, and help bring this to the next level where we can provide consistent support to all our clients in making sense of data for sound business decisions.”

Harvey Goldhersz, Chief Data Officer and CEO of GroupM Analytics, commenting on the moves, said, “Robin has been a key driver of GroupM’s Data and Analytics success sinceits inception. Under Robin’s hands-on leadership, our advanced Data & Analytics capabilities have expanded. We now serve more than 800 clients in North America, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. We look forward to working with Robin in his new role and wish him all the best.”

FAST, as a unit, uses data, technology, algorithms, and specialist talent to drive better performance in outcome-based and real-time media. It helps clients onboard multiple data streams, develop stronger insights, and build strong use cases with advanced analytics for future marketing activities. FAST is open-sourced, and customised for a particular client. It gives the clients benefits of scale, and helps them build their own bespoke technology stack.

Wong’s new role is effective October 1, 2016.