APD's John Matthews takes on Singapore-based CEO role

Pippa Chambers
By Pippa Chambers | 26 August 2015
 
John Matthews

Veteran performance marketer John Matthews has upped sticks from Sydney to Singapore for a new role as APD's CEO of performance marketing for Asia.

The Brit had been at Dgm Australia, which was recently brought together with its sister companies – under new brand APD, since its inception 12 years ago.

Matthews, an IAB advocate and regular performance marketing speaker at industry events, moved up the ranks to become Dgm's CEO in February 2014.

His new role will focus on APD's performance marketing division in Asia with the goal of growing the company’s full suite of customer acquisition channels in the region.

Dgm initially started as one of the first affiliate marketing companies in the UK, before slipping into administration. Despite the now defunct UK branch issues, the separate Australian business, headed by Matthews, experienced increasing growth, and soon saw other big affiliate players, such as Rakuten LinkshareAvantLink and AffiliateTraction moving into the growing field in Australia.

The division Matthew's heads up encompasses SEO, paid search marketing, display advertising, lead generation, affiliate marketing, conversion rate optimisation – and more.

APD chief operating officer Newton Smith said performance marketing represents a “tremendous opportunity” in Asia.

“John learnt his craft in the established market of the UK and was instrumental in bringing performance marketing to Australia,” Smith said.

“He is already securing business with new clients in South East Asia and we anticipate building a scale business in the region to complement the Australian business.”

In Australia, Cem Bali has taken up the role of general manager of APD – Acquire Australia, while Phil Cross has become head of search and Adam Stewart has become head of biddable media (paid search).

“The Australian team now in place is made up of the most experienced performance marketing professionals in the region. They are instrumental in bringing maturity to digital customer acquisition,” Smith said.

APD has also expanded its leadership team in Singapore with the appointment of Lisa Walton as general manager, Singapore.

Walton has experience from both agency and client side, most recently Dentsu Mobius where she was group head of planning across their major clients, including Singapore Airlines, Mondelez (Oreo, Cadbury), ANZ Bank, FRHI and ESPN.

She was national channel marketing exec at Vodafone back in 2007 and also took up a post as Telstra's marketing manger in 2011.

She will work closely with APD Singapore CEO Tobias Wilson, and Smith, on the company’s plans for strong growth across the region.

Wilson founded award-winning creative engagement agency, @ccomplice, which became a part of APD earlier this year and is the vice president of IAB Singapore.

“Lisa’s track record speaks for itself and she adds another credible voice when speaking to our clients about the knowledge and skills we have across the region,” Wilson said.

“Since completing our rebrand in May, we have been in extensive conversations with our clients about offering them a single view of their digital ecosystem to help them meet their business objectives and accelerate their growth.”

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