Independent, much-awarded integrated marketing agency iris Singapore has snapped up former Bates141 Singapore General Manager Craig Mapleston as managing director, tied into its planned Asia Pacific expansion.
He takes over from Dan Saxby, who has been promoted to global client director for long-standing iris client Sony Ericsson.
Mapleston, who takes his new position in February, has nearly two decades of expe-rience in integrated communications, having spent the past 14 years in Asia and the last 10 leading Bates141 offices in the region. His most recent industry awards include awards for Nokia at the Effies Singapore 2007, and seven individual awards for Nokia: Defend Your Turf at the Promotional Marketing Awards of Asia (PMAA) in 2006.
According to Mapleston: “After 10 fruitful and enjoyable years at Bates141, it is time for a new challenge. iris is making a strong name for itself as one of the world’s pre-mier integrated networks. It is growing at an incredible rate and I am very excited to have the chance to contribute to that growth. In these tighter times, clients will be looking for their agency to deliver creative solutions that really drive sales and iris is well-equipped to provide these solutions.”
Mapleston’s is the latest in a string of big iris hires this year: Richard Bleasdale, Regional CEO for Asia Pacific, who joined from DDB Group Singapore/Rapp Collins Asia Pacific, board directors Andrew Dowling and Chris Martell, who joined from Y&R Singapore and TBWA\Tequila Singapore respectively, and most recently Tom Ormes, who joined as joint creative director for iris Singapore from Y&R.
