MANILA – The Walt Disney Company South East Asia today announced the appointment of country managers in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand to further strengthen its focus on high growth markets. Mr. Herry Salim, Ms. Veronica Espinosa-Cabalinan and Ms. Subha-Orn Rathanamongkolmas (Soupy) have been appointed country managers for Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand respectively, reporting to Robert Gilby, Managing Director – The Walt Disney Company South East Asia.
This country level focus will further support Disney’s in-market partnerships, create localized creative content and accelerate fast learning of local trends and opportunities to serve fans of Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar. The new leaders will focus on building brand affinity through fan engagement and drive monetization with a compelling portfolio of content across all Disney businesses.
“This new market-led organization will strengthen our local relevance, deepen key partnerships, and accelerate Disney’s digital footprint with some of the world’s most mobile and social consumers in these three countries,” said Mr. Gilby.
“Herry, Veronica, and Soupy bring in a deep understanding of our key growth markets in this region. With their experience and leadership, we will further enrich Disney fan engagement with our stories, brands, and characters, and drive continued growth across our businesses,” he added.
Working with regional business heads, the newly appointed country managers will further strengthen local partnerships with broadcasters, telcos, licensees, retailers, multiplex chains and digital media brands to provide best-in-class content tailored for audiences and accelerate opportunities across mobile and social platforms.
Prior to joining Disney, Herry was Vice President Household Care for Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, in Unilever. Herry spent 24 years in Unilever where he built his expertise around brand development and deployment, marketing and general management, global project management, and business leadership.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead this dynamic team in Indonesia. With the strength of Disney brands, people, stories and characters, I am confident that we will be able to create a whole new generation of fans among Indonesian families and businesses alike!” said Herry.
With over two decades experience in the licensing and retail business, Ms. Espinosa-Cabalinan joined Disney in 2013 as the head of consumer products business in Philippines where she led the team to exceptional growth of Disney’s licensing business and developed key retail partnerships. Prior to that, Veronica worked with Pacific Licensing Studio where she led the consumer products licensing team for a portfolio of licensed brands in Philippines.
“Our Filipino fans have a special relationship with Disney brands, especially Marvel and we will further enhance this engagement with innovative digital products and through social media,” said Veronica.
Soupy is a senior executive in the studios entertainment business with over two decades experience working in Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Prior to this role, she was the Managing Director of the joint venture entity of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Sony Pictures Releasing International in Thailand where she held various roles since joining in 2003.
“I have enjoyed a long connection with Disney over the past two decades and am proud to lead the integrated team in Thailand. We look forward to serving Thai fans with unique local creative inspirations and experiences of Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and most importantly, Disney,” said Soupy.
