MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Reinforcing the leadership talent in Publicis Media, Publicis Groupe Philippines has announced key appointments within its media agency brands Starcom and Spark Foundry.
Miko Manalo joins Publicis Media leadership as General Manager of Starcom. Miko started his media career in Starcom working with local brands like Unilab, Del Monte and San Miguel. He then moved to Touch XDA as Integrated Channels Director and was part of the pioneering team who established the channels planning business of DDB in the Philippines, handling brands like SMART, PLDT and East West Bank. He also worked at The Huddle Room as Managing Partner leading the agency’s digital capabilities. He since moved into media ad sales as Head of Integrated Marketing and Sales at Tiger 22 Media Corporation where he championed the digital transformation of the network’s radio platforms. Miko’s digital expertise and experience in pivoting businesses will be helpful in driving the transformation agenda for Starcom.
On his new media role, Miko said: “I am delighted to be back home where I started my career in media re-joining an iconic media brand agency that has long been a leader in unlocking the power of personalized connections. I look forward to working with the talented teams to continue to deliver dynamic media solutions and drive impact for our clients’ businesses.”
Catherine de Leon-Vinuya hails from a long-standing relationship with the digital industry. Starting in 2003 with a mobile marketing company called Xurpas, Inc. She has since moved into digital ad sales (publisher side), CRM, and went into digital measurement & web analytics specializing on Paid Media & Performance Attribution modeling. Cat’s stint with Sizmek (formerly MediaMind/Eyeblaster) cemented her foundations on AdTech and MarTech, giving her formidable knowledge in working with platforms for varying business needs for different clients. She honed her roots in strategic planning and digital media with her stint in Mindshare in 2011. With AdSpark, Cat was enjoined to set up an end-to-end Media Services Team, and within the org has moved into various leadership positions from Client Management, to leading the Media Operations & Analytics Team, to Director of Strategic Planning & Partnerships; and being at the helm of a new department – Innovation.
“I am thrilled to be part of this dynamite team where we collectively take our partnerships with our clients a step further, staring down the road of innovation and growth – together.”, Cat said.
Announcing the new leadership team, Ken Lingan, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe Philippines, said: “Publicis Media is committed to create efficiencies and drive new levels of scale and client value through its combined media expertise and capabilities. We are confident that Miko and Cat will continue to provide the strength and momentum in driving data and technology usage across Publicis Groupe’s media.”