Lazada calls for regional media pitch, appoints new CMO for SG

Alibaba-backed Lazada is on the hunt for an agency to manage its media duties, inclusive of markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam. This comes as the eCommerce player recently pushed its RedMart CMO Jean Thomas to the role of Lazada Singapore CMO. Thomas joined the company in 2017 as director of brand and acquisition marketing, during which he grew RedMart's presence in Singapore, improving public perception and getting offline supermarket shoppers to shop online on RedMart. Prior to joining RedMart, Thomas was the CEO of publishing company Urban Walkabout based in Sydney, Australia for a year. Meanwhile, just last month, Lazada revealed that it will be integrating RedMart products into its platform on 15 March 2019, as part of its efforts to ramp up its supermarket business in Southeast Asia.  Spearheading Lazada’s foray into the supermarket business in Southeast Asia will be RedMart co-founder Roger Egan, who was appointed Lazada Group head of supermarket. As part of his regional role, Egan will oversee the expansion, launch and operations for Lazada’s supermarket business and delivery network across the region. Last year, Lazada Group also named executive president Pierre Poignant to succeed Lucy Peng as CEO with immediate effect. Poignant, who was appointed group executive president in August this year, will lead the company’s strategic development into new growth pillars, while continuing to manage Lazada’s operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, working closely with country CEOs and regional functional team leaders. Meanwhile, Peng will remain the group’s executive chairwoman.