Ogilvy Bangkok announces new lead as CEO retires

Australian PR agency, SPEAK Communications, has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of Jason Evans as Senior Account Manager.

Jason brings more than 15 years of communications experience across entertainment, sport, and technology, having worked with brands including Channel 9, Stan, Netflix, and Microsoft. His experience spans both in-house and agency roles, covering creative strategy, media relations, and reputation management.

SPEAK Communications Founder and Director, Snezana Hay, said: “There’s a really nice full-circle element to Jason joining SPEAK. Jason was actually an intern when we first worked together at 2K Games many years ago, so to now have him joining SPEAK as a Senior Account Manager is pretty special.

“We’re thrilled to welcome him as a fellow SPEAK-er. Jason brings an incredible depth of experience across entertainment, sport and technology, strong media relationships and the ability to think creatively and strategically for clients.

“As SPEAK continues to grow, having experienced senior people who can lead accounts and be trusted partners to our clients is incredibly important. Jason ticks all those boxes and most importantly, he’s a genuinely great human who fits perfectly into the culture we’ve built.”

Legal agentic operating system company, Legora, has appointed Marko Zitko (right) as Director, Communications, APJ and Jocelyn Bukal (left) as Marketing Director, APJ, with immediate effect.

Based in Sydney, the pair will lead Legora's marketing and communications function across APAC and Japan, following the company’s growth across the region.

Marko joins after spending the past year consulting enterprise technology companies, following his role as Director of Marketing and Communications at Freelancer.com, where he led brand marketing, communications, and investor relations. He previously spent four years at WE Communications, managing campaigns for clients including Adobe, Sony, and UiPath.

Jocelyn brings more than 15 years of B2B technology marketing experience across the APAC region, most recently as Regional Marketing Director APJ at Snyk. Prior to that, she held regional marketing leadership roles at Elastic and Instructure, following earlier positions at Bottomline Technologies, Carnival Corporation, and Symantec.

“Legal teams across APJ are moving from evaluating AI to adopting it, and how we show up in each of these markets matters,” said Heather Paterson, VP APJ at Legora.

“Jocelyn has spent her career building marketing engines for enterprise software companies scaling across this region. Marko has been working with us on our APAC communications for the past ten months, and we’ve seen firsthand how he builds trust in the market. Together they give us a regional team that matches the opportunity in front of us.”

Global law firm Freshfields has named Craig Annis as Chief Brand and Communications Officer. In this role, he will lead Freshfields' global brand, communications and reputation agenda, working closely with the firm's leadership and its global business development teams.

Based in New York, Craig joins from A&O Shearman, where he led the firm's global communications function and was responsible for major strategic initiatives at the firm, including the launch of its global brand and broader reputation and stakeholder engagement programmes.

Prior to that, he served as Chief Brand Officer at the United States Golf Association (USGA), and earlier in his career, Craig spent more than eleven years at Mars, held several global senior leadership positions across communications, public affairs, government relations and corporate responsibility, based in both the US and Europe.

Georgia Dawson, Senior Partner at Freshfields, said, "We have ambitious plans for the future and strong, strategic communications have never been more important. Craig brings an exceptional track record of building high-performing teams, shaping reputation and helping organisations engage effectively with clients, employees and wider stakeholders. We are delighted to welcome him to the firm."

Craig added, "Freshfields is one of the world's leading law firms, with an extraordinary heritage, a clear sense of purpose and a compelling vision for the future. I'm excited to be joining the firm and look forward to working with colleagues around the world to further strengthen its brand, reputation and engagement with key audiences."