Songkran Sethesompobe (Jod as he is popularly known), the current CEO of Publicis Groupe Thailand, will be ending his innings with the Groupe after 11 years of leadership. The Groupe will be moving to a co-CEO structure in the market with Sorada Sonprasit, currently CEO of Brilliant & Million, and Paruj Daorai, currently Managing Director of Digitas Thailand, joining forces to lead Publicis Groupe in Thailand.
The move to a co-CEO structure in the market is in line with the scale of the Groupe's business in Thailand, aligned with the ambition in the coming years to make Thailand a real focus for Groupe transformation and acceleration, as well as representative of the potential in Southeast Asia of Thailand as a market. This is to ensure that all business units are well-covered and well taken care of. Both Sorada and Paruj will report to Amrita Randhawa, the CEO of Publicis Groupe, Singapore & Southeast Asia. The appointment is effective June 1st, 2022 with the outgoing CEO overlapping for a smooth transition till end June, 2022.
Sorada Sonprasit is founder and CEO of Brilliant & Million, one of Thailand's leading digital agencies. She started Brilliant & Million after an illustrious career working with companies like American Express and Citibank. Always ahead of her time, she saw a huge opportunity for digital in 2007 and started Brilliant & Million. And in 2018 once again saw the immense potential of taking the agency to the next level by integrating Brilliant & Million into Publicis Groupe. And there has been no looking back since. Her list of achievements is long from 5 consecutive Agency of the Year wins are Campaign Asia to being named "Woman to Watch" in 2017 and 2021 to having CMO Asia award her Asia Woman Leader of 2017, Thailand Woman Leader of 2017, and a Global Woman Achiever in 2022. Beyond work Sorada is obsessed with developing talent and is an honorary lecturer at many leading universities in Thailand.
"I am honoured and thrilled to be co-leading as CEO for the group. Since Brilliant & Million joined Publicis Groupe in 2018, my vision to focus on is to continue developing capabilities of People and ensuring that we equip them with the right tools and expertise which will allow them to grow not only from a business perspective but also their personal growth as well. I see tremendous opportunity for our people particularly on digital capabilities, and I look forward to expand my passion of growing people across the business units of the group", Sorada mentioned.
Paruj Daorai began his career in advertising as a copywriter. From a small agency in Bangkok to a degree in graphic design in the US and stints in ad and design firms across USA, Paruj came home to Bangkok to start the second phase of his career working at D'Arcy (DMB&B), Lowe Bangkok and Ogilvy & Mather Thailand. A move to the Leo Burnett Group Thailand shaped up the third phase of Paruj's career. From CD to ECD to launching Digitas Thailand. Digitas Thailand has since enjoyed double digit growth across multiple years. Paruj's work has been recognized at the Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, London international Awards, Epica Awards, Spikes Asia, AdFest and more. He gives back to the industry by serving on multiple awards juries and currently serves as the president of Digital Advertising Association of Thailand (DAAT).
Paruj quoted upon his new announcement "Creativity and innovation is the heart of every advertising and communication agency. However, to be a leading agency means that we need to be able to reinvent the way we see the world as it evolves. The eyes of the data is no longer a token of appreciation in our work but it is crucial that we utilize data in such a way that guides our creativity and innovation. This will allow us to strategically consult and design the best performance-driven communications for our clients. I am honoured to be appointed as Co-CEO of Publicis Groupe Thailand and I am excited to head the group together with Sorada to bring forth a new realm of many capabilities yet to be unfold".
"I am delighted to see Sorada and Paruj step up into this role. Both are leaders who have been ahead of their time in developing digitally-led services for clients and work really well in partnership with each other making them a very strong choice as we continue to transform the Groupe and its services in Thailand. I would also like to thank Khun Jod for his many years of service to the Groupe and for building strong relationships with our people and our clients. He is a trusted voice who will be missed," said Amrita Randhawa on the appointment.
Songkran joined Publicis Groupe as CEO of Leo Burnett Thailand in April 2011. Together with his team, he has led Leo Burnett Thailand to become one of the most recognized and awarded agencies in Thailand. In May 2016, Songkran was appointed Country Head of Publicis Groupe Thailand. With the birth of Digitas Thailand and Prodigious and the acquisition of Brilliant & Million he continued to grow the business as well as championing bespoke client teams hubbed in Thailand and supporting business units like Publicis Sapient in their expansion.
"Looking back during the last 11 years when I first joined the group, I believe that the most important thing for an advertising and communication agency is to always continue to innovate and transform ourselves to be able to keep up with the market. I see the immense importance of business transformation and that is what I passionately build the people to fit into such vision. I am confident that Sorada and Paruj will take on their new appointments brilliantly and will take Publicis Groupe to a whole new level", Songkran mentioned.