London - Saatchi & Saatchi London has hired Michael Rebelo as managing director. Rebelo will report into Robert Senior, UK CEO, SSF Group.
Before accepting the post, Rebelo was CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore. Over the past three years he has transformed the agency into a creative powerhouse in Asia Pacific, winning numerous creative awards, significant new business and delivering considerable revenue growth.
Senior said: "Michael is world class talent. He has exactly the right combination of experience, talent and energy to make a colossal difference."
Rebelo said: "Saatchi & Saatchi London is an exciting place to be right now. Robert has put together an astonishing leadership team in Kate, Paul and Richard. I have pretty bold ambitions for the agency and look forward to working with Robert and the team to get there."
With Rebelo at the helm, Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore was named agency of the year 2007 by Marketing magazine, Ad Asia Magazine, Campaign Brief Asia magazine and by the Institute of Advertising Singapore for the second year running, making it the number one creative agency in Asia Pacific.
The agency has had an impressive new business record winning United Overseas Bank, ESPN, MSIG Insurance, Sony Ericsson and Tiger Beer under Rebelo's leadership.
The 100-person agency was also the fourth most awarded agency at Cannes in 2007.
Before moving to Singapore, Rebelo was general manager of Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. Before that he was general manager of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand where he ran the Wellington office.
Rebelo will join the London agency in June 2008. His appointment completes the senior team line up at Saatchi & Saatchi London following the recent hires of Paul Silburn and Richard Huntington.
Rebelo's appointment underlines the SSF Group's stated ambition of championing creativity to drive growth at Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon.