Current Press Releases

Text 100 APAC Cultivates Global Talent, Strengthens Regional Leadership Team

Ava Lawler promoted to Global Consultancy Director, Rowan Benecke steps up as APAC Regional Director

Hong Kong, 07/24/2008 — Text 100 has announced a series of changes to its APAC management structure that come into effect from August 1, 2008. To kick off its new fiscal year, Text 100 has promoted its Regional Consultancy Director, Ava Lawler, to the position of Global Consultancy Director. The newly created global role will see Lawler elevate the agency’s global consultancy proposition and unite its approach to the global development of strategic practices in Peer Media, Digital Lifestyle, Clean Tech and Corporate Social Responsibility. Lawler will also take on responsibilities for Global Talent Development and will remain located in Shanghai.

Rowan Benecke, currently Senior Vice President and APAC Sales & Marketing Director, will assume the Regional Consulting Director position from Lawler. Based in Hong Kong, Benecke will focus on consulting with key clients in Asia, strategic planning, revenue growth, business profitability and development of the firm’s consultancy capabilities across Text 100’s network of 11 Asia Pacific offices. Benecke has also been appointed to the Global Executive Leadership Team and will report directly to Text 100 CEO Aedhmar Hynes.

In further recognition of Text 100’s APAC talent, Jeremy Woolf, former Hong Kong Managing Consultant, has been promoted to the role of Global Practice Lead – Peer Media. Jeremy will also assume the directorship of Greater China, overseeing the agency’s offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing and will continue to participate in Text 100’s APAC Regional Leadership Team. Text 100 Hong Kong announced separately that Simon Taylor has been appointed as Managing Consultant to replace Woolf. Taylor joins from Baldwin Boyle Group with more than 15 years of Asia Pacific communications experience.

In support of these changes, Anne Costello, former Client Services Director based in Sydney, will maintain her directorship of South East Asia and will also take on the regional sales and marketing directorship from Benecke. Singapore-based Senior Consultant Shafaat Hussein will be the new Regional Client Services Director, focusing on strengthening and growing Text 100’s existing client portfolio in Asia.

Spokespeople Quotes:

"After 16 years working with Text 100 in the UK, South Africa, Australia and China, I am excited to be able to focus now on further development of our global consultancy proposition,” said Ava Lawler. “I have relished the experience gained from leading the APAC region for the past three years and intend to continue adding value by focusing on global talent development and elevation of our practices.”

“It is a privilege to lead such a remarkable group of people and it’s something I do with enormous admiration for Ava,” said Rowan Benecke. “I am confident in the strength of the agency’s leadership team in place across our network of APAC offices, and I look forward to utilizing my client relationship and business development skills to help Text 100 continue on its path of success in Asia.”

Video Bios

Ava Lawler
Global Consultancy Director

Ava is Text 100's Global Consultancy Director and is also responsible for the agency's global talent programme.

This role leverages Ava's global experience across the UK, South Africa, Australia, Asia and in Greater China. As Global Consultancy Director she is responsible for elevating Text 100's consultancy proposition and developing consulting methodologies to enhance the four firms practice areas of Peer Media, CSR, Clean Technology and Digital Lifestyle.

Ava is also responsible for Text 100's global talent programme. In this role, she is focused on ensuring Text 100 remains competitive in its approach to attracting and retaining staff as well as enhancing skill developing programs.

Prior to this role, Ava was the Regional Consultancy Director of Text 100 APAC where she oversaw Text 100's 11 offices in the Asia Pacific region and worked closely with many of the company's most high-profile clients including IBM and Nokia.

During her 16 years with the Group, Ava has been known for her innate leadership skills and her exceptional ability to build innovative public relations campaigns. She has worked for clients such as British Telecommunications (BT), Commonwealth Bank Group, IBM, Microsoft, Virgin Mobile and Visa.

Ava graduated from Queensland University of Technology, with a Bachelor of Business Communications.


Rowan Benecke
Regional Consultancy Director
Text 100 APAC

Rowan is responsible for leading Text 100 Asia Pacific towards its vision of being the most trusted advisor to progressive companies using technology as competitive advantage.

The role focuses on strategic business planning, revenue growth, business profitability, issues management and development of the firm's consultancy capabilities. Rowan has people management responsibility for the region's 11 managing consultants and regional client advocates and he is focused on overall staff retention, motivation and development across the region.

Rowan is a member of our global Executive Leadership Team which focuses on strategic planning, leadership and management of Text 100's global business.

Prior to this role, Rowan was the Regional Sales and Marketing Director where he was responsible for the new business and marketing initiatives for APAC. He also served three years in APAC as the regional client consultant for key clients including Philips, Symantec and NXP Semiconductors, managing PR campaigns and account teams across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Vietnam.

Rowan is based in Hong Kong, where he relocated to after joining Text 100 in Sydney, Australia. Rowan has more than 15 years of experience developing strategic communications campaigns for leading consumer and technology brands in the United States and Asia.


Jeremy Woolf
Greater China Director
Global Peer Media Lead
Senior Vice President
Text 100 APAC

Jeremy Woolf has worked in public relations and marketing in Asia Pacific for more than 15 years, with proven expertise in a wide range of communications disciplines.

As Senior Vice President and Greater China Director, the nine year Text 100 veteran oversees the firm's business operations across China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In this capacity, he is responsible for a team of more than 80 PR professionals across offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei. Jeremy oversees strategic client engagement, staff development and branding across this dynamic region.

As Global Peer Media Lead, he manages a global practice, with direct reports leading the Asian, North American and European regions. The global practice is tasked with ensuring Text 100's continued leadership in social media communications. Jeremy has consulted to blue chip clients around the world on social media trends and best practices.

Woolf is a frequent contributor to industry publications on public relations topics, an in-demand public speaker and seasoned communications strategist, mentor and coach. He is a member of Text 100's Regional Leadership Team and is based in Hong Kong.


Anne Costello
Senior Vice President & Director ASEAN
Text 100 APAC

Anne has over 15 years' client-side and agency communications experience in Greater China, South East Asia, Japan, Australia and Europe.

Anne is currently responsible for Text 100's South East Asia operations and network in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. She also leads the company's sales and marketing strategies in APAC where she is responsible for attracting new clients and building Text 100's brand.

Anne is experienced in corporate and product communications programmes for both external and internal audiences with business to business and consumer clients. She has facilitated communications strategy sessions, PR 2.0 and social media trainings and advanced media trainings for organisations such as Nokia, IBM, Microsoft, Lenovo and Coca-Cola Asia Pacific. She has helped clients handle issues and crises situations both in the blog-sphere and traditional media, worked with "C" level executives to raise their profiles and provided strategic consultancy on topics including regional communications programmes, employee communications, influencer relations and CSR initiatives.

Anne is a member of Text 100's Regional Leadership Team and Senior Consulting teams. She has a Bsc (Hons) in Psychology, from the University of Plymouth (UK), a post-graduate diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and a post-graduate diploma in Psychology from the Australian College of Applied Psychology.


Shafaat Hussain
Regional Client Advocate
Text 100 APAC

Shafaat Hussain is a Regional Client Advocate at Text 100 and works out of the company's Singapore Office. In his regional role, Shafaat is responsible for leading the Asia Pacific communication campaigns for Text 100's largest client in Asia, Lenovo.

As part of his regional remit, Shafaat also works across the Text 100 AP network to strengthen and develop existing client relationships and advance Text 100's consultancy approach.

Shafaat has over 10 years of PR experience and relocated to Text 100 Singapore in October 2006 after spending 8 years at Text 100 India. With multi-market PR exposure and proven client consulting, regional account management and business development skills, he advises clients on a range of issues across the corporate, product and technology platforms.

Prior to relocating to Singapore, Shafaat was a core member of the Text 100 India management team, that saw the India employee base grow from 12 to over 100 in a span of 8 years. He has consulted to a range of Indian and Multinational clients including Nokia, Lenovo, Xerox, AMD, Canon and Flextronics Software Systems.

A natural collaborator, Shafaat's strengths include strong relationship building and partner engagement skills, the ability to lead large teams by creating and institutionalizing robust account management processes and a distinct problem solving approach that is geared towards ensuring the timely attainment of goals.

Shafaat has a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Stephens College, New Delhi and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Canberra, Australia.


About Text 100
Text 100 is a global public relations agency working with progressive and innovative companies around the world to manage and build brands. The agency’s globally-minded consultants offer industry expertise and specialized knowledge in local markets across 31 offices in 21 countries around the world. With eight global practices (including Clean Tech, Corporate Social Responsibility and Peer Media) combined with a leadership position in the social media revolution, Text 100 delivers advanced communication across the globe. Text 100 represents market leaders and emerging brands including Cisco, eBay, Fujifilm, IBM, Lenovo, MTV and Xerox.

Text 100 APAC was awarded the Asia Pacific PR Award for Mid-sized Agency of the Year, 2007 and Text 100 was named by The Holmes Report as New Media Agency of the Year, 2007 and The Best Agency to Work for, 2006 and 2007. For more information, visit: www.text100.com.

Media Contact

Please direct all media inquiries to:

Claire Plasto
+61.2.9956.5733
Claire.plasto@text100.com.au