andreas VOGIATZAKIS

A TEDx speaker, a high-performance Certified Executive Coach, a Certified NLP Practitioner, a Certified Trainer, a mentor, author, emcee and among the top 100 most inspirational LinkedIn icons, Andreas was the first ever non-Malaysian Group CEO, appointed to helm one of the most influential media publishing groups in the country, the Star Media Group Malaysia.

 

An award-winning marketing maverick and a highly sought-after speaker, Andreas defines his purpose to be a catalyst for positive change and greater things to come.

 

Born and raised in rural Crete in Greece, Andreas fell in love with advertising when he was 21.  To the dismay of his family, he quit the prestigious Mathematics University of Athens to pursue his passion for advertising at the University of Florida. 

 

After graduating with High Honors and a straight 4.0 GPA, he kick-started his career at DMB&B in New York and has forged ever since a life journey across the world.

 

From New York he returned to Greece to fulfill his mandatory military service, after which he worked as Ad Sales Manager for Lambrakis Publishing Group, and later as Media Supervisor for J Walter Thompson. 

 

In 1997 he set sail to Asia to launch, structure and run MediaVest, DMB&B’s media division, in Japan. Having successfully done so and after a short stint with Wieden & Kennedy in Tokyo, he joined Publicis to merge to merge Starcom (Publicis' media arm) with MediaVest, and establish the StarcomMediaVest Group (SMG), in partnership with Dentsu.  In a short time, and after going through a plethora of changes, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, he successfully transformed SMG into a top-tier international media agency in Japan. 

 

Enjoying the challenges of ‘building’, he later moved to Taipei at the helm of WPP’s Mindshare Group, where he restructured and cemented the media agency to be the undisputed #1 media force in Taiwan. After doubling its revenue and navigating the Group through the unprecedented tough times of SARS, he helped launch GroupM in Taiwan before moving to Malaysia.

 

Making Malaysia his home since 2006, he spent ten years as the CEO of Omnicom Media Group Malaysia (OMG). A firm believer in curating strategic partnerships and turning clients into enthusiastic referral sources, he re-engineered OMG into a formidable award-winning force that has received the highest industry awards and accolades, including an unprecedented double gold for OMD & PHD in 2012 at Campaign’s Agency of the Year, one of the most coveted regional advertising awards.

 

In August 2016, after ten years of unparalleled success and driven by his entrepreneurial spirit, he took on the CEO role for Havas Media Group Malaysia, tasked to build and run the media operations for the Havas/Vivendi network. Within a year, Havas Media Group was among the top tier media agencies in Malaysia, winning many prestigious industry accolades such as Campaign’s GOLD Agency of the Year Award in 2017.

 

In August 2019, Andreas was appointed Group CEO of Star Media Group Malaysia. In a short time, he created new revenue streams, restructured business units, revamped the UX/UI of several products, drove innovation, improved management controls, and steered the Group through the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

In August 2020, following his heart and with an insatiable appetite to build further, add value and be meaningful, Andreas incorporated and launched his own company, AMVPLUS ADVISORY, which he built on three strategic pillars: Leadership, Transformation, Purpose.  With courage, a strong belief in the possible, and recognizing that now, more than ever, we need guidance to transform, develop higher standards of leadership, and create a higher purpose that will guide us to a better tomorrow, Andreas is committed to empower people and enrich organizations, through coaching, training, and consulting.

 

During his tenure, Andreas has served on numerous industry and university advisory boards, as President of the Media Specialist Association of Malaysia (MSA), Treasurer of the Malaysian Digital Association (MDA), member of the Board of Directors of the European Union-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI), as a judge on many local and regional award juries, as an industry advisor for the Asia Pacific Media Forum (APMF), Campaign’s Media 360 and Media Works, Ad:tech’s ASEAN, and as chairman of BFM’s Brandfest, Malaysia’s most influential marketing conference.

 

Andreas was inducted into the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) Malaysian Chapter in 2008, the International Who’s Who of Professionals in 2009, and was the recipient of the Achievers & Leaders Award in 2012 and the Global Brand Leadership Award in 2014. He was selected as one the 100 Most Influential Digital Leaders in APAC in 2017 and was appointed as an Industry Adjunct Faculty Member of INTI University & Colleges in the same year. In 2020 he was selected as among the 100 Most Inspirational LinkedIn Icons in Malaysia.