MetLife has snapped up a twenty year marketing veteran from a U.S. rival to lead its brand transformation initiatives across Asia.

Sanjeev Kapur has joined the company as senior vice president and chief marketing officer (CMO) of Asia, Kapur will also join the Asia Leadership Team. In his new role Kapur will report to Esther Lee, MetLife executive vice president and global chief marketing officer, and Chris Townsend, president of Asia, the firm announced in a media release.

Kapur was most recently the regional head of marketing at Citi, responsible for leading its regional and country marketing teams across 17 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle-East & Africa.

Digital Vision

As CMO of Asia, Kapur will lead the acceleration of MetLife’s brand transformation across the region. His focus will be on strengthening MetLife’s digital, data and design capabilities.

Last year LumenLab, MetLife’s Singapore-based innovation centre, announced the launch of Collab – a three-month program that supports «product ready» start-ups as they tackle real business needs.

For the winning start-up a six figure contract and an in-house role await.